Published on Nov, 2024

The day we had with Takashi was one we will always cherish. We had heard that many of the popular temples & shrines in Kyoto were experiencing high volumes of tourism & crowds. My teenage son & I knew we wanted to experience Kyoto in a more peaceful & authentic way while still seeing very special & sacred places. Spending the day with Takashi was like spending the day with a friend that knows all the best places to visit & eat. It felt easy! It was wonderful to visit these hidden gems, and experience them as they were meant to be. Being able to ride in the car between locations was relaxing. Takashi’s energy is calm, fun & easy going. We learned a lot but in the most relaxed way. He knows the perfect balance between sharing history, culture, stories & just letting us experience the place we were visiting. This was the best money we spent on our trip & set the tone for the rest of our time in Kyoto. I can’t wait to return & spend another day having Takashi show us around. My son, who is 18, said that he loved it because it was more like spending the day with a companion than a tour guide. Takashi is a very special person & anyone who gets to spend a day with him will leave loving Kyoto.

Published on Nov, 2024

We really enjoyed our private car tour of Kyoto. Takashi is a very friendly and knowledgeable guide and took our large family group on an enjoyable and comfortable tour through four key Kyoto locations and lunch during the one-day tour. Since he has his own van, we were able to cover a lot of ground. We highly recommend his private tour of Kyoto.

Published on Nov, 2024

Takashi was recommended to me by a friend and I can honestly say I’m so glad that I hired him. He showed us a part of Kyoto that was different from the main areas. We got a chance to sit back and enjoy a little bit of the countryside and saw places/temples I would have never have found on our own. His English is very good and although we did a lot in a day it never seemed rushed. Takashi was very flexible and fined tuned the day according to our desires. I will use him again whenever I’m in the Osaka and Kyoto area. His email communication was very good and he even helped us plan our free day in Kyoto… Thank you Takashi!

Published on Oct, 2024

Private Car Tour Let’s Uncover Secret of Majestic Kyoto History is what you’d expect from a 5 stars tour! Takashi went above and beyond to customize the perfect itinerary for my whole family. Throughout the tour, we had plenty of restroom breaks for my 80 yr old parents and snack time for my 11 yr old and 8 yr old niece and nephew. Takashi is fluent in English and he clearly narrated each place’s story. He even made jokes to make the tour fun and entertaining! We visited Kyoto’s most famous spots such as Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Iwatayama Monkey Park, etc. However, the biggest highlights were the hidden temples away from the main tourist spots! We visited a beautiful moss garden nestled inside an old temple building dating back to 1661. In another temple, the locals let us tried free samples of various Japanese delicacies. We even had the chance to try the tea ceremony. Another highlight of the tour was the food. After hearing everyone’s preferences, Takashi recommended a restaurant call Chojiro for lunch. Everything was amazing; the food, service, the ambience. The restaurant even offers kids menu. I highly recommend this private tour for anyone who wants an authentic Kyoto experience. You will visit many unique places without long lines and advanced reservations. This is an adventure not to be missed!

Published on Oct, 2024

Amazing Experience. Highlight of our 12- day Japan trip. I absolutely recommend touring with Takashi. We toured with Takashi for two days and I must say that these were the best tours that we encountered on our trip. He took into account my boyfriend’s hip surgery and tried to shorten the walking time by getting us a rickshaw on the longer tour of Arashiyama. We did so much in two days thanks to him. Takashi picked us up at our hotel in Osaka and then we toured Osaka and then off to Nara and then Kyoto. Takashi took us to the Monkey Park then off to the Bamboo Forest (where we rode the rickshaws). The hidden temples were the best, so peaceful and lacking the crowd, so you could go right in and have matcha tea sitting on the floor of the temple. The tour far exceeded all our expectations and with Takashi’s expertise we were able to see so much more than we thought we would be able to. Our trip of a lifetime was made so much better having Takashi as a guide. He was patient, kind, very articulate and flexible so that we could pick and choose what we wanted to do, and he made suggestions on what we might like to see. We want to go back to Japan in a few years and will be contacting Takashi to take us around longer than a couple of days. If you want to have fun with your tour guide and learn more about the culture, Takashi is your guide.