This is a guide course of visiting Mizuo from north part of Arashiyama through Toriimoto and Kiyotaki. This is the most high-end English guided tour I have. You will have a very unique experience that no others have the same because I am the only one and the very first person who wrote detailed information of this area in English. Even many locals living in Kyoto do not know of this way of visiting Mizuo from a trail. This is a beautiful trail goes along river of Kiyotaki and Hozukyo.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
JR Saga-Arashiyama Station north gate
- First we'll meet you at the north exit of Saga Arashiyama Station of JR. Please do not mix the gate with its south. This is a very important point that I have to emphasize. Make sure you come out from its north gate on the side of Marutamachi street. We'll meet you here at 8 : 30 a.m. ( ideal time ). We can arrange for this between 8:00 am and 9 : 00 a.m, but no later than that. Starting from this point in he morning, we will come to Mizuo around good time for dining.
We'll walk through this Bamboo Forest of Arashiyama toward Toriimoto located in the north. It is a natural growth of bamboo and one of the most photographed sight of Kyoto.
First, you will arrive to a hidden temple called Gohodo Benzaiten. It is really hidden in the woods right behind a bus stop called " Gohodo Benzaiten ". You would definitely miss it without a guide. The temple enshrines a goddess called Benzaiten. Benzaiten is a symbol of eloquence ( art of speech to influence people ) . Gohodo Benzaiten is a temple at the hill of Mt. Toriigata. The mountain holds one of 5 symbols of our traditional summer event of building a huge formation of bonefire among 5 mountains located in different directions surrounding the city. This event is called " Gozan Okuribi " which is held to send off spirits of deceased. And this one makes a shape of toirii gate. This is the name origin of this area Toriimoto. The place is scarcely known by some people who come here to make wishes to its Benzaiten. This Benzaiten is enshrined in here as a guardian of Mt. Toriigata. This place is a real hidden treasure for viewing autumn beauty of sacred momiji.
The next stop we are going to make is Adashino-Mayumura. This is a shop selling craft items made of cocoons. They are selling them as souvenir items for visitors. There is another Mayumura located right next to Arashiyama station, but this one in Toriimoto is the original. Staffs you will meet at the shop are very friendly. You can expect warm welcome from those people. You can relax and have a little shopping on your way. The items here are very light and small. You can just pack in your tiny bag to carry around.
Go on our way up the hill you come to an old house with thatched roof called Saga Toriimoto Town-scape Archive Hall. The function of this house is to work on the project of preserving a historical landscape of this area. This place is open to public to casually visit and have look around inside the ancient house constructed in 1890's. In this place, I would like to explain how things were and how they stay the way they are today. The structure of this house displays well-preserved architectural style commonly seen from early Meiji Period in Japan. I hope that my explanation will give you a new perspective to the landscape of this area.
After visiting the Archive Hall, soon you will come to the 1st gate of Atago Shrine. Here is a great spot for taking photos. Let's take some beak for some photo shooting. The best time for this spot is autumn. It is also great with green leaves of momiji maple.
The next stop is Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple. Just go along the way up the hill. You will come to this temple. The temple displays a huge collection of stone statues. Every one of them have different impression on their face. It is said there are 1200 of them in this one place. You will surely find this fascinating. The entire ground of this temple is mostly covered in thick moss due the high humidity of this area. The atmosphere of this temple is something unique despite many other temples you see in the city are quite similar to one another. It requires entrance charge of 300 yen per person. This is the only place in this course which requires additional fee. All the rests are free of charge.
Now, let's move on toward west to the tunnel. Now you came to a road splitting in three ways right before the tunnel of Kiyotaki. This is the end of Atago Kaido where it meets Kiyotaki-michi " the road to Kiyotaki ". Even though it is said that this tunnel is a scary ghostly spot, I don't think it is such a place. It might look creepy when you look at it with such idea because of the lights in the tunnel and its surroundings. There is a beautiful village called Kiyotaki after passing this tunnel. You don't have to worry because people are living in that village and it is the only way to access Mt. Atago from the city. We'll make a circle around the village before we start walking on the trail.
This is a trail that goes all the way to Mizuo from Kiyotaki. From Kiyotaki you are moving towards south-west along Kiyotaki River and Katsura River. From the point of Ochiai which is a spot where Kiyotaki River joins Katsura River. This part of the tour on the trail is between point of Nishiyama 1 and Nishiyama 5 of Kyoto Circuit Trail. You will come out to a point called Ochiai. It is about 30 minutes of walking along Kiyotaki River.
Here you are out on the point of Ochiai. It is a point where Katsura River meets Kiyotaki River. From this point we'll start walking on a road along upstream of Katsura River. This is the area called Hozukyo and it is the most beautiful view of a river in entire Kyoto prefecture. We'll take a small break to eat something light along the way. From this point we'll go for another walking for about 90 minutes all the way to a mountainous village called Mizuo.
