Kyoto in One Day: Arashiyama Monkey Park — Guide Satoko

Title: What Is a Private Kyoto Day Tour Like for a Group of Students? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting from the Middle East, in Japan for a graduation trip. During the transfers they spent time on their smartphones, but they were fundamentally polite. Since this was my first time attending to guests from the Middle East, when I asked about education and family life in their home region, they kindly explained things to me. Some of the guests also told me about the aspects of Japan they liked compared with where they live. As this was my first time guiding a group of this kind, it was a refreshing and enjoyable experience.

The pace was leisurely all the way to the Arashiyama Monkey Park. Some in the group walked slowly, one guest's IC card could not be used and a ticket had to be purchased at a cash machine, and along the way they enjoyed ice cream and matcha lattes and bought souvenirs at various points.

Since the tour was scheduled to end at 15:00, I mentioned at the Monkey Park that I wanted to arrive at Fushimi Inari by 14:00. One of the guests who acted as the leader told the others to hurry, but in the end we arrived at Fushimi Inari Taisha at 14:30. When I explained that walking through the Senbon Torii as well would take about an hour and asked what they would like to do, they seemed tired from the heat, so I suggested visiting only the main hall. When I then asked what they would like to do next, they said they wanted to take a taxi back to the hotel. As luck would have it, two taxis stopped right in front of the large torii gate, so we said our goodbyes there.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Satoko

I am a 53-year-old woman, living in Kyoto for nearly 40 years. I got the license in 2001. Since then, I worked as an interpreter or a translator in several companies, secretary at universities, and now work for a company on weekdays at the international dept.I do guiding job only weekend now. I started full swing guiding career after COVID-19 pandemic. I have gotten good review from many of my guests. I love my hometown, Kyoto which has a lot of interesting and historical sites to see. Particularly, I am native to Arashiyama which is famous for bamboo forest. So, I know a lot of places where you can relax yourself around this area. Other than that, Kyoto has many attractive sites which surely interest you.Also, I like meeting many people from different cultural background. I am very happy if I learn about your culture as well. Let’s enjoy exploring around Kyoto!