Many refer to Kyoto as Japan’s cultural capital and it can seem as different to Tokyo as night is to day. Indeed when you are there it can be hard to believe that these two incredible cities are a relatively short shinkansen, bullet train, ride apart. Close enough indeed for a day trip, as long as you are happy to wake up early.
Again, we have an extensive network of guides as well as a long list of experiences that we are able to arrange.
To give you some ideas, here is a small sample of some of the tours we have arranged in the past:
- Understanding Japan through its gardens
- Dark Kyoto
- Discovering Japanese Tea
- Early morning temple visits
- Cycling Kyoto’s neighbourhoods
- Rural Kyoto
- Kyoto artisans
- Samurai Joe’s Kyoto
- Osaka Street Food
Some of our more popular Kyoto experiences include:
- Enjoying a private tea ceremony in the renovated temple home of an architect turned tea master
- Visiting geisha in their invitation only tea houses for afternoon tea, dinner, or after-dinner dinks
- Relishing the opportunity for an after-hours temple tour complete with temple light-up
- Creating your own unique piece of indigo dyed art or clothing
- Experiencing private cultural workshops: introductions and lessons in tea, ikebana, incense listening &/or calligraphy
- Relaxing with an early morning temple meditation
- Indulging with a private dinner and sake tasting at a wonderful family brewery close to Osaka
- Participating in the early morning prayer service in one of Kyoto’s beautiful rural temples
- Dressing in kimono for the day
- Relieving stress with a taiko drumming workshop; although be warned you will want to go back for more
- Learning to butcher a whole fish & slice perfect sashimi
- Shopping in Kyoto’s kitchen (Nishiki market) for the ingredients for your cooking class
- Visiting the studio of a working artisan to learn a traditional craft, such as bamboo, ceramics, weaving or metalwork.