Upon the arrival of the village, we'll drop our items in a facility where we will come back later on for dining and bathing. After a small tour inside the village you will come back for the last part of the tour. I will explain about this village such as its background and agriculture and local produce of Yuzu citrus in English during the tour. Village of Mizuo is known as a town of Yuzu for their local produce of Yuzu citrus. The village is located in the north-west of Kyoto city and south of Mt. Atago. The village was named as such because of its location being at the end of Kiyotaki River. 水= water + 尾 = the tail. And the meaning this name holds is a place where clean water springs. From ancient times the ground of Mizuo have been the home of its local produce such as Yuzu, biwa, persimon, plums, Sansho citrus, Nanten, pomegranate, matsutake mushrooms, etc. The cultivation and agriculture of those symbolic produce are the main source to support the lives of this village. We also have an option to get pick up from the restaurant we reserved. It is a free ride for us.
This all-day course involves dining in a village restaurant serving a chicken-based hotpot meal of local speciality of Yuzu citrus. All the restaurants in the village are operating for the same service at classic Kominka houses which are ancient style of houses not be seen in the central part of the city. We can only make a reservation in those restaurants with minimum group of 4. In case you are booking in a group of 2 or 3 it requires additional 12,000 yen for full guide inside the restaurant. I will translate everything all the way while you are interacting with people in the house.
I will make a request to staffs at the restaurant to send you back to JR Hozukyo Station by a car for your leaving.
We can either spend before or after dining and bathing in a facility of Mizuo. We will spend some time enjoying something special about this village before heading back to JR Hozukyo Station. We can flexibly arrange the time for this.
JR. Hozukyo Station
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Full guide in English all the way along the course. We will bring our hand-made brochure. I will have hosting assistant for a large group to make sure everything is well-organized.
Food and drinks we eat in the middle of the tour as well as small cost of entrance charge ( 300 yen per person ) . Additional cost for dining in Yuzu-bath restaurant ( around 5,500 yen person ) plus, 12,000 yen for two persons on our side, but this part is optional if you wish to have full guide inside the restaurant facility.
This all-day course involves dining in a village restaurant serving a chicken-based hotpot meal of local speciality of Yuzu citrus. All the restaurants in the village are operating for the same service at classic Kominka houses which are ancient style of houses not be seen in the central part of the city. We can only make a reservation in those restaurants with minimum group of 4. In case you are booking in a group of 2 or 3 it requires additional 12,000 yen for full guide inside the restaurant. I will translate evrything all the way while you are interacting with people in the house.
I will make a request to staffs at the restaurant to send you back to JR Hozukyo Station by a car for your leaving.
Since this is an outdoor activity, I will accept your cancellation in case of a bad weather condition since it would not worth the value. Only if you can make it early enough. Please check with weather information in advance. If you want us to set up a back plan, I can manage to do it.
In case of a bad weather condition, I can arrange back-up tour for you. I will ensure that you will not regret about your booking. And, please contact in advance so I can check my availability with other things. Since, 1-day booking notice was making my schedule all messed up, I can only accept with those who properly replies and confirm the booking in advance enough to keep it decent. I recently changed to at least 2-days notice, but we can still discuss.
My name is Masayuki currently living in Kyoto. Everyone casually calls me Massy. I grew up in a bilingual ( English / Japanese ) background. I am a new entry in here, but I am already very well experienced in hosting and guiding. I like to explore things to discover all the hidden beauties and treasures off the beaten path and share with others. I would only show you to the places you really need a guide with no information in English. If you are interested in things truly unique known only to some locals, I am the one. I like to explore in nature and show my footsteps to everyone to discover new hidden ground. It is almost my natural instinct to avoid crowd. I am not into ordinary tourism of Kyoto because I don't want to be another one of them doing the same guide in Kyoto. I want to show you to a true state of sacred and beauty which is unharmed by commercialization and over-tourism. My itinerary cuts off overrated attractions from the view point of a local. In Kyoto I mostly write about places never been introduced in English. I am not a licensed tour guide interpreter, but I have different field of knowledge to introduce things. I am more of an English-hosting guide without strict business manner. I am a professional in writing introduction pages mainly for north parts of Kyoto in English. The courses are my own creation since I am the original one to write in English. I am a very open and friendly person who can communicate in English nearly as good as a native speaker. I was in Canada and U.S. I once took a leading role of an international community as well as being an English teacher. My wife is from Ukraine often assisting me to host my guests.
“Hike in Hozukyo Gorge”
Great day hiking by the river. We liked the nature and beautiful views of the pristine water. Masayuki and his wife were great hosts and very attentive to our needs, especially in some of the most difficult areas of the hike. Definitely very beautiful, off-the-beaten path and cool in the summer months!
Masayuki I.
(2 reviews)Thank you very much for taking a tour with us, Myriam. Again, we are so glad that all of you could enjoy the day. We both enjoyed your wonderful company during the tour. I hope that you could rest well and refresh yourselves after the tour and enjoy your activities for later. We were so glad to have met you. Good luck with your trip for the rest of your days in Japan. Feel free to contact us if you need to know about anything.
Peter K.
Walking Tour of Kiyotaki to Takao ( hidden course Kyoto Arashiyama to north : Nature Tourism )
“Masayuki is just the best”
We had the best time with Masayuki! He is local grew up in Kyoto and took us to a beautiful river for an all day hike with a stop for lunch at a restaurant that sat over the river. if you are looking for a guy, you will not be disappointed. He is just a loveliest individual.
Masayuki I.
(2 reviews)Thank you so much, Peter. We also enjoyed your company during the tour. It was great that we could share a lot of stories while dining at the restaurant. The time we spent together is a wonderful memory for us as well. You are great people.
$401/ per group
Reserve