Nara Day Trip from Kyoto: Customized Tour — Guide Kazu

Title: What Is a Private Nara Day Tour Like for a Group Visiting from North America? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Japan from North America. For lunch, some of the guests were vegetarian and bought sandwiches and other items at a convenience store to eat. One of the younger guests wanted miso ramen, so we visited three shops in the Higashimuki shopping street, but could not find miso ramen and eventually settled on a pasta restaurant. When I began explaining, some of the guests would quickly move on to other things that caught their interest, which made it difficult to guide all six as one group. Since others in the group listened relatively attentively, it was more effective to explain to them and have them relay the information to the rest of the group. While waiting for the bus to Kasuga Taisha, the group mentioned that they had been seeing many shrines and temples and no longer needed to visit Kasuga Taisha, so we headed to Naramachi instead. The "Nigiwai no Ie" was enjoyed mainly by the adults, while at the "Karakuri Omocha Kan" everyone enjoyed themselves. Some of the guests seemed to want to keep playing with the toys, but the group requested to head back to Kyoto a little earlier, so we took a JR train one departure earlier than planned and finished about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. The photo was taken in front of the "Karakuri Omocha Kan."

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Tour Report by KAZU

I was born and grew up in Kyoto and now live near Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. I used to be a schoolteacher of English and welcome a lot of students from foreign countries. I really enjoyed showing them around Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Himeji, and Hiroshima. I have been a professional tour guide for about 8 years. I always try to let my guests learn Japanese traditional and modern culture. Since I was born in Kyoto, I know a lot about its culture and people. I myself enjoyed several sports, such as soccer, judo, and marathon when I was young. I’m much interested in baseball and sumo. My motto as a tour guide is to let my guests learn about our tradition and culture precisely and really enjoy themselves. I strongly hope you will enjoy the tour in Japan with me.