Kyoto Magical Night English Tour: Gion & Fushimi Inari Shrine

It was so great....Kyoto In the evening is so magical. Ikki show us so many cool thinks and new now so much more about history. Thank you ikki....it was so fun!

The night tour was a great idea. Our guide Joi was very informative and made the tour fun for my wife and I. He also made sure to take photos from the best spots! I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to explore the history of Kyoto

Haruki is very personable, knows his stuffs with very good command of English. Very recommendable. Since I have a limitation on walking, he looks after me all the time. I recommend Haruki as a guide.

Incredible experience visiting some of the most beautiful and historical sites in Gion. Our guide Joey was incredibly informative and professional, we had a great time!

An amazing experience, thank you so much Joey and the team for a brilliant evening!

Fantastic evening, learnt so much and had a beautiful time. Ichika was so knowledgeable and so lovely and polite. Would recommend.

Ichika was very knowledgeable and friendly. Took us in a wonderful tour through fushimi inari and onto Gion. Would recommend!!

Ikki was a fantastic tour guide, very knowledgeable and fantastic picture taker!

Ikki was amazing. So patient with photos and we got a lot of local culture.

I had an absolutely wonderful time exploring Kyoto with my guide, Ichika, from OTAKU hopper! Having just arrived from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, I really appreciated how relaxed, easygoing, and enjoyable this tour was. Ichika spoke excellent English, was incredibly knowledgeable about Kyoto's history, culture, and traditions, and shared so many interesting details throughout our walk. What really made the experience special was her personality. She was warm, attentive, patient, and genuinely interested in hearing my own stories and experiences about Japan. Our conversations felt so natural and effortless that it was more like exploring Kyoto with a friend than being on a guided tour. She made the entire experience so enjoyable that the time absolutely flew by! As someone traveling solo, I also especially appreciated that Ichika took some fantastic photographs of me along the way. Getting good pictures of yourself while traveling alone can be surprisingly difficult, so this was such a thoughtful and welcome bonus! Communication was another highlight. Everything was easily coordinated through WhatsApp, and Ichika was responsive, clear, and professional from start to finish. The entire experience felt seamless and stress-free. I cannot recommend Ichika highly enough! She made my time in Kyoto truly memorable, and I would happily book another tour with her without hesitation. A heartfelt thank you to Ichika and OTAKU hopper for such a wonderful experience. You helped make my return to Japan after 25 years even more special, and I will remember this lovely evening for a long time!

Our tour guide was Ikki and he was fantastic! He was very friendly and knowledgeable, we learnt so much about Gion and the local shrines.

Ikki was a super guide. So knowledgeable and enthusiastic His local knowledge meant we discovered places in Kyoto that we could never found ourselves. He was super friendly and shared many stories. He was also curious and respectful to us. We told him he must visit Edinburgh in Scotland too! We would definitely recommend this tour! A lovely end to our 3 weeks touring Japan.

Very educational & fun experience.

Joi was an excellent guide, lovely young man who was very informative. I learnt lots of new information and would highly recommend this tour and guide.

Brilliant experience. Joi was very knowledgeable, friendly and interesting to be with. Highly recommended.

We had such a wonderful time exploring Kyoto with Joi! He was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so much about the history and culture of the places we visited. We saw everything promised in the tour description, and every stop was worthwhile. Fushimi Inari Shrine was definitely our favorite, but seeing the beautiful Yasaka Pagoda was another highlight! What really made the experience special was Joi himself. He communicated so well before the tour, making sure we knew exactly where to meet, and even followed up afterward with helpful recommendations for the rest of our time in Kyoto. He was incredibly patient with our two kids and their endless questions, and was always happy to stop and take family photos whenever we asked. We learned so much, saw some incredible sights, and genuinely enjoyed our time with Joi. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide and would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kyoto!

We had such a wonderful time exploring Kyoto with Joi! He was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so much about the history and culture of the places we visited. We saw everything promised in the tour description, and every stop was worthwhile. Fushimi Inari Shrine was definitely our favorite, but seeing the beautiful Yasaka Pagoda was another highlight! What really made the experience special was Joi himself. He communicated so well before the tour, making sure we knew exactly where to meet, and even followed up afterward with helpful recommendations for the rest of our time in Kyoto. He was incredibly patient with our two kids and their endless questions, and was always happy to stop and take family photos whenever we asked. We learned so much, saw some incredible sights, and genuinely enjoyed our time with Joi. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide and would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kyoto!

Very friendly and makes the tour interesting with his unique takes. Very good at taking photos and taking us to all the hotspots. Our guide was Joi

Had an amazing trip with Joi who gave a very fun and informative tour. Made it very involving for all. Also gave such good recommendations for where to visit and eat! Had a great time

We had Jay for our guide and he was amazing! The tour was the perfect amount of walking and we the shrines and temples at night are beautiful! Jay told us all about the history and meaning of the shrines and temples which was neat to learn about. We loved it!

Haruki was great! We enjoyed every minute :)

Ikki was a fantastic guide, young and enthusiastic with great local knowledge. He seemed to always find a slightly different place to stand to that great photo or view of one of the shrines or temples, especially the pagoda.

Hurki was a great guid and very knowledgeable about the history of Japan

We loved this tour. Joi was a fantastic guide. He made some accommodations that we needed and was always interested in meeting our needs. We saw everything we expected and Joi gave us a lot of information. Highly recommend this tour and Joi!

