Don't you want to know how the Samurai spirit ‘Bushido’ was raised and kept in those days in Japan? You will find some hints by joining this tour. In this tour, there are four highlights relating to Bushido; Castle, Tea-ceremony, Swordsmith and Japanese paper ‘Washi’. I am sure you realize that these cultural elements contributed to create a unique Japanese refined value of life, Bushido.
At JR Gifu station, JR Nagoya station or At Meitetsu Inuyama Yuen station
Inuyama Castle (national treasure) is the oldest castle in Japan. You can touch and feel the authentic wooden building, climbing steep and narrow steps toward the upper floor. On each floor, you see some antiques, maps and documents to learn stories about the castle. From the top floor, you have a panoramic view while strolling along the outside corridor.
Tea-house ‘Joan’ in Inuyama is located in a beautiful Japanese garden near the castle, You find a simple aesthetic value based on Zen Buddhism in it.
In this museum, you can learn not only the history and the forging-process of swordsmiths but also enjoy seeing many masterpieces of swords and knives. Many visitors give a sigh of admiration seeing them. Then you drop in cutlery shops where you enjoy shopping for souvenirs.
Mino is the hometown of traditional Japanese paper ‘Washi, which was registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2014. This building was constructed in the end of the 19th century and used as a Washi-paper wholesale merchant's house. The chief of a family also served as a headman of this town. You could get detailed information about a typical townhouse of the Edo period.
You can enjoy strolling around traditional building areas which include beautiful old houses and souvenir shops.
This gallery provides you a fantastic atmosphere made by collaboration with paper-art and lights. Many competition masterpieces are on display telling the possibility of paper in daily lives.
At JR Gifu station
guide fee
transportation fee for guide and guests
entrance fee for guide and guests (total fee is about 2000yen/person)
lunch,tea and dinner for guide and guests
I can guide in Kyoto in case you support transportation fee.
1) The tour is not possible during extremely bad weather, such as typhoons or snowstorms.
2) The destination is flexible. It will be customized according to your interests, preference and physical condition.
3) Food preference information is important. I would like to know your likes and dislikes in advance.
4) Hotel pick-up is possible according to the location.
Tetsuji is a patient, knowledgeable guide who managed to fit all the highlights of two towns into a relaxed-feeling day. He introduced us to many under the surface aspects of local culture that we would have overall missed. And he made us feel comfortable traveling with children with constant food and bathroom needs. A five-star guide and great person!
Thank you for excellent praise for my tour. I am very happy to hear that you are satisfied with my guiding. I hope you could come back to Japan again and enjoy traveling around my area with me. I believe you still have a lot of places to visit and know the details. Please give my best regards to your family members.
We had a wonderful day with Tetsui who guided us through Shirakawa-go, the site of traditional gassho-zukuri houses. Tetsui was a terrific guide, providing a wealth of information on the traditional houses, but also any number of other topics related to Japanese culture along the way. He made helpful suggestions and adjustments to respond to our interests. Tetsui also handled the logistics extremely well, taking away any worry about our day. He even made bus reservations for us in advance to help us with a somewhat complicated day for us, as we were not familiar with the reservation process. We traveled with him from Takayama to Shirakawa, then we continued on to Kanazawa while he returned to Takayama. I thoroughly enjoyed his company and highly recommend Tetsui as a guide for a tour in Japan!
Thank you so much for your high praise. I am very happy to hear that you are satisfied with my job. I hope next opportunity could bring you back to Japan and give me a chance to help you traveling again. Please give my best regards to James.
We spent a really wondeful time with Tetsuji during this one-day hiking tour. He picked us in the lobby of the hotel and guided us very efficiently all day long (peace of mind for the whole family). He gave us all sorts of explanations during the hike and answered all of our questions (and we had a lot) about the place but also japanese culture and traditions. Having with us someone this knowledgeable, kind and professional made this day very special and one of the best moment (if not the best) of our stay in Japan. We can only recommend you contact him if you want to discover the Nagoya region !
I am very honored to have joined your family-reunion-journey in Japan. A friendly atmosphere of all a member of your family made me relaxed and enjoyed hiking while guiding. I hope you could visit Japan and spend happy times with me again.
Tetsuji was punctual, friendly and knowledgeable with a great command of English. He picked us up from the lobby of our hotel and took care of us until our train back to Nagoya. He made good preparations for our tour, having gone to recce the area prior as well as having found out which places might be closed. Although not everything went as planned, he was quick to find alternatives and make arrangements. Our only regret was not having a longer tour with him!
Thank you for so much praise to me. Now, I have a dream that I could have a chance to see your ceramic masterpieces in Singapore someday. Please give my best regards to your friends.