Private guides in Japan
 

I'm beginning to plan a trip to Japan in early October -- probably Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto. Any advice on hiring local guides in those cities? How would I find them? What are they likely to charge?

No need to hire a guide for any of these locations -- they can all be visited very easily on your own.

For an excellent source of information, see japan-guide.com:
http://www.japan-guide.com

And there is also the free Greeter service:

http://www.globalgreeternetwork.info/

We're looking at artisan ceramic villages during a trip to Japan

BTW, most itineraries seem to be very boring, Predictable,

Most Japanese cities have volunteer "goodwill guides".
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/tr...teerGuides.php

When we went to Nijo-jo, two collegians asked to guide us so they could practice their English.

Bookmarking

We did a morning tour of the fish market and department store food section with Yukari Sakamoto, who wrote the great book Food Sake Tokyo - - worth every yen, she was fantastic.