Tesuro guided us around the lovely streets of the Geisha Districts, explained the history, location, customs, and origins, answering questions as we went. He and Marina took photos of our small group at strategic points. We then had a lovely meal at a traditional restaurant run by a well known and very welcoming owner and staff. It was a pleasure to chat to Tesuro and Marina over dinner. Thankyou! I would recommend.

We spent a wonderful day getting to know Kanazawa with Sachiko and Kumiko our fabulous guides oozing with Japanese hospitality. We visited the Samurai’s house, the Ninja’s temple, Kanazawa castle, Kenroku-en gardens and the Higashiyama. Geisha district. Sachiko provided us with an insider viewpoint of the places we visited and filled us with lots of interesting stories. She also recommended places to shop and eat at. Kumiko was fabulous photographer and her ninja style provided us with great photos. She also generously provided us with information for our day trip on the next day. Thankyou to both of you. We had a wonderful day!

The tour was fantastic, and our driver and guide, Mr. Hiroshi Oki, was amazing. His excellent English and in-depth knowledge of Kyoto and its history made for a truly memorable experience. The weather was uncooperative at the start of our day and poured rain, throwing a major wrench in our planned itinerary. However, Hiroshi adjusted quickly and added the indoor venue of the Sanjyu Sangendo Temple of 1001 wooden Buddhas to the list, so we stayed dry until the rain passed. What a fascinating and terrific surprise this addition to our tour was. We had a delicious lunch at the Gontaro Japanese Noodle Shop, marveled at the impressive yet serene Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji Temple), toured the Nijo Castle built for Shogun Toranaga, drove through the Gion District, and finished out the day at the Fushimi Inari Shrine of the 10,000 red gates. The most special part about this experience was the extreme kindness our driver and guide, Mr. Hiroshi Oki, showed towards my husband, who uses a mobility scooter. Mr. Oki lifted the scooter in and out of his vehicle at every stop we made and ensured my husband was stable and secure getting on and off his scooter. At venues where my husband couldn't take his scooter inside, Mr. Oki arranged for a wheelchair and then proceeded to push my husband in the wheelchair, all while providing informative and entertaining commentary on what we were viewing. I cannot thank Kanazawa Tours and Mr. Hiroshi Oki enough for giving us the tour of a lifetime and highly recommend them without hesitation.

Great day with Sachiko!! My husband and I spent the morning visiting the samurai district, the Kenrokuen garden , the castle and more. Sachiko brought to life the history of the period with interesting insights and facts. (Along with pointing out and providing time to visit some beautiful artisan shops) Her handy flip book always seem to have the answers and an illustration to anything we might want to know. We had a delightful informative morning and were happy we got to meet up later for an evening dinner tour where all 3 of us had a good time slurping udon, learning more about local food and drink and sharing stories.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two half-day tours of Kanazawa with Tetsuro Aibo. Having grown up in the city, he knows it well and is an excellent guide. (He knows the short cuts to avoid the crowds!) The first day we toured Kanazawa Castle and the beautiful Kenrokuen Garden. The second day we visited the Samurai District, where we toured a museum in a former samurai's home, and the Higashi Chaya District, filled with artisan shops including the famous gold leaf craftspeople. Tetsuro quickly pin-pointed our interest in history and art and tailored our time together accordingly. He also gave us great restaurant suggestions and even joined us for lunch at a very local place where he helped us order Kanazawa specialties. We saw and experienced much more of Kanazawa than we would have on our own. Thank you, Tetsuro!

Nozomi was above and beyond our expectations. She greeted us promptly at the hotel with an extremely positive energy. We then agreed on 2 options on where to go. Nozomi was accommodating, knowledgeable, friendly and it felt like she would do absolutely anything to help us have a great time. She even called taxis for us when we had issues speaking with the hotel staff. We were so lucky to have met her and had the opportunity to learn so much. We cannot thank her enough.

We spent a full and fulfilling day with our guide Sachiko of Kanazawa Tours. After doing a few of these types of tours we agree that having a quality guide makes all the difference in understanding the context and culture in a way that looking at a guidebook just can’t provide. Sachiko was so well prepared, asked us what our preferences were, and she was thoughtful about time management (such as phoning in a lunch reservation while we were traveling between sites). She grew up in Kanazawa so she knew the region well, had in depth knowledge of all the sites, and she spoke excellent English. Highly recommended.

Sachiko was knowledgeable and friendly. She answered everyone’s questions and explained many aspects of Kanazawa’s geisha history. We saw the places where geishas lived and worked and rehearsed, and we learned about past and current practices. She shared many interesting stories! She took us to a great restaurant where we were served a delicious meal. It was relaxing, and the staff took good care of us. She took pictures of us and made it a great evening.

Highly recommend! Our guide Nozomi Kondo was very professional, spoke perfect English, was very engaging, and has an impressive professional resume. We began with a tour of the samurai district, then visited a master kimono designer in his residence and even tried our hand at painting silk using ancient techniques (much harder than it looks!). We ended the tour at Omichi Market, where Nozomi-san gave us personal lunch suggestions. Was a great half day tour!

We did a full day culture and arts tour of Kanazawa with Sachiko. She was an amazing guide and explained fully the cultural history of the Samurai and Geisha districts. We also had great and unique visits to a master Kaga embroiderer and Master hand dyed kimono maker. These visits were insightful and it was fantastic to see the intricacy of the crafts. Sachiko was so friendly and translated along the way. Sachiko made the whole day easy, organising taxis to get us efficiently around the city. I’d highly recommend this tour around this amazing city

Excellent services, very good guides This is a very good contact for Kanazawa and Takayama ... very punctual four days services around Kanazawa and Takayama.

We booked a tour to visit artisans in Kanazawa as we are particularly interested in heritage crafts and skills. Nozomi, our guide for the day, met us in our hotel and we set off from there. Our tour visited a traditional umbrella maker and restorer and a silk painter (mostly Kimonos but other items as well.) Both artisans were fantastic, really friendly and interesting to talk to, discussing their techniques and materials and letting us have a try ourselves. We were able to get some great photos taken by ourselves and Nozomi. The artisans are classed as ‘masters’ so the quality of the work is amazing and their knowledge of their craft is obviously deep and wide. It is hard to convey in a review how beautiful their work is, totally stunning. We felt privileged to have been invited into their workshops to see them. As well as the two artisans, Nozomi took us around the museum of modern art to look at some particularly interesting installations and to a local restaurant for lunch. She was really well informed and able to answer our questions, very friendly and joyous to be with for the day. We couldn’t have wished for a better guide. All in all, totally recommended.

Really enjoyed our day. Our guide Tetsuro Aiba was very knowledgeable about the city and the chance to see such talented artists up close is something we shall never forget.

I booked this tour after reading the reviews on tripadvisor. Our guide , Sachiko was absolutely brilliant. A party of 8 people, we booked a full day private tour . The seven hours we had with Sachiko just flew by, her knowledge of Kanazawa is amazing. I’d fully recommend this tour , and if you have the opportunity, ask for Sachiko as your guide .

Nozomi Kondo received us at the train station with our driver for the day. Both were excellent. Nozomi was very knowledgeable about the history and culture of Japan as well as current Japanese life. We especially appreciated her flexibility in rearranging our itinerary to account for the hot weather and our desire to locate specific items to take back home. We also appreciated that she and shared many photos as we have a tendency to forget to take them.