Shiga Tours
Book a Private Shiga Tour with a Local Tour Guide
Shiga Unique Experience Tours
Experiencing Japanese calligraphy and tea ceremony
You can experience real traditional Japanese tea ceremony privately. I will pick you up at Otsu jr station or Hamaotsu Krishna station. Please feel relaxed to contact me.
Three Ninja Facilities Complete Electric Biking Private Tour
Three Ninja facilities (Ninja House, Ninja Center, and Ninja Village) are for the tourist attraction. On this course, we will visit all of three Ninja facilities and a Ninja's twin castles. You will feel the atmosphere of Ninja while riding through the heartland of Ninja. As Ninja Center and Ninja Village are closed on Mondays, you have to choose a different course if it is Monday.
Ninja's Hometown E-Biking Private Tour, the Best Choice
Why don't you make a one-day trip from Kyoto to Koka Ninja's hometown. Koka City is home of Ninja. Koka is a quiet, peaceful and beautiful rural town, and the best to go with a bicycle. You will feel the atmosphere of Ninja while riding through the heartland of Ninja. There is no tour to visit real Ninja places guided by a Ninja/local Samurai descendant who can speak English. You can experience a very unique tour from this.
Ninja's Hometown Electric Biking Private Tour, Short Course
This is a short version of "the Best Choice course" In short amount of time, we will visit some Ninja related facilities. We will still see the genuine and real Ninja places on this tour too.
Ninja Explore Tour, E-Biking & Training Mountain Hiking
Why don't you make a one-day trip from Kyoto to Koka Ninja's hometown. Koka City is home of Ninja. Koka is a quiet, peaceful and beautiful rural town. You will feel the atmosphere of Ninja while riding and hiking through the heartland of Ninja. There is no tour to visit real Ninja places guided by a Ninja/local Samurai descendant who can speak English. You can experience a very unique tour from this.
Shiga Art, Culture, & Historical Tours
Autumnal Leaves at Keisoku-ji & Shizugatake Old Battlefield
Keisoku-ji was re-built by the Venerable, Saicho (767-822 AD), and named after footmarks of a chicken left on accumulated snow. The monk found an Eleven-headed Deity of Mercy in burned-out ruins, and then opened tremendous area of many Buddhist temples. Though the temple became deserted now, the breath-taking beauty of hundreds of colored leaves attracts so many people just like the old days.
One Day Bike Tour around Kohoku in Shiga
Kohoku, i.e., northernmost district in Shiga pref. is said to be “The home of Kan-non (Deity of Mercy)”, many of which have been protected by successive villagers of the hamlets since more than 1,200 years ago. You can also appreciate breathtaking autumnal beauty of the old mountainous temple of Keisoku-ji in late fall. Thus, you may feel a genuine cultured atmosphere of old Japan here at Kohoku.
One Day Tour around Central Nagahama in Shiga (长滨市内一天远行在滋贺县)
Nagahama (Population: about 120,000; Area: about one sixth of the whole of Shiga) has developed after Hideyoshi, a famous hero in the Provincial War Period, put his base castle here in 1570s. UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Asset, Hikiyama festival has an origin of celebrating a birth of the strongman’s first son. Thus, many spots associated with the old days still remain here and there.
A Walking Tour along the Old Street in Nagahama
Since Nagahama started growing after Hideyoshi had based here in 1574, sightseers can feel the retro-inspired atmosphere here and there. After visiting the Tycoon’s first built castle, we will stop by the Railway Square and Keiun-kan Guest Palace, where we can appreciate the nationally designated Japanese Garden, too. Along the Kurokabe Street, we will see that gorgeous floats for the spring festival, which was registered UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Shiga Nature & Outdoor Tours
Enjoy the authentic castle town and famous Oumi beef just outside Kyoto
Oumihachiman was once very flourished town under Hachimanyama castle back in the 16th century. Still you see a beautiful town with traditional style houses as well as the moat used for the castle. The area is also famous for Oumi beef which is one of the 3 best beefs in Japan similar to the famous Kobe beef. We will go up the mountain by the cable car. Will see the beautiful view of Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan together with the rice paddies.
Bike Tour around Yogo, an Old Home of Japan in Shiga
Lake Yogo, alias "Mirror Lake" is a northernmost attraction in Shiga pref. Literally, it looks like a natural mirror on a calm day, perfectly reflecting surrounding mountains. The one day tour takes you to representative spots associated with impressive folklores about the lake and its vicinity. We can also visit the stage of the fierce historical battle of Shizugatake of the Provincial Wars.
