GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
GoWithGuide
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
Gifu Private Tour - Visitors can stroll around japanese rooms and gardens of old houses.
Visitors can stroll around japanese rooms and gardens of old houses.
Gifu Private Tour - In a room of the traditional merchant house
In a room of the traditional merchant house
Gifu Private Tour - A store selling traditional Japanese rice wine SAKE. You can not only stroll around the old house but also buy tasty alcohol beverages and buy them.
A store selling traditional Japanese rice wine SAKE. You can not only stroll around the old house but also buy tasty alcohol beverages and buy them.
Gifu Private Tour - Sword-smith performing traditional technique at Seki Traditional Sword Smith Museum
Sword-smith performing traditional technique at Seki Traditional Sword Smith Museum
Gifu Private Tour - Many masterpieces are on display in the Traditional Swordsmith Museum
Many masterpieces are on display in the Traditional Swordsmith Museum
Gifu Private Tour - Tourist are visitting a knife factory and learning how high-quality products are made.
Tourist are visitting a knife factory and learning how high-quality products are made.
Gifu Private Tour - The government has designated some traditional housing sites as Important Traditional Constructions Area.in Mino
The government has designated some traditional housing sites as Important Traditional Constructions Area.in Mino
Gifu Private Tour - Small footlights shaded with designed papers are good choice for souvenir.
Small footlights shaded with designed papers are good choice for souvenir.
Gifu Private Tour - A variety of silverware are sold in cutlery shops at cheaper price than other department stores.
A variety of silverware are sold in cutlery shops at cheaper price than other department stores.

Handmade paper Mino-Washi and traditional swords of SEKI

Unique Experience
Gifu Tour Guide - Tetsuji Y.

Joined 2015

Tetsuji Y.
4.89 / 5
(46 reviews)
Identity Verified
Interview-Based Quality Checks
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!Gifu
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!Japanese (Native), English
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!10 hours
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!Private tour (only you and Tetsuji Y.)
GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!Up to 8 people

You enjoy two distinctive fields of Japanese culture by visiting two small towns in one day trip. The one is Mino which is famous for Japanese hand-made paper Washi. Another one is Seki famous for Japanese-swordsmith. Strolling around two towns, you will learn some of secrets of cool Japan.

Itinerary

This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!

08:00 AM

Meeting Point

At JR Gifu Station

- in front of the ticket gate at 7:50AM

08:00 AM

JR Gifu station

leave Gifu by 8:11-train

09:30 AM

Mino old town district

Mino city was established as a castle town and prospered through production of Washi-paper. The center district of the city is well preserved as one of the important traditional building areas in Japan. You could take a leisurely stroll through the historic townscape Which dates back to the Edo period

10:00 AM

Former Imaike Residence

This building was constructed in the end of the 19th century and used as a Washi-paper wholesale merchant's house. The chief of a family also served as the a headman of this town. You could get detailed information about a typical townhouse of the Edo period.

10:30 AM

Mino-Washi Akari Art Gallery

This gallery provides you a fantastic atmosphere made by collaboration with paper-art and lights. Many competition masterpieces are on display telling the possibility of paper in daily lives.

12:30 PM

Lunch

01:30 PM

Seki Traditional Sword Smith MUseum

In this museum, you could learn about the history and the process of Japanese swordsmith.

02:30 PM

Feather Museum (The world's First Comprehensive Museum)

This museum was established by the biggest safety razor company in Japan and provide you an eye-opening experience and knowledge of cutlery

03:00 PM

Knife Factory

You visit one of the workshops manufacturing high-quality knives. The company prospered business handing down traditional concept of swordsmith production.

05:30 PM

JR JR Minota station

06:00 PM

JR Gifu station

Ending Point

At JR Gifu Station

Want to personalize this tour?

This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.

Inclusions & Exclusions

GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
What‘s included

guide fee

GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
What‘s not included

transportation fee about 4000yen/person

entrance fee for guests (Mino-Washi Akari Art Gallery 200yen/person, Former Imaike Residence 300yen/person, Seki Traditional Sword Smith Museum 300yen/person)

lunch and beverages about 3000-5000yen/person

Tour Important Information

Mino is a small castle-town surrounded by mountains. Mino is, however, also one of the hometowns of the traditional Japanese hand-made paper“WASHI”. It was registered as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2014. You can not only see goods and works of art made from WASHI but stroll around the traditional housing area which includes some excellent souvenir shops. I promise you will find and experience traditional Japan by exploring this cozy old town.


