Kyoto in Half a Day: Kinkaku-ji & Fushimi Inari Taisha — Guide Satoko

What's a 4-Hour Private Kyoto Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Fushimi Inari

The guests were visitors from Europe. The tour was originally scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m., and when I asked where they wanted to go, they mentioned Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Fushimi Inari Taisha. When I informed them that Kinkaku-ji requires entry by 4:30 p.m., they had not been aware of this, so they moved the tour start time up to 3:00 p.m. Although I had originally planned to pick them up at the hotel, the guests themselves requested to begin the tour at Kinkaku-ji, so I suggested the World Heritage stone monument as an easy-to-find meeting point. In advance, since we would be fitting three popular sites with long travel distances into four hours, they agreed to travel by taxi. At this time of day, the area around the World Heritage stone monument was nicely shaded, so I was able to begin my explanation of Kinkaku-ji there.

When we proceeded to the ticket booth, one of the guests realized they had no cash on hand, and asked me and the other guest to wait while they went to a nearby ATM to withdraw cash. It seemed they had come directly from another city and had not had time to withdraw cash from an ATM. At Kinkaku-ji, the guests were moved by the reflection of the golden pavilion in Kyoko-chi Pond. As one of the guests was not very confident in English, the other occasionally interpreted my explanations for them.

From there we took a taxi to Kiyomizu-dera. At Kiyomizu-dera as well, they were impressed by the various structures and took many photographs. Then we headed to the main hall. They even tried lifting the iron rods there. As expected, the guests struggled with them. We then entered the main hall. When I explained that "the main hall is composed of the outer sanctuary, the inner sanctuary, and the innermost sanctuary," they told me that Catholic churches also have such a structure. When I explained that the thousand-armed Kannon transforms into 33 forms to save people, they told me that "Christ was crucified at 33 and resurrected at 33, so the number 33 seems to hold meaning across religions." Seeing sake offered in the main hall, they remarked with interest that "in Catholicism too, wine is offered to God, so regardless of East or West, alcohol seems to carry religious significance." We then walked over to the inner sanctuary on the opposite side and looked back at the main hall, but they were overwhelmed by the crowds. They remembered my earlier remark that "the lifespan of the pillars from the time of reconstruction is 800 years, so the next reconstruction will be in 2400," and said, "Will something like this really be all right in 800 years?" Even so, they liked how Kiyomizu-dera is a temple surrounded by nature. Visiting Kiyomizu-dera at this time of day is a bit cooler and pleasant, but there are many mosquitoes. For those visiting Kiyomizu-dera at this hour, I recommend applying insect repellent spray beforehand.

Then we walked down Chawan-zaka slope and took a taxi to Fushimi Inari Taisha. While descending Chawan-zaka, the topic of national character came up. The guests noted that even within their own country, people from the north and the south have different temperaments, and that they themselves were from the north. I mentioned that while we in Japan sometimes hold a stereotypical impression that people from their country are relaxed about time, this guest had arrived ahead of schedule and had been very responsive by email during our preliminary arrangements, so I found their point convincing.

We then arrived at Fushimi Inari Taisha by taxi. Here too, I was asked whether one bows once when entering a shrine and bows once when leaving. When I answered that this was the case, they pointed out that in Catholicism one makes the sign of the cross when entering a church and again when leaving, noting another commonality with Catholicism. I told them that I had learned a great deal from the various parallels they shared with the religion of their home region.

Originally, they had planned to go to Gion after the tour, so I had intended to see them off at the Keihan station, but since they said they wanted to stay a little longer at Fushimi Inari Taisha, we parted ways a bit earlier than scheduled. The photo, though a common composition, was taken at Kinkaku-ji. Because they kindly chose a spot with no other people, it turned out to be the best photo I have taken so far. I told them that this would surely be good enough to use in the guide agency's advertising.

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Tour Report by Satoko

I am a 53-year-old woman, living in Kyoto for nearly 40 years. I got the license in 2001. Since then, I worked as an interpreter or a translator in several companies, secretary at universities, and now work for a company on weekdays at the international dept.I do guiding job only weekend now. I started full swing guiding career after COVID-19 pandemic. I have gotten good review from many of my guests. I love my hometown, Kyoto which has a lot of interesting and historical sites to see. Particularly, I am native to Arashiyama which is famous for bamboo forest. So, I know a lot of places where you can relax yourself around this area. Other than that, Kyoto has many attractive sites which surely interest you.Also, I like meeting many people from different cultural background. I am very happy if I learn about your culture as well. Let’s enjoy exploring around Kyoto!