Kyoto Private Tours & Local Tour Guides

“ An Unforgettable Day with Akari at Mount Kurama and Kibune”

Our family of four had the pleasure of spending a day with Akari exploring Mount Kurama and Kibune, and it was one of the absolute highlights of our trip to Japan. Akari is far more than a guide—she is a wonderful storyteller, teacher, and ambassador for Japanese culture. Her knowledge of the history, spirituality, mythology, and traditions of the area brought every temple, trail, and shrine to life. She answered countless questions from both adults and children with patience, enthusiasm, and remarkable depth of knowledge. What made the experience truly special was Akari herself. She is warm, kind, thoughtful, and genuinely cares about creating meaningful experiences for her guests. She connected wonderfully with our two sons, making them feel engaged and included throughout the day, while also sharing insights that we as parents deeply appreciated. Thanks to Akari, we did not simply visit Kurama and Kibune—we experienced them. We left with a much deeper understanding of Japanese history, nature, and spirituality, along with memories our family will cherish for years to come. If you are considering a guide in Kyoto, we cannot recommend Akari highly enough. She turned a beautiful day into an unforgettable one. Thank you, Akari, for helping make our family’s journey to Japan so special. — Daniel, Lisa, Jack, and Alex Srour Highland Park IL USA

Michelle M.

5 / 5

Jun 17, 2026

Charming must -see in north west area of Kyoto city

Jun 17, 2026

Kyoto

8 hours

“Fantastic tour of Best Sights in NW Kyoto ”

We had an excellent tour with Mana!!! I highly recommend her. She had great communication to create a custom tour for us. She arrived early at our hotel lobby. She spoke excellent English (loudly and clearly for everyone to hear). She was very kind and friendly. She was very informative about the many sights we visited and came prepared with printouts and pictures. You can definitely tell Mana was a teacher for many years. Her printouts made learning fun and easy to connect with. She took great photos of our family. She took us to many beautiful temples and the Arashiyama area. She had a bonus sight for us at the end to learn about Shibori. She was very knowledgeable getting around the trains and buses. It made our day a breeze. We really enjoyed our day and Mana made it very special. Thank you.

Mana F.

(123 reviews)

Dear Michelle, Thank you very much for sending such a wonderful review so quickly. Because the weather is often unpredictable at this time of year, I normally do not accept many full-day tours during this season. However, thanks to you, yesterday turned out to be a truly wonderful experience for me as well. The crowds were astonishingly light—probably less than one-third of the usual number of visitors. Everything felt surprisingly peaceful and relaxed. Most importantly, we were able to enjoy beautiful flowers in shades of blue, such as hydrangeas and gentians, as well as lovely lotus blossoms. They offered a completely different kind of beauty from the pink cherry blossoms of spring or the red and yellow autumn leaves. And perhaps the best bonus of all was seeing the newborn baby monkeys! In Japan, when we are blessed with good weather and good fortune, we often say, “It is thanks to your daily good deeds and efforts.” So I would like to say the same to you. Thank you, thank you very much! I truly appreciate it. Mana

“Wonderful Tour!”

Our family loved our Kyoto tour with Kanae! She is kind, very knowledgeable, and fun to spend time with. We appreciated some of the less touristy sites we would have never seen on our own. Great to let her do all the planning and driving! We saw so much in just a few hours. We highly recommend her!