Nara in One Day: Sightseeing ①: Kofukuji Temple — Guide Nori

Title: What Is a Private Day Tour from Kyoto to Nara Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Japan while based in Asia. Right after I was assigned as the guide, I was in contact with the person listed as the guest representative in the "detailed information," but it turned out that this person was not one of the actual guests but a friend communicating on their behalf. With advice and support from the staff at [Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/), I was finally able to reach the actual guests only shortly before the tour date (two days prior), so it was truly a nerve-wracking, "walking on thin ice" start.

The day before the tour, I received a message saying that it would be difficult to arrive in Nara by 9:00, and asking to change the meeting time to around 10:00. Since the meeting time is an important matter, I should ideally have reported it to [Japan Guide Agency](https://www.j-g-a.org/) in advance, but there was no time to do so, and out of respect for the guests' wishes I changed the meeting time from 9:00 to 10:00 and the guiding hours from 9:00–15:00 to 10:00–16:00. Please accept this as an after-the-fact report.

On the day of the tour itself, another "cold sweat" situation occurred. There had been several exchanges about whether to travel from Kyoto to Nara by the JR line or the Kintetsu line, and in our prior communication I had proposed meeting at Kintetsu Nara, which is close to Kofukuji Temple, and had confirmed this with the guests. However, just before I arrived at Kintetsu Nara Station on the day, I received a message from the guests saying they were heading to JR Nara Station and that it would take about 15 minutes to reach Kintetsu Nara, so they asked me to wait. Given this situation, I judged it best to go ahead and meet them at JR Nara, so I moved to JR Nara Station and was able to greet the group safely.

Although there were various risk factors in the prior communication, once I met them at JR Nara everything proceeded smoothly through the entire itinerary, and the guests were basically satisfied. Above all, the two younger members of the group were full of curiosity, friendly, and lively, which I think was a major factor in making this tour enjoyable. With tours that include younger guests, there is always some concern about unexpected accidents due to high energy or changes in their condition, but as long as careful attention is paid to those points, I feel a very enjoyable tour can be had. This time too, it was a very fun and pleasant tour.

Click here for more details: Nara Customized Private Tour in 1 Day 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.