A 75-year old relative of mine is visiting Japan for the first time. She is all set for Kyoto and Osaka where we have relatives. (Flight will be in and out of KIX.)

She does not speak any Japanese, wants to visit several places and will need a tour guide even for cities as close to Kyoto as Kobe,

Can you recommend any tour guides or suggest a strategy of setting this up? Booking a package tour from our home country Germany seems poor value. You may spend EUR 10k for 3 weeks and this is not even including a business class ticket.

I can't impose on our Japanese relatives to help beyond the planning for Osaka/Kyoto. Of course, I do not want to impose that on the forum, either, but your quick ideas, links, and so on would be highly appreciated.

I�ve only set up a tour for one person, this was some time ago and he had mobility problems. I arranged for Mr Doi, who used to be a taxi driver, to pick him up from Kyoto station and he took it from there. I understand the experience was excellent. The recommendation came from this forum and, perhaps not so surprisingly given how good he is, Mr Doi is still in business. He no longer drives but does the tours and works in association with others if a taxi is required.
https://www.kyoto-doitaxi.com
If you approach him and tell him what is required, I�m sure he can give you a quote/some ideas.

Can�t give you much else as my 76 year old mother went to Kansai for the first time as a solo traveller earlier this year. It went so well she is returning next Spring.