About one hour bus ride from Gifu station or Nagoya bus terminal brings you to Seki city area. Seki city is small but very famous for its cutlery. In this tour we visit some museums related to cutlery , a temple, a shrine and Seki terrace where you can shop high quality cutlery.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At Seki city terminal or your hotel
Seki Zenkoji temple
Seki Kasuga shrine
Seki Sword Tradition Museum
Authentic Japanese swords are exhibited and you can learn about how to make katana(Japanese sword)and history of katana.
Seki terrace
You can buy high quality cutlery
Ending Point
At Seki city terminal
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
guide fee.
entrance fee (to enter swordsmith museum / 300 yen. to see performance of swordsmiths / 300yen
lunch(for you and guide)
I would like to make sure that children (6 to 11 years old) and Infants (less than 6 years) are counted in the total number of people.
From Gifu station to Seki city terminal, it takes about 50 minutes and bus fee is 770 yen.
From Meitetsu Bus Center(Nagoya) to Seki city terminal it takes 80minutes and bus fee is 1,200 yen.
Performance of swordsmiths is available only on the first Sunday of every month except forOctober.
In October we have Hamono matsuri , cutlery festival.(In 2023 it was held on October 7 and 8).Swrdsmiths' perfprmance can be seen at the cutlery festival.
According to your request, I will customize your plan so that you can enjoy time in Seki city.
If you would like to visit other places in Seki , please let me know.
If you would like to see swordsmith performance, please choose the first Sunday of every month or the two days Hamono Festival is held in October.
I can guide you in Nagoya city if you can pay my transportation fee.
Hello! My name is Akiko from Gifu prefecture. I am a National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter.
I like going out with my family, talking with my friends over coffee at a cozy cafe, reading books, baking bread and cake when I have time.
I passed the national tour guide test in 2017 and have worked as a guide since then.
I have guided in Gifu city, Seki city, Takayama city, Shirakawago , Mino city and Nagoya city.
I have lived in Gifu for more than forty years. Gifu prefecture is rich in nature so you can enjoy the rural atmosphere. Gifu city has a beautiful river 'Nagara river' and Mt.Kinka which has Gifu castle on the top. You can go up the mountain on foot or use a ropeway. The view from Gifu castle is so fantastic. At the foot of the mountain , there are many places to visit such as parks, a temple having a big image of Buddha, and a street preserving the historic atmosphere.
At Nagara River, you can enjoy seeing a traditional way of fishing ‘cormorant fishing’ which is thought to have started 1300 years ago.
Many cafes have unique service called 'morning service' in Gifu along with Aichi
In the morning (until about ten thirty or eleven) when you order a cup of tea or coffee, they serve toast and salad ! Near Gifu park , you can find a nice Japanese style cafe where you enjoy good coffee and seeing a Japanese style garden.
Seki city is a small city but so famous for its cutlery. At Japanese sword museum in Seki, you can see authentic Japanese swords! Mino city next to Seki city is well known for its hand made Japanese paper 'Hon minoshi' designated as intangible cultural asset by UNESCO .
Until recently it was not easy to guide guests because of COVID-19 pandemic; however the situation is getting better. Some strict rules about COVID-19 have been lifted.
Please visit Gifu. I am looking forward to seeing you.
Please feel free to ask me when you need information about Gifu.
Thank you for reading my introduction.
“Incredible tours!”
Thank you very much Akiko san for the wonderful excursions! We planned our tours with her for many months. She solved all our questions and problems. She helped us with the purchase of bus tickets and organized tours to factories for us, booked lunches in restaurants. We spent 2 weeks in Japan but had the strongest impressions during these two days. Akiko san is an excellent guide and a wonderful person. Thank you very much! Dmitry and Victoria
Akiko W.
Thank you so much for your great feedback, Dmitry san , Victoria san. It was so nice and enjoyable to accompany you. You are such wonderful and nice guests. You visited many interesting places in Japan and experienced a lot . In Gifu prefecture, Sakura was in full bloom in Shirakwago(amazing!) and I was so honored to hear your saying ' Seki City is so impressive!' I am very happy to hear both of you enjoyed the tour for two days. I am really looking forward to seeing you in Gifu again ! Let me say this again, 'Thank you so much for everything and please take care.'
“A Hidden Gem”
Akiko-san is a friendly, attentive and sincere guide who is dedicated to her work. She went out of her way to provide regular updates and information about the tour and weather conditions, and to make sure that I arrived in Gujo safely. I am grateful to her for accommodating to my requests, changes in dates and addressing my many queries. This is the first time I engaged a local guide thru GwG and it was a very positive experience. I highly recommend Akiko-san to anyone looking to explore Gifu. Gujo Hachiman is a beautiful and tranquil town and the visit was the highlight of my 2 week Japan trip. Thanks to Akiko-san I had a wonderful day at Gujo. I look forward to visiting other parts of Gifu and to meet Akiko-san again.
Akiko W.
Thank you so much for your kind feedback, Connie san! I really enjoyed being with you and talking with you. I was so happy that you liked the peaceful atmosphere of Gujo Hachiman when we were walking along the river and strolling in the town . Igawa Komich is my favorite spot and I was glad to know you were interested in this place, too. Big carp were amazing! Though many cherry blossoms were not in full bloom,we were able to take pictures in front of one tree blooming beautifully. I am really lucky that I was able to meet you . Thank you very much for choosing me as your guide. Please take care and I hope to see you in Gifu again in the near future.
“Exceeded our expectations”
Akiko went above and beyond for us during our trip to the Seki Cutlery Festival. Before meeting, we let her know what we were interested in and she went to work right away, diligently keeping us informed on everything related to the festival- including advice on the hotel to stay in. She actually called the hotel for real time availability so we would be able to book before it’s too late. The morning of the tour, Akiko was warm and friendly, we knew we were in good hands. We wanted to ship a few things internationally and she facilitated our entire transaction with the post office which is beyond her responsibility to us. We are so grateful for her. Akiko-San was great company as well- between looking at knives we talked about our family and interests. At the end of the tour I felt like she was more of a friend than a guide. She made sure we knew how to get back to the hotel which is a testament to how much she cares about her clients. Thank you for everything Akiko-San! Seki is such a beautiful city and we cannot wait to go back and meet with Akiko-San again.
Akiko W.
Hello Sarah san. Thank you so much for your kind and nice review. I am so happy to know you had a great time at the cutlery festival in Seki city. On that day, the festival venue was so crowded and it was hot. You kindly bought me such a cold , good and refreshing lemonade. I really appreciate your consideration. I enjoyed being with you while you were shopping. I hope you liked shopping and talking with local vendors and people there. I was also glad that you told me you liked the peaceful atmosphere of Seki city. It was a lot of fun to walk with you on a path which was off the main road. Thank you for talking to me about your beautiful family. I would love to see you again in Seki city in the near future. Thank you for everything, Sarah san.
$78/ per group