Osaka in One Day: Sightseeing ①: Osaka Castle — Guide Nori

Can You Do a Private Day Tour of Osaka? A Licensed Guide's Report on Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Kuromon Market

The guests were a group visiting and sightseeing in Japan from Oceania. Advance communication and scheduling of the itinerary were done with one member of the group. They mentioned that they had already visited Tokyo, Hakone, Hiroshima, and other places, and that Osaka and Kyoto would be the final stops on their trip. After some discussion, we finalized the itinerary as "Osaka Castle ⇒ Dotonbori ⇒ Kuromon Market ⇒ Doguyasuji." The day before the tour, I received a message from the guide who had guided them in Hiroshima, who kindly passed along the comment that "they were a very pleasant group and the tour was very enjoyable."

On the day, we met a little earlier than scheduled. After introducing ourselves, I handed over a printout of the itinerary I had already shared, explained it, and received their approval. With the heat returning a bit and making us sweat, we first visited Osaka Castle. The castle was as crowded as ever, and since the guests were relatively active, we climbed the stairs to the main keep. On the 8th floor, the top floor of the keep, while taking in the view of the Osaka cityscape, I explained the characteristics of Osaka as a place located almost at the center of Japan that has continued to be a hub of logistics and commerce, along with its history and culture. During the transition, one of the guests requested to "buy some medicine at a pharmacy because of a slight sore throat," so when we arrived at Dotonbori next, we went into a pharmacy and they purchased the medicine they wanted.

At Dotonbori, our next stop, they mentioned they had come once the previous evening for dinner, but I talked about the cultural characteristics of the "merchants' town," which they found very interesting. For lunch, I had intended for them to try the local food of Dotonbori (takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and so on), but every shop was extremely crowded, so we had lunch at a ramen shop a little away from the center where we could sit comfortably.

After Dotonbori, we went to Kuromon Market, "Osaka's kitchen," with fresh seafood, meat, vegetables, and fruit. The guests took their time to observe the rich everyday food culture and eating habits of Osaka. They seemed to like it so much that they asked, "We'd like to have dinner here tonight, so could you tell us until what time it's open?" Finally, a few minutes from Kuromon Market was Doguyasuji. With pots, pans, and frying pans, all kinds of tableware, and even sample menu displays, the guests stopped at shop after shop, examining the remarkably varied products carefully.

The plan was a "6-hour course" until 4:00 p.m., but one of the guests wanted to "return to the hotel a little early to handle a work-related message," so we decided to finish an hour earlier. It turned out to be an enjoyable tour with a curious and inquisitive group.

Click here for more details: Osaka 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.