Kyoto in One Day: Sightseeing ①: Fushimi Inari — Guide Nori

Title: What's a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion, and Nishiki Market

The guests this time were a group visiting Japan from North America for sightseeing. Prior communication regarding the destinations was arranged with one of the guests. Their wishes for the places to visit were clear from the very beginning: four locations, namely (1) Fushimi Inari, (2) Kiyomizu-dera, (3) Gion, and (4) Nishiki Market. Since the Hotel was near the "Karasuma Oike" subway station, we planned a route starting with Fushimi Inari, which is conveniently accessed by subway and JR, then heading north to Kiyomizu-dera and Gion, and finally to Nishiki Market. As for transportation, while a taxi was planned for part of the trip, the plan was to use public transportation (JR, subway, and bus) as much as possible.

On the day of the tour, the weather was fine, making it an ideal day for sightseeing. Although the guests were a little late for the meeting time, all of them were able to join up quickly, and after a brief self-introduction and a short explanation of the itinerary and destinations, we set off right away.

Shortly after departing, on the way down to the subway station, it became clear that one of the guests could only walk quite slowly. Walking on flat ground did not seem to be a problem, but on stairs and downhill slopes the guest received assistance from another member of the group. Therefore, from then on we did our sightseeing and moved around at that guest's pace. For this reason, with the guests' consent, we decided to use taxis for the transfers from Fushimi Inari to Kiyomizu-dera, and from Gion to Nishiki Market.

Regarding the destinations, the combination of "shrine (two locations, as it turned out) → Buddhist temple (one location) → market" was, from a guide's perspective, an exquisite combination for showing the historic city of Kyoto. While explaining the underlying culture and traditions of Buddhism and Shinto, and describing the liveliness of the market and its food culture, I was able to give the guests a glimpse into the everyday life of ordinary people as well.

The group made for a very warm and affectionate combination, and it was a delightful tour to guide such a caring group.

Click here for more details: Kyoto 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.