Buddha, Bambus und Zen – maßgeschneiderte private Wandertouren in Kamakura

We met up with Brad for a day tour of Kamakura while visiting Tokyo and had the most wonderful time! It was one of our favorite adventures during our fourteen day visit and exploration of Japan. Our family had never done an international trip before, and Brad couldn't have been a better guide through the unfamiliar worlds of Kamakura. We connected through my cousin, who also had a great experience when he visited a few years prior. Brad just truly cares about people and wants them to have the best time! Having a private tour made the experience that much more special and we were able to spend as much or as little time as we wanted at each venue and really soak up as much knowledge as we wanted. We explored several incredible shrines and were blessed enough to witness a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony taking place! We received our fortunes, enjoyed freshly made matcha tea while surrounded by bamboo, saw the most beautiful, epic, massive buddha statue! The moment my family and I rounded the corner and saw him/her we stopped dead in our tracks. You can’t help but be in awe of it’s presence. Brad would give us the history of everything we looked at. You could tell the information he was sharing was more in depth and more personal/meaningful to him than it might have been coming from other tour guides. He truly loves this land, making the experience even more memorable. At the end of it all, we enjoyed a delicious and authentic Japanese meal that left our bellies full and our heart happy. Thank you, Brad, for making our trip to Kamakura unforgettable! What an amazing experience. We will be recommending your tour to anyone taking a trip to beautiful Japan!

We had an incredible walking and hiking tour with Brad, full of history and cultural explanations that made the experience so much richer than wandering on our own. It’s clear that Brad is passionate about Japan and excited to share his experience and knowledge of Japanese culture. We left the tour with a deeper understanding of Japanese history, and the role Buddhism and the Samurai period play in the culture until today. We booked this tour last minute at the end of our trip, and we wish we’d done it sooner! So our only advice would be to book this tour for the start of your trip so you can refer back to what you learned when you visit other temples. We booked the tour through his website because we wanted a tour that included a hike. Highly highly recommend!!

What a fantastic tour. Brad is knowledgeable and passionate and has an innate ability to keep all age groups engaged. 2 weeks later my 14yo is still talking about how enjoyable it was. Highly recommend.

It’s just simply hard to express in words the amazing day our family spent in Kamakura with Brad. We booked the tour last minute around the holidays as we were looking to see a different side of Tokyo beyond the flashing lights and crowds. Bamboo, Buddha and Zen was the antidote. We were grateful that he made time for us last minute. Brad was great with communication from the start and was patient and guided us when we found ourselves at the wrong train stop. We were also drawn to having Brad as an English speaking guide and hearing about his experience of Japan and the culture as a transplant. During the tour, we found Brad to be chock full of information, easy going, considerate, professional, and easy to talk to. We were a diverse group including a teenager, young adult and middle aged folks and he was able to connect easily with us all. We learned so much at the temples, enjoyed matcha in the bamboo garden, and had the most delicious meal of our trip in Kamakura. We appreciated that he always was considerate to ask if we wanted photos taken and to keep safe our tickets and pamphlets as mementos. Brad insisted on remaining with us and escorting us back to the station at the end of the day - despite our retail meanderings along the way. If you’re thinking about this tour, we really can’t recommend it quite enough. You won’t regret it.

We had such a wonderful experience on the Buddha, Bamboo & Zen tour! It was very easy to get out to Kamakura and meet our guide, Brad, who was friendly, knowledgeable, and made the day flow perfectly. We learned so much about the local history and temples, and Brad took us to some truly beautiful spots — including a few hidden gems we’d never have found on our own. He was amazingly patient while we waited for our goshuins, and he also knew all the best angles for photos — we came away with so many Instagram-worthy shots! The highlights for us were visiting Hasedera Temple and enjoying matcha tea in the serene bamboo grove — such a peaceful, unforgettable experience. We even did a bit of shopping at the end and picked up some unique, personalized souvenirs that will always remind us of the day. This was easily one of the biggest highlights of our trip to Japan. Highly recommended to anyone visiting Kamakura!

Fantastic Tour with Brad, this tour was definitely the highlight of my trip to Japan. Brad is very knowledgeable, and personable, and has extensive knowledge of the area and of Japan. He will also customize depending on what the group wants. The off the beaten path noodle lunch experience was amazing. I highly recommend this tour, it’s a great way to experience kamakura

Brad came highly recommended by a family member who did his tour a few months back & we can't thank her enough! We loved the Seven Passes hiking tour for so many reasons. The terrain was beautiful, and the peace & serenity of the surroundings felt a world away from the hustle & bustle of Tokyo. Being off the beaten path was a lovely antidote to the more touristy attractions and through Brad's extensive knowledge & guidance we learned so much of the amazing history of the area. Getting to experience local spots, residents, culture & cuisine made it that much more unique and special. Thanks so much Brad!! We look forward to recommending your tours to anyone we know traveling there.

I discovered BB&Z through a close friend who highly recommended Brad's walking tour. I experienced this tour as a solo guest visiting from Los Angeles. I met up with Brad at the Kamakura train station after an easy 50 minute journey by train from Tokyo (which was just as easy to take back after a full day in the region). It was immediately obvious that Brad, who immigrated to Japan from Austrailia, is incredibly passionate about this region. Throughout the day I benefitted from his encyclopedic knowledge about the history, culture, and geography of the surrounding area gained over his 20 years living there... and got to know a great guy through the experience. In addition to an understanding of the region that surpasses that of even lifelong residents, it was also clear Brad is quite skilled at reading his audience and tailoring sugestions and nuances of the day to meet the desires and requirements of any mix of guests. Another benefit, Brad's ability to speak Japanese as well as read Kanji and Hiragana was like having cheat codes getting around for this gaijin. We sipped matcha, talked endlessly, walked gardens, took a stroll down the main shopping district, and enjoyed a rare opportunity to dine on Nagashi Somen "Flowing noodles", a summertime tradition, for lunch. The sights, sounds, and great food coupled with two Gen Xr's sharing our experiences growing up living on opposite sides of the planet made for the highlight of my trip to Japan. Visit Kamakura and book this tour. You will see a side of Kamakura, and Japanese culture that you will otherwise miss out on. Great fun, thank you Brad!!!

I found Buddha, Bamboo, & Zen online. Brad (tour operator) was incredibly responsive to my questions and many emails. Together we designed a tour that would visit each of the locations I was interested in seeing, and maximized the day. My tour ended up being 10 hours of leisurely travel and incredible conversation through Kamakura and surrounding areas. We focused on different temples and experiences (like drinking tea in the bamboo forest), seeing and moving through the area like locals, and we even had an amazing gastronomic experience overlooking the beach. I cannot recommend Brad highly enough - he is knowledgeable about the area and its history - it was like having my own private historian on tour. He was helpful in all parts of the process, including providing train routes and valuable websites to get me from my hotel in Yokohama to Kamakura. Brad - thanks for an absolutely amazing experience in Kamakura and Enoshima!

This was one of the most fantastic parts about our trip to Japan! Brad made things easy from before our trip started to after our trip ended. He knows the area well and was able to answer all of our questions and there were many! He was definitely the best tour guide of the trip. We enjoyed the pace, the views, and especially the expertise. We would go back in a heartbeat and maybe go on a hike next time.