Kyoto: Travel: To Fushimi Inari & Travel: To Kyoto — Guide Nori

Title: What Can You See in a 6-Hour Private Kyoto Tour with a Car? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests on this tour were a group visiting Japan from North America. One of the guests had recently graduated, and the trip was partly a celebration of that milestone. All pre-tour arrangements regarding the itinerary were made with one member of the group. Thanks to advice from a friend who had visited Japan before, the guests had clear wishes from the outset, requesting four destinations: Fushimi Inari, Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, and Sanjusangendo. Considering a place for lunch as well, this effectively amounted to five stops. Since Kinkaku-ji is quite far from the other destinations and requires considerable travel time, covering these four sites (plus a meal) within a 6-hour course was challenging, even with a private car. I therefore proposed that "lunch be taken as a light meal in the car during transit," and the guests agreed.

The main issue on this tour was deciding "where exactly at Kyoto Station the initial meeting point should be." The guests had only said "meet at Kyoto Station," without specifying where they would be coming from or which train they would take to reach Kyoto Station (a local line or the Shinkansen?), so the meeting point remained undecided until close to the tour date. Ultimately, on the morning of the day before the tour, the guests contacted me to say, "We have decided to come from Hiroshima to Kyoto by Shinkansen and just booked the tickets. The Shinkansen arrives in Kyoto at 9:15, and since there is quite a lot of time before the planned 10:00 meeting, can we start earlier?" In response, I decided that, "although it was last minute, the meeting time would be moved up by 30 minutes and the meeting point would be the Shinkansen Central Gate," and I sent a final notification to [Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/) and the taxi company (via the itinerary sharing form). With this, we were finally able to confirm the meeting point and time. Regarding this matter, we were unable to observe the rule that "for private car tours, itinerary changes must be finalized by two days in advance," and I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

On the day, we were able to meet at Kyoto Station (Shinkansen Central Gate) a little before 9:30 a.m., boarded the private car right away, and proceeded with the tour almost exactly as planned. One member of the group had visited Japan and done sightseeing before, but for the other it was their first time sightseeing in Japan, so they were able to enjoy every destination with a fresh sense of wonder.

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.