Kyoto: Sightseeing: Kinkaku-ji Temple — Guide Nori

What's a Private 6-Hour Kyoto Tour Like in the Rainy Season? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting from North America. During our prior communication their preferred destinations were clear, but they had requested six locations within a six-hour course, so the itinerary needed to be organized. Since the tour would end at a ryokan in the Higashiyama area, and nearby spots such as Gion and Nishiki Market can be enjoyed without a guide, I suggested removing them from the tour. I also decided to leave out Kiyomizu-dera, judging that its crowds would be too much for young children. The guests understood these suggestions well, and we finalized the itinerary described above. In addition, the meeting point had originally been listed as a hotel in the booking, but since they would be traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto by shinkansen on the morning of the tour, at the guests' request it was changed to the Central Shinkansen Exit at JR Kyoto Station. The means of transportation was a private vehicle.

On the tour day in July, the latest forecast predicted rain, with especially heavy rainfall expected from the afternoon into the evening. In reality, at the first destination, Arashiyama, it was cloudy with no rain, and we proceeded smoothly with occasional sunshine. However, around the time we finished lunch, large drops of heavy rain began to fall, and we hurriedly prepared our rain gear, but the heavy rain stopped in a short time, and we were able to walk across Togetsukyo Bridge and enjoy the beautiful scenery. This rain, however, caused some loss of time. At the next destination, Kinkaku-ji, the rain had almost stopped, but since one of the guests wanted to buy a change of clothes, we spent about 15 minutes shopping at a souvenir shop. This unplanned time also put pressure on the schedule at the final destination, Fushimi Inari. In addition, heavy rain began to fall again during the visit to Kinkaku-ji, and we spent some time taking shelter. By the time we returned to the taxi at the parking area, including the travel time to the next stop, there was hardly any time left for the stay at Fushimi Inari. In the end, after consulting with the guests and taking into account their request to extend the time by 30 minutes, we changed the scheduled end time from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. As a result, the stay at Fushimi Inari lasted about 30 minutes, and the guests were able to enjoy it fully. Regarding the additional fee for the 30-minute extension, the guests offered to pay it, and in accordance with the regulations, they settled the payment for both the private vehicle and the guide.

This tour truly made me realize the difficulty of touring during the rainy season, but thanks to the guests' understanding and the advice drawn from the experienced private vehicle driver, we were able to respond well in advance. It was a tour for a close-knit group, and I was especially impressed that the young twins smiled and enjoyed themselves right until the end.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car 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.