Hyogo (Living), Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji
English
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Hi I'm Kenji
I have a government license of tour guide interpreter in English.
I was born and raised in Kyoto, an old capital of Japan over one thousand years
So I'm very familiar with many sightseeing spots and attractions of the city
Kyoto is a fascinating and picturesque city drawing lots of foreign tourists every year
I can show you around not only popular historical sites and relics
but also its various attractions such us Zen silent meditation, traditional sweets cooking,
kimono-clad walking and so on.
I can also provide tailored tours fitting to your liking.
I like a famous Zen phrase "Ichigo Ichie" meaning "Treasure every encounter
for it will never recur"
So I always try to enjoy guiding every tourist with my best hospitality.
Zen concepts have greatly influenced many aspects of Japanese culture
I will explain some of them and allow you to explore Zen world through some of my tours
Please contact me any time.
I'm looking forward to seeing you and spending wonderful time with you.
See you soon !
Thank you so much Kenji for travelling with our group to Kibune and the beautiful temples in northern Kyoto! Thanks for your patience while we took so many photos :)
Dear Lisa, Thank you for your wonderful review of the customized private tour. I'm very glad that you could enjoy the tour while taking so many nice photos. I could not understand your technical terms of photography but enjoyed myself watching your skills and teaching of beautiful photography . Best regards Kenji
We used the services of Mr. Kenji for 5 days, and before that I had been in correspondence with him fir many months to plan those days. My experience during the planning phase is that he was very helpful and responsive, and was able to provide a lot of valuable information and options that made the planning experience much easier. On the other hand, during our actual visit there were several mistakes that significantly impacted the quality of our trip during those 5 days and in fact made them the worst in our 2 week trip to Japan: a museum that was scheduled on the day of its weekly closing; our evening with the geishas where we did not get the exact agreement we had; a full day that turned out to be a total disaster due to very bad scheduling (missed the most important shrine; missed the ninja performance; had lunch at an incredibly expensive restaurant while we had a much better meal of better quality and cheaper in Osaka in addition to not being warned beforehand that we can only pay in cash which we had to scramble to get; etc etc..) This definitely gave me the impression that some attention to details and proper planning would have radically improved our experience. So in summary, it was an mixed outcome that could have been much better.
Dear Ziad, I'm very sorry for some incovenience suffering you during our tours. They are mixed with some causes. Scheduling at weekly closing of the museum was my mistake. As to dinner with gaisha girl performance we booked it correctly through our restaurant but we found it was gaisha agent's fault. We could manage to ask them additional performance through negotiation. Regarding long distance tour to ninja museum and Ise shrine etc traffic jam and inexperienced driver's routing caused delay of our itinerary resulting in missing of ninja show and shorter shrine visit. I might had better to have asked you to start our tour earlier to avoid possible traffic jam. I should have explained the comparison of Matsusaka beef in Osaka and Mie if you don't insist eating it in Mie to avoid misconception. I will improve my guiding with detailed confirmation about key items,adding more extra time for long distance tour and preparation for alternative options in case of prospective trouble to minimize its risk. Best regards, Kenji
Kenji was knowledgeable, efficient, and flexible while showing us his home town of Kyoto. He expertly guided us through the Osaka subway and train stations, saving us valuable time we would have spent trying to read signs and figure out our route. He recommended okonomiyaki for lunch at a small restaurant in or near the Gion district and it was delicious!
Dear Barbara-san, Thank you for your excellent review of my tour. I'm very glad that you liked my home town Kyoto and my recommeded lunch. With the limited day-trip time from Osaka I managed to guide you several major tourists spots but Kyoto has plenty of sites worth visiting and facinating attractions. So I do recommed you to stay at least several days in Kyoto next time to enjoy more. Please contact me anytime if you need me in future. Best regards, Kenji
Kenji was knowledgeable and pleasant throughout. He made a great effort to accommodate our needs. One of our group had dietary requirements and he sought out a restaurant that met those needs.
Dear Lynn-san, Thank you for your wonderful review of my tour. I'm very glad that you could enjoyed my guiding in Osaka. I look forward to your next chance to visit Japan in near future. Best regards, Kenji