Nijo Castle Samurai Inside Story — Top-rated Guide (Max 8)

A great tour. Richard was both knowledgeable and passionate, providing a real insight into samurai history. One of our party described the tour as the best history lesson he had ever had. Richard coped brilliantly with our multi-generational family group, including ensuring that our eldest, hard-of-hearing member, could hear everything. Richard was happy to take photos for us outside (no photos are allowed inside the castle) and suggested the best photo opportunities. He also helped sort out our taxis at the end of the tour.

Cannot say enough great things about Richard as a tour guide! We explored Nijo Castle and his narration was immersive which made every room come more alive. His thoughtfulness and deliberation of his delivery comes only from a passion that is rather obvious (and contagious). I appreciated the balance of sharing historical facts and how he views some of the same cultural traits evident in today's fashion, housing and etiquette. It is with the highest recommendation to choose any of Richard's tours, you will not be disappointed! We are grateful he shared his gift with us.

I was originally going to check out Nijo Castle on my own, but when I saw that Richard was hosting tours I knew I had to book him after going on one of his tours a few days beforehand! Richard comes prepared with deep knowledge and historical context about the castle. He explained the history of the castle, the architecture, how the rooms were used in the past, and how samurai culture was lived in the castle. Just because of the timing I managed to get a solo tour with Richard, and while going through the castle I noticed several times other people stopping to listening as Richard explained things to me. He speaks with such authority that someone even started asking him questions, and he graciously spread his knowledge to the edification of both myself and other curious guest. Absolutely worth your time and money. There's a lot more I want to see in Kyoto, and next time visit I will be booking more tours with Richard and TripTomo!

It was absolutely great! My interest in Japanese culture, and especially the samurai times started as a kid when I watched the 1980 Shogun tv-series. My guide Richard explained me a lot details about the castle but also about, Japanese culture, samurai, daimyo and the shogun. I loved it, thanks Richard!

This was the best tour we had while traveling in Japan! Richard was amazing, passionate, and incredibly knowledgeable. You could tell he truly loves what he does. If you’re able to add this tour to your itinerary, definitely do it you won’t regret it!

Richard gave us a wonderful, informative experience at Nijo Castle despite the rain and crowds. He knows how to pace the tour to avoid clumping us up with tons of people without us feeling like we were being herded. He is knowledgeable, full of interesting facts and theories about historic and modern-day Japan. I learned to appreciate rocks! I would ask him for another tour in a heartbeat.

This was a fantastic experience with Richard as my guide through Nijo Castle. Richard was easy to find at the castle entrance and filled the entire tour with interesting insight and details about Shogun history, traditions, art, culture and castle design. He also explained how the castle interacted with the Kyoto Imperial Palace which is about 2 km away. The castle and gardens are fully accessible and were not very crowded when I was there the day before Japan's busy Golden Week began. I highly recommend this tour!

This was the best tour we have done in Japan so far. We got excellent explanations of the history, culture, etiquette etc of the castle in the shogun era from a native Japanese local who also put things into the context of modern Japanese culture — all with impeccable English. He was polite, knowledgeable, gave great explanations. It was clear that he has a passion for sharing his culture and history that made the experience much more impactful. He was also kind enough to take time to recommend local restaurants / spots. I would recommend this tour as a must do in Kyoto and would gladly repeat the tour if I came back with someone who had not been here before.

Our guide Richard was very knowledgeable about Japanese history and nuanced in the stories he shared. The castle is stunning with unexpected details that reflect our modern sensibilities.

What a great tour and guide!! We learned much about the castle, the Samari society and general background of Japan. Guide is very knowledgeable and have a fantastic way of communicating.

Amazing tour of Nijo Castle with Richard! Very knowledgeable about the rich history of the castle. The moment we stepped through the gates he brought you back in time with how the samurai and castle functioned. Beautiful site to see and learned many new things. Highly recommend this tour if you are in Kyoto!

Richard gave us a fantastic tour of Nijo Castle, including a sake tasting at the end. He was really engaging and clearly loves the history of Nijo. The history was great, the castle was beautiful, and the whole thing was actually one of our teenage daughter's biggest highlights of the entire trip.

Richard is one of the best tour guides I’ve had, and he really helped add alot of extra light on the castle, its history and a its significance. This was really one of my highlights so far coming here to Japan. Apart from the castle itself, on the tour you learn a-lot about the Edo period, dynamics between shogun and the emperor, and what life was like for the shogun. It’s a nice crash history course.

