Osaka Instagram Spots Customized Tour — Guide Nori

Tour Report by Nori

Hi, everyone! I’m Norifumi Kamon, a government registered guide interpreter. Please call me “Nori”, or “Kamon-san”.
Let me introdece myself. I was born on April 17th in 1952 in Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu island. I used to be an English teacher of Osaka Prefectural high school. When I retired from a teacher ten years ago, I decided to get a professional guide license. I wanted to play a role of the bridge between Japanese people and the people from all over the world as a second life of mine. After two years efforts, I finally got the guide license. Since then, I have guided several handreds of foreign people mainly in Kyoto and Nara for about five years except Corona Pandemic period. Almost all the tourists were deeply impressed by the beauty of nature, traditoin, culture, and art of Japan. I can surely help you enjoy and be satisfied with the sightseeing in Japan. And I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.

Title: What Can You See on a 6-Hour Private Osaka Tour from a Cruise Port? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests this time were visitors from North America who were sightseeing while traveling by cruise ship. Prior communication about which places to visit was exchanged with one of the guests. A reply came two days after my first message, listing about six desired destinations centered on Osaka Castle and the Minami area. However, since this was a 6-hour course, I consulted with the guests and we decided to omit Shinsekai, settling on five locations: Osaka Castle → Dotonbori → Shinsaibashi-suji and Doguyasuji → Kuromon Market → Shitennoji Temple.

On the day of the tour, we met at the exit of the cruise ship terminal, confirmed the destinations and the means of transportation, and set off. First, we traveled to Osaka Castle by taxi, and along the way to the main tower I explained the history of Osaka Castle. At the tower, we first made a full round of the top observation floor, where I explained in detail the geographical features, history, and industries of Osaka. After that, we carefully toured the museum from the 7th floor down to the 2nd floor. The guests were both very interested in Japan's samurai era, listening attentively to the explanations and viewing the exhibits with great interest.

After Osaka Castle, we moved to the next destination, Dotonbori, by subway with a transfer, but an incident occurred here. While on the subway, one of the guests realized that a smartphone had been left behind somewhere. Based on my past experience, I judged that the only option was to retrace the route accurately and search carefully, so I got off partway with the guests, returned to the station where we had boarded, and started by asking the station staff whether anything had been turned in. Fortunately, it seemed that a kind person had turned it in as a lost item at the station gate, so it was found immediately and returned safely to the guest. The guest was truly overjoyed and repeated words of gratitude many times. We decided to consider how to handle the roughly 50 minutes lost during this time while having lunch in Dotonbori.

At the next stop, Dotonbori, I explained the everyday food culture and temperament of the people of Osaka. After making a round, I had the guests choose a restaurant and we had lunch. Since one of the guests liked crab, we enjoyed a relaxed lunch at a crab restaurant. After lunch, we discussed how to handle the delay of about one hour, and in the end we skipped Kuromon Market and instead did a stroll in Shinsaibashi → a visit to Shitennoji Temple. At Shitennoji, I was able to explain thoroughly about the introduction of Buddhism to Japan and its teachings. The guests both listened with great interest. We were also able to hear a monk chanting sutras at just the right timing, which the guests found very satisfying.

Click here for more details: Osaka Instagram Spots Customized Tour with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Nori

Hi, everyone! I’m Norifumi Kamon, a government registered guide interpreter. Please call me “Nori”, or “Kamon-san”.
Let me introdece myself. I was born on April 17th in 1952 in Miyazaki prefecture in Kyushu island. I used to be an English teacher of Osaka Prefectural high school. When I retired from a teacher ten years ago, I decided to get a professional guide license. I wanted to play a role of the bridge between Japanese people and the people from all over the world as a second life of mine. After two years efforts, I finally got the guide license. Since then, I have guided several handreds of foreign people mainly in Kyoto and Nara for about five years except Corona Pandemic period. Almost all the tourists were deeply impressed by the beauty of nature, traditoin, culture, and art of Japan. I can surely help you enjoy and be satisfied with the sightseeing in Japan. And I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.