Kyoto: Sightseeing ①: Nijo Castle — Guide Nori

Title: What's a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour with a Car Like? A Licensed Guide's Report from Nijo Castle to Arashiyama

The guests were a group visiting Japan from Europe. The person had built a career in the mining industry across various parts of the world, and all prior communication had to go through another individual who described themselves as a personal assistant (the registered contact information belonged to that individual rather than to the guests themselves). Since they had no particular requests regarding the itinerary and replied that they would leave it to the guide, and because a private car was available for smooth transportation, I arranged four destinations: (1) Nijo Castle, (2) the Kyoto Imperial Palace, (3) Kinkaku-ji, and (4) Arashiyama. For lunch, I initially suggested Japanese cuisine, but since the guests expressed a wish for Kuroge Wagyu beef steak, I chose a steakhouse in Arashiyama.

The day was extremely hot. While the car provided some relief from the heat during transfers, sightseeing in places without shade meant being exposed to intense sunlight. However, Nijo Castle, which centers on indoor viewing, as well as the Bamboo Grove path in Arashiyama and the grounds of Tenryu-ji, which are surrounded by trees, offered shade and were relatively comfortable. I truly felt the difficulty of touring Kyoto under the blazing summer sun. That said, the guests had a strong interest in Japanese culture and history and asked many questions, which made it a very rewarding tour to guide.

Looking back on the tour, I feel there were two challenges. The first, which I could not have known from the prior communication, was that one of the guests had undergone ankle surgery and found it difficult to walk for long periods. When I asked whether there was any pain, the reply was that everything was fine, so I made a point of walking as slowly as possible while keeping an eye on the situation. At Arashiyama, with the guests' consent, we skipped the Togetsukyo Bridge and instead visited only the Bamboo Grove path and Tenryu-ji. The second challenge, which is related to the first, was that all the advance communication and coordination was conducted only through an intermediary, and I was never able to communicate directly with the guests themselves until the very end. Fortunately, the itinerary was completed without any problems, but the matter of the ankle was something I only learned about after meeting in person. This experience reaffirmed for me the importance of being able to communicate directly with the guests themselves. That is all.

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.