Nice to meet you
My name is Mico Yamamoto, a landscape painter and storyteller from Osaka. I paint Japan’s beauty and guide travelers through places most people never find.
Where It All Started
I didn’t plan to become a tour guide or a painter. At first, I was just someone who noticed the small things—how light hits an old shrine wall, how locals pause before crossing a temple gate, how a bowl of ramen can hold someone’s whole day. Over time, painting became my way of remembering, and guiding became my way of sharing. What started as curiosity became something deeper: a mission to show people the beauty hidden in plain sight.
Seeing, Then Sharing
Painting taught me how to see. Guiding taught me how to share. With every tour, I realized I wasn’t just showing people around. I was helping them experience Japan in a way they would never forget. It stopped being a job. It became a form of storytelling—real, personal, and alive in the moment.
What Stays With You
The most powerful moments on my tours are never planned. A guest once cried in a shrine. Another said, “Now I finally understand Japan.” It’s in those quiet moments that something shifts. That is what I guide for. Not the places, but the experience you carry with you.
