Joe Okada, Known as the Last Samurai
Joe Okada, known as the Last Samurai, is the eldest licensed English speaking tour guide in Japan. He is also the best Samurai sword entertainer and has been in the guide business for 52 years. As a guide, Joe will personally escort you around Kyoto, Nara, and anywhere else in Japan. He is versatile, flexible, enjoyable, and helpful. His philosophy is “sincerity and effort.”
Joe has many notable accomplishments. In 1977, Joe developed and built up the only “Samurai Nippon Show.” In 14 years, 130,000 guests attended this show and 50 television programs have aired and reported about them. Joe has even been on the “David Letterman Show” and the “Regis Philbin Morning Show.” In addition, Joe’s apple cutting in the air has been registered at the “Guinness World Records.” Two of his US students got on the “Guinness Book” in 2005 and 2009. And to top it off, the Mayor nominated Joe as “The Distinguished Master of Kyoto Hospitality” in 2011.