Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Nori

What's a Private Walking Tour of Kyoto's Higashiyama and Gion Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests this time were a group visiting Japan from North America for sightseeing. All the advance arrangements regarding destinations were made through the staff of a travel agency. In my first contact, I requested to communicate directly with the guests, but in the end all communication went through the agency staff. At first I felt a little uneasy, but because the agency staff communicated smoothly with the guests, I was able to proceed with preparations without any problems. As for the destinations and itinerary, the agency had accurately understood the guests' wishes before contacting me, so it was easy to finalize. The outline of the itinerary was confirmed as follows, centered on the southern part of Higashiyama in Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera ⇒ Kodai-ji ⇒ Entoku-in ⇒ Gion ⇒ Japanese cuisine at Hanasaki Manjiro.

On the day, the weather was cool and clear with autumn skies, making perfect conditions for sightseeing. We gathered as planned at the Hotel, exchanged brief greetings and confirmed the itinerary, then moved to the bus stop in front of Kyoto Station, arriving at the "Gojo-zaka" bus stop in about 15 minutes. Since the destination after Kiyomizu-dera was Kodai-ji and we would inevitably pass through Kiyomizu-zaka, we headed up to Kiyomizu-dera via the less crowded side street "Chawan-zaka." During this walk, one of the guests appeared tired after the long approach and offered to "wait near the entrance rather than entering the main hall of Kiyomizu-dera." Under these circumstances, although the rest of the guests entered the main hall, we took a shortcut covering about half the usual route and rejoined the waiting guest.

Since the next destination was Kodai-ji, we passed through "Sannei-zaka" and "Ninen-zaka," famous spots along the Kiyomizu-dera approach, where the guests also enjoyed shopping for souvenirs. By the time we entered Kodai-ji it had grown dim, and we strolled through the grounds while enjoying the autumn foliage illumination, which was finally becoming noticeable. At this point, the guests requested, "We would like to arrive at the Japanese restaurant with plenty of time before our reservation, so it's fine to skip Entoku-in. We'd rather take our time enjoying the atmosphere of Gion in the evening," and we headed toward Gion. However, since we had some time to spare, I proposed, "I would definitely like to introduce Yasaka Shrine, which is also a symbol of the Gion area," and we visited Yasaka Shrine as well.

The final destination was "Hanamikoji," the heart of the "Gion" district the guests had been looking forward to, and we strolled through it. Upon coincidentally passing a maiko, they whispered their impressions, "So cute and beautiful!" After that, we arrived at the Japanese restaurant called "Hanasaki Manjiro," where a seat had been reserved, and I concluded the guiding there. The tour used the bus only once and was otherwise entirely on foot, coming to 10,400 steps by my count, but I believe the guests were able to fully enjoy Higashiyama and Gion.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local 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.