Kimono Tea Ceremony MAIKOYA Gion Kiyomizu — Restaurant in Kyoto

A complete disaster. A very disorganized operation, be weary. I booked a private tea ceremony for my party of 4 and upon our arrival, I was asked if we had received an email stating that they weren't able to accommodate us due to a system error (email for which I missed, but it was sent the morning of the event, rather than days prior to it, to allow for my party to coordinate another event in a timely manner). Perhaps, they would have been able to service recover if offered another timeslot/date for the inconvenience, but instead we were offered to participate in the group tea ceremony. It was very clear to me that they had overbooked the event, as the place was very crowded inside. Not sure I buy the system error excuse either. I booked the tea ceremony 8 days prior to the event and you noticed that there was a system error the day of the event? The tech capital of the world? How convenient. Our party was very disappointed about this experience. By far the worst experienced in Japan. Due to the short notice we weren't able to re-schedule for another similar event with other company. I booked this tour because of the great reviews online, but perhaps management recently changed. If you do book a private tour through this company I highly encourage you to follow up with an email to confirm your reservation and hopefully avoid any...

I am dumbfounded by the amount of good reviews here. This is by all means a tourist trap and the worst offender of such we experienced in Japan. The service was incredibly rushed and impersonal due to the huge amount of customers they squeeze into the sessions.

My female partner was crammed into a room with around 20 other women and rushed through the Kimono process. She was not given a choice of which accessories to use despite myself and other women in her group getting to, and received a very cold service from the staff member in the room. Why this was the case we can only use our imagination, but we are tourists and my partner is heavily tattooed. She was ultimately left feeling very uncomfortable and could not wait to leave.

The ceremony itself was decent but again impersonal. The lady running this part did a good job explaining things and was courteous but the setup was just not great. The sweet making was fun but basically a 10 minute demo then left to it for 25 mins.

Overall the capacity of the venue is clearly too much for the staff to deliver anything comparable to a good service. When paying around £70 per person I would expect much much better. Please do yourself a favour and don't pay over the...

We had our photoshoot in Kyoto with this amazing photographer and honestly, it was one of the best experiences of our whole trip! 🌸 From the very beginning, he made us feel super comfortable and relaxed, even though we’re not used to being in front of the camera. We laughed so much, enjoyed every single moment, and honestly felt like we were just hanging out with a friend who happens to be incredibly talented behind the lens! The photos turned out absolutely magical — every shot is full of color, emotion, and that special Kyoto atmosphere that makes the city so unique. When we looked at the pictures, we couldn’t believe how beautifully he captured us and the surroundings. It felt like every image told a little story. We can’t thank him enough — not only for the amazing photos but also for the wonderful time we had together. It wasn’t just a photoshoot; it was an experience we’ll remember forever. 💕 If we ever come back to Kyoto (and we really hope we do!), we’ll 100% book another session with him. Totally recommended to anyone visiting Kyoto — he’s got an incredible eye for detail, a great sense of humor, and truly knows how to make you feel special in front...