Contact Chris

For tour bookings or inquiries, please include the following information in your email:

  • The date you’d like the tour
  • What tour you’d like to do (for details see my Kyoto tours, Tokyo tours, Nara tours, Hiroshima/Miyajima tours, Kanazawa tours)
  • The number of people in your group
  • The time you’d like to start the tour
  • The name of your hotel, ryokan or other place you’d like the guide to meet you (for example, Kyoto Station)

Please note that we do not offer customized tours. Our guides, of course, are flexible and can make reasonable modifications to the tours based on your wishes, comfort and desired walking pace. This is the virtue of a fully private tour like the ones we offer. Taxis or public transport can be used to limit the amount of walking necessary. However, we ask that you discuss any modifications with your guide upon meeting (ie, rather than in advance by email). Please keep in mind that not all requests can be met; our guide will let you know what is possible given the time frame and group size etc. Finally, please understand that we can only answer a certain number of questions in the process of booking of a tour. General questions about Japan and requests for assistance with travel arrangements fall under the heading of our consulting services.

If you are emailing about consulting or trip planning, please include your travel dates and some information about what kind of trip you’d like to plan in your email.

Email contact: Chris Rowthorn
Alternative contact: alternative email

Please note that, due to time constraints, I cannot reply to casual queries about Japan. See Consulting & Trip Planning for information about the consulting services I offer.

Please note that I have only a limited number of guides. Thus, I recommend booking as far ahead as possible, especially during April (the cherry blossom season) and November (the fall foliage season).

Finally, please note that we do not normally reply to emails on Saturday or Sunday, Japan time.

Walking Tours

  • Half-day (four-hour) tours: ¥40,000 (about US$266)
  • Six-hour tours: ¥60,000 (about US$399)
  • Full-day (eight-hour) tours: ¥75,000 (about US$499)
  • Two-hour evening walks in Kyoto or Tokyo: ¥35,000 (about US$233)

This is the cost of the entire group, not the per-person cost (ie, this is the guide fee for your entire group). Payment is in cash at the conclusion of the tour or by credit card in advance of the tour (we can set up credit card billing). If you choose to pay in cash, please note that we only accept yen cash. Transport to and from the tour and during the tours, drinks and snacks along the way, and temple/garden/entrance fees are not included in this price (these costs are usually minimal).

We ask that you cover all of the guide’s expenses during the tour. This includes the guide’s lunch (for six-hour or eight-hour tours) and transport during the tour (but not before or after the tour). Guides do not have to pay admission at most tourist sites. Thus, the guide’s expenses are usually minimal and the guide can help you choose the most economical lunch and transport options if this is a concern.

Up to six people can join a tour (ie, the maximum group size is six). The guide reserves the right to cancel the tour if unexpected members arrive on the day of the tour.

Your guide will be happy to make some changes to the walking tour routes on the day of the tour.

Trip Planning and Consulting

We charge ¥27,000 (about US$174, CA$246/€165/£138) per hour for consulting.

Meeting Your Guide

Because you may meet your guide in a crowded hotel lobby or other public space, we use a discreet system to help you recognize your guide: Your guide, will hold a scarf with one of the following patterns on it.

Look for one of these scarf patterns to identify your guide.