Seki is famous for being one of five samurai-swordsmith manufacturing towns in Japan since 14th century. You can see an authentic sword-hammering performance in the Seki Traditional Sword Smith Museum on the first Sunday of every months. Now, since Seki is known for high-quality knives and cutlery production, In the end, you visit a factory to see and learn how those high-quality products are made. You can also buy products at reasonable prices compared to other stores around Japan.

Important message from the supplier

GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!

I can guide in Kyoto in case you support transportation fee.

Cancellation Policy

  • GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
    Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
  • GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
    50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
  • GoWithGuideFind your perfect tour guide at GoWithGuide. Relax and cherish unforgettable tours with loved ones. Create personalized tours for a truly memorable trip!
    No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Gifu Tour Guide - Tetsuji Y.

Joined 2015

Tetsuji Y.
4.89 / 5
(46 reviews)
Identity Verified
Interview-Based Quality Checks

About Tour Guide Tetsuji Y.

Hello everyone. I am Tetsuji. I worked as a public servant in the local government for 35 years. I belonged to the department of Redevelopment, Town-Landscaping, Preserving historical areas and Architectural Guidance. (I have a national 1st-class architect license.) I devoted myself to revitalizing the city by making plans and improving infrastructure for citizens.

Gifu is located in central Japan near Nagoya. As just being the crossroads of the West and the East, there are many unique attractions that are hard to discover in hectic big cities like Tokyo or Kyoto. I had a hand in restoring and preserving some of them throughout my career and want to introduce them to tourists from abroad. That’s why I became a guide-interpreter in Gifu.

I also enjoyed traveling around the world. My favorite part of each trip was walking around the city and talking with local residents. Traveling has taught me lots of things during my lifetime. Now, I would like to help others have similar experience in Japan. Shall we enjoy fantastic journey in Gifu?

Reviews

Great Experience

Hello Tetsuji san, just wanna thank you for taking care of our guests, they had such a great experience during their tour. And it was also a smooth arrangement with you. Looking forward to work with you again in the future.

Very nice and flexible guide

We planned months in advance a day with Tetsuji. When we arrived in Japan we realised it would be raining all day. We asked Tetsuji if he could propose an alternative because we were supposed to be outside all day. He came with a good back up plan. It was really appreciated. We have a nice day together and I would recammand it.

Sophie B.

Tetsuji Y.

Thank you for your appreciation. I hope that you would come back to Japan again in order to hike Nakasendo with me under the blue sky. I will be waiting all of you. Please give my best regards to Martin, Pauline and Adrian.

The most wonderful day!

Tetsuji-san the kindest, most thorough tour guide I think I have ever had the pleasure to know. His pre-trip questions and planning for a personal level of interest led to showcasing his wide range of knowledge for the Gifu area and more than completely fulfilling my requests for things to see. It was a day neither I nor my family will ever forget. Tetsuji-san knew where to go for the local beauty of the blooming cherry blossoms, introducing us to the Kagamigahara area away from the usual crush of visitors. There were many local festivals, the impressive Kinpozan Shoboji Temple with the beautifullly preserved indoor Buddha, the hilltop Gifu Castle via the tramway and steep steps that gave a fabulous view of the entire region, the heritage Minatomaci street that maintains the architectural history of the Endo (?) era ( but includes some wonderful shops with locally made artistic items, and more. Thank you so much, Tetsuji-san! ( my photos don’t seem to be loading up here… but you will have plenty to take on your own if you choose this wonder guide)

Sherry W.

Tetsuji Y.

I appreciate that you gave me a chance to organize a fantastic tour. The moment you set a pebble on the corner of the site, I felt IKIGAI (生き甲斐) in my mind. I truly thought that I might have been born to share unforgettable moment with you. I surely think this 'Nostalgic tour' is an epoch-making commemorative event through my guiding career.

Want to Personalize?

$119/ per group

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