While the tour covers the popular Fushimi Inari Shrine and Uji Byodoin Temple, we'll also spend some time in Fushimi sake district for sake tasting and local lunch at an old sake brewery. In Uji, the home of the best Japanese tea, we'll visit traditional tea houses and enjoy their special tea that many eminent Shoguns also appreciated.
At your hotel (subject to additional fee) in or selected JR/Keihan station depending on your hotel location
Fushimi Inari Shrine - 10,000 torii gates!
Fushimi sake brewery museum & tasting (400 yen)
Lunch at a former sake brewery
Option: Visit sake tasting bars and/or shops (additional costs: 300~1,700 yen depending on how many kinds you'll try)
Uji - home of Japanese green tea (lots of traditional tea houses, tea salons, macha sweets, etc. on the street)
Ujigami Shrine, UNESCO site, oldest remaining shrine building in Japan
Uji Byodoin, UNESCO world heritage site (600 yen & 300 yen to see inside the main hall)
Option: Traditional tea ceremony @500 yen with confectionery
Option: Tea workshop such as making Hoji-cha, maccha, maccha sweets, etc. (extra fee and reservation required)
Option: Gion at the end of the tour (extra hour required)
At your hotel (subject to additional fee) or JR/Keihan station
With this tour, not only visiting the photogenic Fushimi Inari and Byodoin Temple, you can also deepen the knowledge of sake and green tea, and enjoy the freshness and different kinds of sake and green tea served in a proper way.
Fushimi is a traditional sake district with 23 sake breweries including the giant "Gekkeikan" which was founded in 1673. We will visit the Gekkeikan museum to learn about sake making process and sake tasting, and have a local lunch in one of the sake breweries. You can also visit other shops and breweries for more comparison.
Uji is the home of Uji tea, where you'll see many traditional tea houses and different kinds of Japanese tea with opportunities to try special maccha sweets, green tea soba, maccha beer, etc.
Workshops are available if you're interested in making maccha, hojicha (roasted green tea), and green tea sweets.
This tour is also recommended for the foodies and those who get "templed out" in Kyoto!
Guide fee
- Transportation fee and lunch (you and guide)
- Entrance fee (Byodoin @600 yen and Sake museum with a bottle of souvenir sake @400 yen)
- Optional workshops and tea ceremony etc.
- Hotel pick-up
- Hotel drop-off (please request and pay 1,000 yen for transportation etc. upon the end of the tour)
Please note below before booking and contact me first for availability:
1. My schedule on GoWithGuide site is open for the next 3-month only.
2. All my listed tours include hotel pick-up fee and guide fee. Please ask for quote for custom tours.
3. For tours in the peak season, I am currently prioritizing mult-day tour requests (at least two "full-day" tours per group) and accept one-day request between the booked tours etc.
***Excursions ***
I can guide you in Okayama (including Naoshima and Kurashiki), Hiroshima (Onomichi, Shimanami islands cycling, Miyajima, etc.) and Shikoku (Iya valley etc.) if you pay for my transportation.
The above areas can be visited from Osaka/Kyoto in one or two days.
1. Morning tour starts @9:00. Fushimi Inari => Fushimi sake area and lunch => Uji.
2. Afternoon tour starts @12:00. Fushimi sake area & lunch => Uji => Fushimi Inari (evening visit in fall to enjoy lantern lights)
3. You must be 20+ years old for sake tasting.
4. If you'd like to do tea workshop, please let me know in advance.
5. This tour will be focused on green tea and sake. You can pick one of them and shorten the other part, but if you don't like either sake or green tea, you should not book this tour. Please make a custom booking.
6. As per your request, we can finish the tour in Gion area for the afternoon tour (extra hour required).
We had the pleasure of having Seiko as our tour guide for 2 full-day tours in Japan. Seiko was very patient and helpful in creating a customized tour that included all of the places we were interested in visiting in Kyoto and Osaka. We exchanged several messages in in order to create our itinerary and her recommendations were spot on. Seiko was very flexible and patient with our questions while finalizing our agenda and in the end, it was perfect for us! She even sent us some restaurant recommendations so we could make reservations in advance. We learned a lot about the history and culture of the places we went to. We had an extremely pleasurable experience and would highly recommend Seiko to anyone looking for an English-speaking guide!
Thanks for your review, Rick. Through the communications we had before the tour, I already felt that I finally met my friend from US when we met at the station. Your efforts and preperation must be the biggest contribution to your family having good time in Kyoto/Osaka. I especially enjoyed the day in Fushimi and Osaka with you all, thanks to your trust in my recommendations. Glad to be able to show you how and what the locals eat and drink, and enjoy their life in different ways. I appreciate this "Ichigo-Ichie" - once-in-a-lifetime chance of having you and your family for 2 days! Thanks again! Seiko
We had a pretty packed agenda for our day in Osaka and Seiko made it possible for us to enjoy the day without being rushed. She spoke good English, was knowledgeable and friendly, communicated well with our 19-yo children, and was generally fun to be around with. We got a good sense for the historical backdrop as well as a taste of modern life. Great guide - strongly recommended.
Thank you Ivan for your review. Lucky me to be a guide for your family for 2 days! Your children are very friendly, smart and always tried to learn about our everyday life, culture and history with many good questions, which made our tour more fun and meaningful. It was such a great day with wonderful family. Thank you! Seiko
We had an amazing time with Seiko San on the evening tour. I would have never visited all the places if it was not for her. My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. A fun person with a lot of knowledge.
Thank you Abraham! I especially loved talking to your daughters and appreciate you all showed me interests in different places and foods and gave me many questions! Wish I had more time with you guys! Seiko
A very enthusiastic person with a lot of knowledge. Fun to talk to and able to explain a lot of details.
Thank you Abraham! I had a great time with your family, too. Everything went smoothly and lots of fun thanks to all of you! Seiko