Half-Day Zenkoji Tour with Tea Experience

Shawn guided us through the big and small aspects of religious and daily life in nagano in an excellent way. We particularly liked the way he related many things to western culture.

Absolutely memorable and unforgettable experience! Our tour guide, Kevin, was incredibly knowledgeable about Japanese culture and shared fascinating insights throughout the tour. The two temples we visited were stunning, and we even had the opportunity to go inside and explore them. The fire ceremony was truly unforgettable—we had never experienced anything like it before. The green tea ceremony was also very special, thoughtfully organized, and beautifully conducted. Kevin answered all of our questions and was such a great person to spend time with. His passion, friendliness, and expertise made the experience even more enjoyable. The local food included in the tour was absolutely delicious, and every part of the day was well planned. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Japan and would happily do it again more than once! Thank you so much, Kevin, for this incredible and unforgettable experience!

We had a wonderful afternoon with our guide, Alissa. She was very helpful in teaching us about Nagano and the Zenkoji temple. We especially loved the Buddhist fire ceremony and tea ceremony and went home with fully bellies and happy hearts!

The experience was fantastic. The guide provided information different from the previous day at the temple was very happy with his ability to pivot and personalise for us.

For a half day experience, this tour exceeded my expectation. It was great working with Shawn and alissa and how flexible they were with me! I usually do my own research and experience things in my own without a tour guide, but I had little to no prep this time. They covered most of the major points of the shrine area leaving me satisfied! Would recommend !

This tour is very interesting to get to know the local culture better; Joyce is a great guide, very attentive and kind. I highly recommend.

I had an amazing time today on this tour of Zenkoji Temple / “food tour” of Nagano. I ended up having a private tour with Kevin who was wonderful: so friendly, knowledgeable, down to earth and easy to be around. My highlights were the tea ceremony with Tetsu-san and Suki-san, as well as the sake tasting (plum sake was 🌟). Seeing the beautiful temples and learning about the history behind them was fascinating. I am so glad I booked this tour and I feel like I lucked out! I would absolutely recommend it. Thanks again, Kevin, for an amazing introduction to Nagano!

I thoroughly enjoyed this tour with Kevin. He had a deep knowledge of Nagano's history and an entertaining way of conveying the stories. Without this tour, I would have walked around just superficially looking at things, with no understanding of their place in Japan's history. It was a really interesting day. The sake tasting, oyake tasting and tea ceremony were wonderful. I 100% recommend this tour to anyone visiting Nagano.

Exceptional tour of Nagano with Devin (half day tour with tea ceremony and Zenkoji experience). From start to finish we were provided with lots of information from a personable tour guide. The tour itself was packed. We tried a local speciality, oyaki (savoury stuffed dumplings) which we watched made. Then it was off to a lovely temple where we experienced its fire ceremony (fascinating) and had a Japanese sake tasting which was a nice introduction to the whole drink. Finally we had a traditional tea ceremony from a lovely host who provided lots of history. Would highly recommend this tour and the company with Devin being an exceptional guide.

Such a good mix of activities in a relatively short time. Especially loved the “tea ceremony” - learning to make matcha with a lovely local couple. It was intimate and a modern take on the traditional experience. Shawn was a personable and knowledgeable guide and kept everything running smoothly even while navigating some late arrivals and arranging to meet them part way through the tour. Thanks for a lovely afternoon!