Kyoto in Half a Day: Nijo & approx. Kinkaku-ji — Guide Mako

Title: What Does a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Cover? A Licensed Guide's Report on Nijo Castle, Kinkaku-ji, and Arashiyama

The guests were a group visiting Japan from Europe. They had been worried about the effects of a typhoon, but they said they were glad the tour could go ahead today. Since the itinerary was left to the guide's recommendation, we visited Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji. At Nijo Castle, the guests were amazed by the painted sliding doors and the interior decoration.

After viewing the garden, we stopped at the rest area within Nijo Castle for a short break. The guests ordered cold matcha. Knowing that one of the guests enjoyed beer, I mentioned that matcha beer is available at Nijo Castle, but they chose cold matcha instead. However, the cold matcha turned out not to be quite to their taste, and with a smile they said they should have ordered the beer. We then took a taxi to Kinkaku-ji. I was a little worried about the weather, but it cleared up and turned into a beautiful day. At Kinkaku-ji, the guests were able to see the tea house that had been under renovation, and they were delighted when I told them it had only recently reopened after being closed off for repairs.

After that, at the guests' request, we went to the bamboo grove in Arashiyama. I asked the taxi driver to drop us off at the bamboo path near Okochi Sanso, and we walked from the bamboo grove to the main street of Arashiyama. Before arriving in Kyoto, the guests had climbed all the way to the summit of Mount Fuji and mentioned that their legs were a little tired, so they were pleased that the walking distance was short. We then took the JR from Saga-Arashiyama to Kyoto Station. When I mentioned that there are many restaurants and cafes underground at Kyoto Station, the guests decided to have lunch there, so I showed them to the underground entrance and we parted ways at that point. Since the guests had never experienced a typhoon before, they asked me questions about its path from tomorrow onward. I shared the current location of the typhoon and its projected path, but explained that the information changes daily and asked them to keep checking it as they went.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide

Tour Report by Mako

Hello! I’m Mako. I’m from Nara and live in Kobe city in Japan right now. I used to live in mountainous area in Nara.
Nara is famous for deer. There is no sea in Nara. On the other hands, Kobe is one of famous port cities in Japan and famous for Kobe beef and night views.
My favorite food is Yatsuhashi. It is one of famous sweets in Kyoto city. When I was a University student, I used to be a volunteer guide at Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto. There are many shops which sells yatsuhashi in Kyoto.

I like traveling. I have been to Canada, South Korea, France, Australia and the United States.

I studied English in South Florida University when I was a university student. I stayed for about 1 year. During stay in the U.S, I visited Las Vegas, New York, Boston, Miami, and so on. After that I worked at the travel company in Japan. Then I got the license of tour guide in 2014. I started to work as a tour guide in 2015. I usually visit Kyoto, Nara ,Osaka and Kobe with my guests. I’m very looking forward to meeting you!