Kamakura Welcome Guide Association (KWGA) is a group of volunteer tour guides for international tourists and is officially recognized by Kamakura City Tourist Association. All the tour guides are deeply attached to Kamakura, and welcome all international tourists by showing warm-hearted hospitality.KWGA had suspended all the guided tours from April 2020 in the COVID-19 pandemic situation, but reopened the reservation-based guided tour from January 10, 2023. The Friday-scheduled guided tour will continue to be unavailable.

We guide international tourists and foreigners residing in Japan around Kamakura in a number of foreign languages. We will do our best to meet tourists’ requests for getting exposed to and/or experiencing Japanese traditional culture. Please feel free to contact us.

Dear Visitors,
Your guides are all volunteers. They cheerily give their time and share their knowledge and experience with you. But we have training, administration, and website costs. Without those costs, there is no guide service. So please contribute what you can to help us help others. Every donation matters.
Give your donation to our guide service by choosing from among the following methods.
-Give your donation directly to the guide who will give you a receipt.
-Bank transfer: Contact info@kamakurawelcome.guide to get relevant information.
-Online donation: Click “Donation” below for access to the online donation site.
Your donation is received as Japanese yen. Thank you.

KAMAKURA, the Ancient City of Samurai
The great samurai leader, Minamoto Yoritomo established the samurai government for the first time in Japan's history and placed his headquarters in Kamakura. ・・・ READ MORE

Tsurugaoka Hachimangu
In Kamakura this is the major shinto shrine and is a very popular tourist destination. This shrine was founded in 1180 by then shogun Minamoto Yoritomo, who transferred the shrine from Yui-Wakamiya to the present site.・・・ READ MORE

Kotokuin (Great Buddha)
This is a seated statue of Amida Nyorai (designated as a national treasure), one of the biggest Buddha statues in Japan. It is said that the bronze casting started in 1252 and took more than ten years to complete.・・・ READ MORE

Reservation-Based Guided Tour is ・・・

You need to send us an application with specific requests on the tour. For tour route selection, we offer a Model Tour Course and a Free Tour Course.
・Detailed tour route information
・Application procedures and Terms of service
・Making an application

Friday-Scheduled Guided Tour is ・・・
You just come to the specified meeting point on Fridays. No application is necessary.
・Detailed information
・Our Facebook page provides dates and languages available on Fridays.

How to Apply

・Click Making An Application button and follow the directions on the screen.
・Friday-scheduled tours require no application. Detailed tour information
・Please apply between 3 months and 2 weeks prior to your desired tour date. If your tour party is more than 15 people, please apply earlier than 3 weeks before the tour date.
・Please note that our guides are available throughout the year, except from Dec.25th to Jan.7th. For your information Kamakura tends to get crowded on weekends and holidays. Please plan your tour schedule with this in mind.
・Application procedures and Terms of guide service
・For route selection, we offer Model Tour Course and Free Tour Course. Detailed tour route information
・Since we are a nonprofit organization, any applications either directly or indirectly from tourist agencies will not be accepted.

Making An Application

VISIT KAMAKURA
VISIT KAMAKURA is the official visitor guide for Kamakura sightseeing. It is run by Kamakura City Tourist Association. Information is available in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.
Learn more