Customizable Private Tours with Local Tour Guides

Sam F.

5 / 5

Apr 15, 2026

One day trip of Nara Park

Apr 15, 2026

Nara

6 hours

“Makoto gave us a splendid tour of Nara Park ”

My husband and I spent his birthday in Nara with Makoto, who was a pleasure to be with. Our guide skillfully set a strong pace to allow us to see and enjoy the sights on our itinerary while also threading the needle through the crowds. I am collecting goshuins, special stamps with calligraphy found at temples and shrines, and Makoto helped me locate the goshuin stations within the temple complexes. This is a fun keepsake of any trip to Japan and you can purchase a designated accordion notebook at your first religious sight. Makoto brought some very helpful educational papers for us to keep, helping us better understand the important history of this ancient capital and root of Japanese Buddhism. He also explained what we were seeing along the way and told us about the very colorful and interesting festivals, which even involve monks carrying a fiery torch of burning spruce through a wooden temple complex at night while crowds watch the sparks fly. Nara is full of ancient rituals that mystify the foreign visitor. Nara Park is a lovely and relaxing place to spend a day. We saw the Kofukuji Temple, the National Treasure House of Buddhist statues, the Todaiji Temple with the enormous wooden Buddha, the thousand beautiful lanterns at the Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Don't miss the dark room where it simulates night and the lanterns are all aglow. Of course we had the opportunity to meet, pet and even feed wafer crackers to the sacred deer, whom Makoto asked to bow. Many of the deer would oblige by nodding their heads. Makoto has a a good sense of humor -- he bought my husband a headband of deer antlers as a birthday present so of course Sam had to wear them through the park. Very cute! Makoto also arranged a gift of deer origami for him. We highly recommend Makoto as a knowledgeable and skillful.guide. He selected a very tasty Japanese restaurant for lunch. Our final stop in the park was a quiet garden where we took a few minutes to contemplate a Zen rock garden.

Albert W.

5 / 5

Apr 15, 2026

Kyoto Custom Tour

Apr 15, 2026

Osaka

8 hours

Customized

“Wonderful Custom tour of Kyoto”

We had an excellent time with Hiroko as she customized our itinerary for Kyoto. There were 4 of us in our group and it was our first time in Kyoto. We went to Kiyomizudera Temple, Fushimi Inari Shrine, where we saw the red Tori gates. They were amazing! Hiroko even flexed our time as our wives wanted to spend some time shopping along the way. We also had time to have for a wonderful lunch on our way to our next destination. Our final stop was Arashiyama, we saw a beautiful nature area and beautiful garden along with the Tenryuji Temple. We were also next to the Bamboo Grove where we spent extra time with photo shoot opportunities. These were amazing places Hiroko took us to, and she went over the history and significance of each location. She conducted the tour in English which very important to us. We have also booked for another private tour with her in Osaka. I highly recommend utilizing her for your next tour if you want a guided tour.

“Genuine experience ”

We spent three days in Kyoto with Hiro-san and it truly made the experience special. His kindness, patience, and deep knowledge brought places like and to life in a unique way. More than a guide, he felt like a wise local sharing his culture with genuine passion. Highly recommended.