Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Kazu

Title: What's a Private Kyoto Tour of Arashiyama and Quiet Temples Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from North America on their first trip to Japan. Their itinerary took them from Tokyo to Hakone and Kyoto, and afterwards they planned to visit Nara and Osaka before returning home. There had been no email discussion about the places to visit beforehand, so we decided everything in the hotel lobby that morning. They were bright and very easygoing. Having arrived in Kyoto the day before and explored the lively areas around Pontocho and Gion, they said they would prefer somewhere as quiet as possible today, and they made a request to visit Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple in Saga-Arashiyama, which they had heard about for some time.

Obai-in is a temple I love for its beautiful moss garden, tea room, and dry landscape garden, and it is rarely overcrowded. I have recently been including it in my itineraries for guests who say they want to visit somewhere quiet. In Arashiyama, I enjoy explaining what Arashiyama historically was in the first place. It is a place packed with stories that are so characteristically Kyoto — religious, literary, and folkloric — such as Obon, the Bodhisattva Jizo, the stone piles of Sai-no-Kawara, the Gozan no Okuribi bonfires, waka poetry, the Hyakunin Isshu, and The Tale of Genji, so I inevitably get carried away.

In place of lunch, we had mochi and matcha with 400 years of history at a teahouse. I gave a very simple explanation of the etiquette at a tea gathering, which was very well received. Today, there were a few points where I got the order of my explanations slightly wrong or became long-winded in response to questions, which I regret, but I am grateful that they always listened patiently to the end. At the end, they invited me to have a beer with them at the hotel. I knew they were tired, so I declined, but the invitation was heartwarming and I was grateful for it.

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Tour Report by Kazu

Hello, this is Kazu Akiyama, your tour guide. Nice to meet you and welcome to Japan. Thank you for joining me on the tour. Now I am a retired salaried worker, living in Osaka. I have been very much interested in not only learning Japanese history, culture, religion myself, but also talking about them (sometimes going off topics) in English with tourists from all over the world as well. I am so excited being with you as your guide on coming day! I am very much looking forward to you enjoying with me visiting the must-see places and some of the hidden gems. See you soon. Thank you – Kazu Akiyama