A Half Day Bike Tour around Lake Yogo in Shiga
Lake Yogo is a northernmost mysterious attraction in Shiga prefecture, and its another name is "Mirror Lake", since it looks like a natural mirror on a calm day, perfectly reflecting surrounding mountains. The lake was a stage of the fierce historical battle of Shizugatake in the midst of the age of Provincial Wars (1583). There are also many folklores associated with the lake.
A Winter Tour around Lake Yogo in Shiga (余吴湖畔冬季之远行在滋贺县)
Lake Yogo is a mirror-like spot surrounded with community based forests in a secluded corner of Shiga. Though the district around the lake is often covered with fresh snow almost every day in sever winter season, the sceneries from the lakeside must give sightseers unique landscapes associated with genuine local cultures of Japan and folklores which have come down from more than 1,200 years ago.
Shiga Day Trip Tours
Let's enjoy Lake Biwa cruise and National Treasure Castle!
Hikone Castle is one of the five National Treasure castles. The castle is on the hilltop and you can see beautiful scenery of Lake Biwa and castle town. Beside the castle, there is a beautiful Japanese garden, named "Genkyu-en". If you like, you enjoy a cup of green tea with Japanese sweet. After lunch at the castle town, let's enjoy cruise to a small sacred island, Chikubu-jima. In the sacred island, there are a famous temple and a National Treasure shrine. I'm sure you like it!!
Tour to the National Treasure Hikone Castle from Kyoto
Hikone City is only an hour away from Kyoto by train and faces the largest lake in Japan. Hikone Castle, a national treasure, and its castle town are located there. There are also some old temples and shrines nearby. You feel like you have slipped back into the Edo Period ( about 200~400 years ago). This is a half-day tour where you can learn about Japan's medieval period.
Shiga nature tour
Shiga prefecture is next to Kyoto prefecture. There is the biggest lake, the lake of Biwa. And you can see many beautiful mountains and clear streams. I will guide small hiking to a beautiful waterfall (30 min up, 30 min down) I can also show you Shiga sightseeing spots!
Shiga Kids & Family Friendly Tours
Shiga Tour Reviews
Erika T.
Azuchi Castle & Gifu Castle Tour on Feb.11 & 12
Customized
“Unique and Unforgettable Experience!”
I'm a foreign exchange student studying Japanese history, so over the break, I really wanted to see some lesser-visited sites from Sengoku-period Japan. Even though the places I visited with Kazuhiko weren't exactly tailored to foreign tourists (there was not a lot of information in English), he was such a knowledgeable guide that I didn't feel like I was missing out at all! Whenever we stopped to take a break, he would draw pictures to explain what we had just seen and explain the concepts behind the architecture. I had such a wonderful experience, and none of it would have been possible without Kazuhiko! He went above and beyond— from planning an itinerary around my interests, translating signs and information to English, providing me with handouts on the history of the places we visited, and even showing me around the next city over! I've been on a lot of tours before, but I can definitively say that I had the best experience with Kazuhiko. 100% recommend!
Kazuhiko G.
(159 reviews)Hello, Thanks for the nice review. I enjoyed it very much as well. Thank you very much !! For me, this was my first time guiding those places and I apologize for my lack of preparation. But I too was glad to learn more about the Warring States period. I hope this tour will be useful for your study. I also hope that this tour will be a memorable one. Thank you very much !! Kazuhiko Goto
Ryan A.
Three Ninja Facilities Complete Electric Biking Private Tour
“The most fun we had while in Kyoto”
We had so much fun riding e-bikes, learning more about Ninjas, seeing how they lives and the trick and weapons they used. We had delicious gelato, lunch, and specialty made coffee! Our kids loved it and had been their favorite thing during our stay in Kyoto. Thanks Taka!
Taka M.
(4 reviews)Thank you for coming to Ninja's hometown of Koka. I had great fun with you and your family too. I have more places I want to show you around. You are always welcome to come to my home. Keep in touch!
“We had the joy of joining Toshiyo for 2 days”
Toshiyo was kind and very accommodating during our two days with her around Kyoto. Some amazing sights and interesting information as we explored this amazing city She helped us navigate the rail system and was very patient with our two children. Her English was a massive help also We highly recommend Toshiyo
Toshiyo O.
(234 reviews)Thank you very much for having me as your guide. I appreciate it and the kind review. I am very happy that you had good days in Kyoto. It was nice meeting your beautiful family. Thank you very much. Toshiyo
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