We had a wonderful evening tour of Gion and Fushimi Inari with Ichika. We were very pleased with our tour and all the highlights we were able to see in 2.5 hours. I would highly recommend this tour at night as well, as the days are very warm and humid in September. Ichika was a fabulous tour guide and since we were the only people on the tour, we really enjoyed learning about Japanese culture and the sights we saw. Thank you Ichika, you made our first night in Kyoto a very memorable one. We also appreciate all the great pictures you captured of us as well.

We enjoyed the tour with our guide Ikki very much! He was such a friendly person who gave us immediatly all answers to our questions. He is really an expert in Kyoto.

It was an amazing experience, the guide Ikki, made the whole experience even better!

Very good guide, with great information! Thank u so much Ikki! - the 3 Danes

Our guide Ikki was amazing and gave us an amazing experience! Can 100% recommend!

We had a great time with Joy, he was very knowledgeable and friendly.

Passion and good and friendly

Joi did an incredible job for our family. We appreciate his knowledge.

Joi was wonderful. He knew so much about the area and as a native of Kyoto, he knew all the secret places for the best photographs! I would recommend him and his tours! Thank you, Joi!

Joi was a great guide, very knowledgeable about the area. He really helped us appreciate and learn about the Gion neighborhood and shrines.

Joi was a wonderful tour guide. He took his time to explain all of the history of the many sites we visited and answeeed all of our questions. He took our photos and was a joy to tour with!

Joi was an amazing guide. He made sure to customize the tour for the group, was very informative and showed us slme of the most amazing sites in Gion. We all learned so kich about the history of the areas we toured and cultural customs. He is a very welcoming guide and we loved getting to know kore about him and the city he grew up in. Would highly recommend this tour!!

Joi is an amazing guide we learned so much best tour I’ve ever had definitely

Joi was awesome! Super friendly, shared a lot and enlightened us to a lot of interesting information about the city. Would not visit Kyoto without doing a tour with him!

We had a great tour with our very knowledgable and lovely Guide Yui. We learned a lot about Temples, Shrines, Geishas and Meikos, and all of that in perfekt English. All through our tour she offered to take pictures of us at amazing spots, so we couldn't have been happier.

Even though it started out in the pouring rain and ended with extreme heat and humidity, my family LOVED this nighttime tour. Our guide Joi was AWESOME! So knowledgeable, kind, fun and engaging. This was a highlight of our trip to Kyoto, highly recommend.

Joi was the best!!! We had such a great time and learned so much! Highly recommend!!!

Joi was great! Would recommend

This was the perfect start to the Kyoto leg of our trip, and Kate was such a fantastic guide! Our travel day was a bit longer than expected and we arrived with very tired and hungry kids. Kate was so patient and flexible in adjusting the itinerary to our needs and was great with the kids for the whole experience. We still got to see the sites that were most important to us and it gave us a great taste of Kyoto to start our time there. Would highly recommend!

We enjoyed our tour with Mariko-san! You’ll get a chance to see and learn about many of the sights in Kyoto. She also gave us very helpful suggestions for restaurants and other places to visit. A wonderful tour!

Ikki was by far the best guide we had during our three week travel in Japan. Knowledgable, enthusiastic and engaging, we had a great tour of the geisha district in Kyoto and have come away with great photos and happy memories. At the end of the tour he gave us restaurant recommendations and the following day set us the photos that he took of us all during the tour, Big up Ikki!

We had an amazing tour with Ikki. He is very well informed about all the places we visited and is easy to talk to. He took over a 100 photos throughout the tour, and I was especially happy with how he was able to capture so many moments where it looks like we are the only ones there. At the end of the tour Ikki also provided us with a list of restaurant recommendations and we’ve already been to two! All around great tour at a good pace that felt like we were walking around Kyoto with an old friend or acquaintance.

Our very first adventure as soon as we got to Kyoto! Ikki was our local guide and shared so much about all the places on tour, very well informed. He also took over a 100 photos throughout the tour, providing us with great family photos. Somehow they all look like we are the only ones there too! Nighttime tour was definitely the way to go as it was far less crowded than the daytime and cooler/less humid, Ikki also provided us some great restaurant recommendations in the area. Very happy I booked this tour and got an excellent guide.

We had the absolute pleasure of spending the evening with our tour guide Ikki Kataoka and it was one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. From the moment we met, he was incredibly kind, warm and professional. His English was excellent, making communication effortless and allowing us to fully appreciate the history, culture, and stories behind each destination. He was born and raised in Kyoto and the pride and affection he has for city was reflected gracoiusly during the tour. What truly stood out was his genuine passion for sharing Japan with visitors. He was patient with all of our questions, attentive to our interests, and went above and beyond to ensure we had a comfortable and memorable experience. At each site he took the most amazing pictures of our family. His thoughtful recommendations and local insights helped us discover places we never would have found on our own, including a delicious dinner spot with a gorgeous view. Not only was he knowledgeable, but he also had a wonderful personality—friendly, respectful, and easy to talk to throughout the entire tour. We felt welcomed, cared for, and completely at ease. If you’re looking for a knowledgeable, kind-hearted, and highly professional English-speaking guide in Japan, I cannot recommend him highly enough. They made our trip truly special, and we will always remember our time with them with gratitude and fondness. Thank you for an unforgettable experience!

Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable and easy to understand. We saw a lot in 2 1/2 hours and learned so much!