Kyoto Walking Tour in Japan

Overseas tourists are invited to explore the  fascinating,  mysterious and historical  city of  Kyoto  in Japan. Here people will catch a glimpse of a Maiko's daily life as well as inside of a machiya townhouse.

Local artists and machiya owners present the "Kiyomizu Machiya Walking Tour" every second and fourth Wednesdays. A local Kyoto resident will be your guide, with guide services provided in Japanese and interpreted in English.  French and Chinese speaking interpreters are also available on request.

Walkers will be able to explore a hidden side of Kyoto that, for most, remains shrouded behind the mist of history and legends. You are invited to take part in a tour of this mysterious and historical side of Kyoto. The cost of the Walking Tour is 2,800 yen per person, with 500 yen being  contributed to the Kyoto Center for Community Collaboration's "Machiya Mathizukuri Fund" as part of their One Coin Contribution campaign. This contribution will be used for Kyoto machiya townhouse preservation. The maximum number of participants is 15, and reservations are required in advance .

The Walking Tour Itinerary starts  with an outside look at machiya townhouses(formerly used by Kiyomizu pottery craftsmen) . The people will then see the inside of a Kiyomizu pottery climbing kiln (akiln with multi stepped chambers) , and walk through the Rokuhara district(once a cemetery ground as well as a political center from the early 12th century until the middle of the 14th century), known as the "entrance to the 'Other World'" . A visit is made to  Miyagawa-cho, famous around the world as the residential area of maikos and geikos. The is a  possible chan ce of seeing them in their daitime kimonos). The walking tour ends with tea at the home of Haruhisa Ono

The Walking Tour Guide is Haruhisa Ono, was born in Kyoto,Japan. Mr.Ono makes his living as a graphic designer. His life-experiences include a 1 year stint travelling the globe. Over this 1 year span he visited Europe, the Middle East and Asia. At the age of 34, after 10 years in the printing industry, he began his own design company and has been working in that capacity for the past 28 years. Since moving into a renovated machiya townhouse 7 years ago, machiya restoration and preservation has been a passion of Mr.Ono. Some of his creative outlets include cutout art(kirigami) and introducing Japanese cultural gems to people from around the world. He is also a level 6 master iaijutsu(a Japanese sword-drawing technique).

For further information see the website http://www.kyoto.travel/new_release.html