This tour takes you to historical sites in Kitakamakura (Northern Kamakura), letting you enjoy the traditional culture of Zen Buddhism and seasonal natural beauty in a quiet atmosphere. While visiting Zen temples, you experience a Zen-meditation session as well as Kaiseki-ryori, a set menu of Japanese traditional dishes for a party. This will surely purify your mind and be a once-in-lifetime experience.
At Kitakamakura Station
One of the most important Zen Buddhist Temples, ranked the second among Kamakura's Five Mountains (great Zen temples)
Have lunch of kaiseki-ryori, a set meal for a Japanese dinner party with healthy and delicious ingredients, at one of the most popular Japanese style restaurants in Kamakura
The museum inside an old private house built about 100 years ago to see its architecture and see a seasonal exhibition
Ranked at the top of Kamakura's Five Mountains (great Zen temples) and the oldest Zen training monastery
Join the one-hour Zen meditation session for beginners.
At Kamakura Station
This tour is targeted for those who want to enjoy natural beauty and the traditional culture of Zen Buddhism in Kita Kamakura, a tranquil and elegant ancient city of Japan, getting away from din and bustle of cities. The tour starts from Engakuji-temple, which was founded in 1282, consists of several Buddhist architectures including Shariden, a National Treasure. For lunch enjoy kaiseki-ryori, a set menu of Japanese party dishes of various ingredients including sashimi, tofu, grilled fish and seasonable vegetables at a Japanese restaurant. Next visit another Zen temple, Kenchoji-temple, the first-ranked of the five great Zen temples in Kamakura to see various kinds of temple buildings and a Japanese garden as well as some Buddhist statues. Have a chance to join a Zen meditation session for beginners at the Main Hall of this temple. After that, you may find just the way you are.
The highlight of the tour is characterized by three main attractions. First, enjoy seasonal natural beauty. See cherry blossoms in spring, fresh green leaves and Japanese hydrangea in early summer, and changing colors of autumn leaves. Second, learn about Zen Buddhism and experience Zen meditation, in which you can master quiet and deep breathing from the abdomen to end up finding yourself. Finally, tasting authentic and healthy kaiseki-ryori, whose ingredients are selected and collected from all over Japan. I believe that, at the end of the tour, your heart and mind are completely purified and refreshed, and you are ready for another journey of your life.
guide fee
transportation fee of guide
entrance fee of guide
lunch of guide
transportation fee (guest)
lunch (guest)
entrance fee (guest)
I have changed the day when I am available.
1. Zen meditation sessions are held every Friday and Saturday, so the tour starts only on those days of the week.
2. Since Zen meditation sessions are held in a tatami or straw mat room, you need to take off your shoes at the entrance. Casual clothes which are suitable for sitting on a tatami mat such as trousers and long skirts are recommended. You don't have to kneel on the floor in the formal sitting position. You can sit down the way you feel comfortable.
3. For lunch, a meal is served as a set menu. You will select one from some set menus but cannot order an individual dish.
Although one member of our Family is able to speak a basic level of Japanese, he had never been to Tokyo before. So having a private guide was the top reason why we booked this tour. Haruo was very responsive, both before and during the tour. Before our arrival, contacting us and confirming the sites we wanted to see. The morning of, we confused our start time to an earlier time and Haruo left his home early to get to us. He picked us up at the train station by our accommodations, which we greatly appreciated. We chose Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Tokyo Tower, lunch in the Shopping Mall at Ginza, Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Sumida river cruise. Unfortunately, the Garden was closed the day of our tour, so we went to see the giant Shinjuku 3D cat billboard! Since we chose attractions that were not close to each other, Haruo had to navigate the trains and subways for us, which even for a local can be confusing. Our Family has food issues - and Haruo spoke with the staff at the restaurant we chose on our behalf to ensure we could eat there without issue. And we did and it was a lovely lunch! One recommendation would be to select attractions that are closer to each other than we did. Especially if you haven't recovered from jet lag! I would highly recommend Haruo and this tour!
Dear Sharon Thank you for heartwarming review though I made some mistakes and confused you during the tour. This encourages me to improve my future tour. Take care of yourselves and enjoy the rest of summer. Haruo
We really enjoyed traveling to Kamakura and Yokosuka with Horuo. It was generally overcast (with a bit of rain) so we were often alone at some of the most popular tourist destinations in the area, and we were able to generally avoid the crowds with Haruo. Travel was very easy for us, and we learned a lot about Japan's history while on our adventures with him. Haruo is very knowledgeable about about the locations he took us to, and was able to bring each bridge and path to life with background we would have otherwise been oblivious to - stories of royalty, faith, assassination plot, wars, peace, and daily life for residents throughout history. There is so much we would have otherwise missed without Haruo, and we are deeply appreciative that we were able to share our travels with him.
Dear Trevis Thank you very much for your heartwarming review. This encourages me to improve my guiding. I was also very happy to have a tour with you. Please take care of yourselves. Best Regards Haruo
Haruo is a fantastic guide and educator who helped us get our bearings on our first day in Tokyo. While on an amazing tour of the imperial gardens (and an indoor 'open air' style Edo museum) we learned about the history of Tokyo and its people, we learned about basic etiquette (tipping, bowing, etc), and how to find what we would need during our 2 week stay. We learned the basics about Shintoism, a few important phrases, we got to try some really unique (and tasty) food, and he took some really great photos of us!
I'm sure you had spent a great time in your whole tour in Japan. Please take care of yourselves. Thank you again. Haruo
Haruo was a great choice for our first day in Tokyo. We knew we'd be wiped from the prior day of flying mentally, so setting up a tour with Haruo explaining all the ins and outs of shrines and how to use the subway was so helpful to get us started, plus we hit up a bunch of the big sites. Lots of history and info, more than happy to be flexible for the sights we wanted to see vs what we were not as interested in. Great guy, great tour, highly recommend!
Dear Elisa and Charles Thank you so much for your kind review. That encourages me to improve my tour from now on. It is not you but me that learned a lot about the culture of your country. Especially, talking about your hometown Seatle made me remember sweet memories of my trip and want to come back there. I believe you had a great time after our tour. Thank you again and take care of yourselves. Best Regards, Haruo