Kiyosu Samurai Walking Tour and Kirin Brewery Visit from Nagoya

As a tourist who was visiting Nagoya for the very first time with his family, I can say that the tour was definitely an integral part of our trip. Being able to walk around town as opposed to taking the conventional tourist bus adds another dimension to the experience as it allows one to truly breathe in and immerse one's self in the atmosphere of the Japanese environment. Along the way, our very friendly and accommodating tour guide, Sir Tetsuya Tanahashi, really made an effort to narrate to us the significance of the different sights around us. This further made the visit to the Kiyosu Castle even more meaningful as he was able to explain the history behind the castle as well as the reasoning as to why it was constructed that way. In addition to this, the chance to wear and learn about the samurai armor was really fun and definitely one of a kind. Moving on, the tour inside the Kirin beer factory was amazing and featured many cutting edge presentation techniques when it came to explaining the brewing process as well as displays of the actual machinery used. Despite the language barrier, Sir Tetsuya made an effort to translate to the best of his ability what the Kirin tour guide was saying. The Kirin tour guide was nevertheless also very friendly and made it a point to check up on each one of the visitors. Overall, the tour inside the brewery proved to be an exciting one not only for beer aficionados, but even for people who may be possess a strong interest in the way machines and mechanisms work. To sum it all up, my family and I were very satisfied with the walking tour as well as our guide Sir Tetsuya. We learned many things and having his company was truly a pleasant experience. If I could give one suggestion which could further improve the tour, it would probably be for them to incorporate more narratives about the personal history of the town as well as some interesting facts about it which could be discussed while walking.

I had such a wonderful experience on this cultural and historic tour in Nagoya. Tour Guide Keiko Todoroki provided a personal tour of the Kiyosu Castle near Nagoya where I learned much about the history of the area and became and International Samurai! After lunch in a local restaurant we went to the Kirin Brewery where I learned about the details of beer brewing and got to sample some very fine beers. From there we went to downtown Nagoya where Keiko told me all about the history and current development of Nagoya. It was such a fun experience I will always remember.

Our guide Mieko-san met us at the train station and suggested we mix things up a bit, as it was raining and our original itinerary might be challenging. It ended up being a really good day. We went to the Toyota museum, which was very interesting. The staff at the museum were great and we really enjoyed this unscheduled visit. We then went on to lunch and stop over at a café where the proprietor is a samurai armor and sword maker. He showed us several of his pieces and educated us on the art of making swords, helmets, and armor. It was really quite a delight and the kids and I were fascinated with his work and intricacy of his pieces. We finished up at the beer factory, where Mieko-san translated for us as the tour was actually in Japanese. it was a fun beer factory tour and of course my 20 year old son legal drinking age in Japan and I enjoyed the sampling at the end. The staff there were great and very funny throughout the tour.