My tour with Richard was without a doubt, the best, most informative, and most thorough tour I’ve ever done. From the moment I met Richard it felt like hanging out with an old friend. And as we walked through the various parts of the castle, his detailed descriptions brought the place to life in the most magical of ways. Had I simply visited the castle on my own, I would not have walked away with a fraction of the information and the awe I now have for the place. If you are considering between visiting the castle on your own and doing so with Richard as your guide, I could not possibly recommend him more highly! And I look forward to coming back to Kyoto and doing other tours with Richard at some of the other sites in town.

Absolutely incredible and the guide customized the tour from the start as to our preferences. Everything was detailed and informative. Great experience.

Richard was excellent-very knowledgeable and thorough. Was nice to see Nijo compared to Imperial Palace in the same day. Would highly recommend this tour with Richard

Richard was an amazing tour guide. He helped us really understand the samurai culture. Without him our visit would be just a room after a room without any insight or context. 100% recommend.

Richard is the gold standard of tour guides. He cares about the subject matter, is a wealth of knowledge and information, and shares his very intelligent opinions to challenge how to engage with history. Don’t miss out.

Richard-san was the best! Wonderful stories and descriptions of the history of the region as well as the physical properties of the castle and the lives of the inhabitants.

Wonderful in-depth tour of Nijo Castle and its surrounding gardens! After 3 weeks touring around Japan we were "toured out", but our 3 hours with Richard in Nijo Castle just flew by. Richard made the castle come alive with his uniquely entertaining commentary and deep historical knowledge base. Moreover he lived in the US and is completely bilingual and bicultural. We were sorry we didn't have time to book more tours with Richard this trip, but definitely plan to do so when we return to Kyoto.

Richard was excellent he met us on time. He explained everything with enthusiast. He was very proud of his countries history and that made it exciting for us to listen to him.

Our guide Richard was the most amazing tour guide we could ever ask for!!! He was so friendly and I loved the fun facts I learnt today 😁 I highly highly recommend this tour for anybody, especially if the guide is Richard!! We definitely wouldn’t have had as much fun or learnt nearly as much if it wasn’t for him ☺️☺️ thanks so much for a perfect tour

Richard was the best guide! This was the highlight of our time in Kyoto. We loved his willingness to include the imperial palace during our tour so we could get a better understanding of Japanese history and culture.

Mr Richard was very knowledgeable about Kyoto castle and Imperial Palace. We are very satisfied for his service and we will recommend this tour

This was such an amazing tour and Richard was a fantastic guide! He was knowledgeable and personable as well. I got to see and learn about a lot of Nijo castle and even see some things I wasn't expecting to see. Could not recommend Richard and this tour enough!

Richard was an amazing guide! Incredibly knowledgeable and explained things very clearly. We learnt so much and really enjoyed our time at Nijo Castle. Richard was so attentive and was able to answer questions about all curiousities we had about Japan and the local area. We would HIGHLY recommend Richard to anyone wanting to know and learn about Nijo Castle as well as the wider Japan.

A wonderful historical place to visit with a very knowledgeable guide. Thank you Richard for a fantastic experience.

My tour guide Richard is very knowledgeable not only on the Nijo castle, but on Japanese history and culture as well. A very nice person, who speaks great English and I could ask him anything on Japan and he is willing to answer. I highly recommend this tour.

With my wife and our adolescent daughter, in a small group of around 10 in total, started early afternoon, for 3 hrs Nijo castle ( + the Imperial Palace). Absolutely loved it. We arrived a few minutes late, Richard and the group waited for us - good communication meanwhile. Deep and vast local knowledge and willing to share. Very approachable for any (and as many) questions. Gave depth to my understanding of Japanese culture and mentality. Unbelievably beautiful scenery. Heaps of photo opportunities. Highly recommended. Many thanks Richard.

We had a great time at Nijo Castle with our Guide Richard. We were very lucky to have a private tour with him. Richard is extremely knowledgeable and friendly. He answered all our questions and focussed on showing us parts of the castle that matched our individual interests. He also brought us a traditional Japanese drink called Calpis and we had some iced matcha and matcha ice cream. I highly recommend this tour. We had a great time.

Richard has a fascinating way of conveying the history not only of the samurai but also of Japan and its customs. I highly recommend it.