Nara Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Nori

What's a Full-Day Private Walking Tour of Nara Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests this time were a group visiting Japan during their travels from North America. Requests and pre-tour discussions regarding the places they wished to visit were handled through correspondence beforehand. Although it was their first visit to Japan, one of the guests had a family member with a strong interest in Japanese culture who had visited Japan four or five times before, and the guests themselves seemed to have a deep interest in Japanese culture and history influenced by that background. As a result, the destinations in Nara were clear from the start, and they wanted to take their time visiting mainly "Kofukuji Temple → Nara Park → Todaiji Temple → Kasuga Taisha Shrine." For that reason, whereas first-time guests would usually require at least five or six rounds of email exchanges, this time only two rounds (four emails in total) were needed.

On the day, there was some concern about rain that had been falling since the previous night, but the rain stopped at dawn, and although the temperature was a little low, it remained lightly overcast all day, making it favorable weather for a walking tour. As I always do, I make sure to arrive at the meeting point more than 30 minutes early, so in preparation for the 10:00 meeting I arrived at the east ticket gate of Kintetsu Nara Station around 9:20. The guests also arrived about 15 minutes early, and we were able to meet up. (In the business report, the "start time" can only be selected in 30-minute increments, so it shows a 9:30 meeting, but I actually met the guests around 9:45.)

After a brief self-introduction, I explained the overall itinerary of the tour based on the itinerary sheet, and when we discussed how to handle "lunch," which had not been decided during the pre-tour consultation, it was settled that "since they liked Japanese food very much, they wanted Japanese cuisine." For the itinerary that followed (Kofukuji Temple → Nara Park → Todaiji Temple (Great Buddha Hall, Nigatsudo) → Wakakusayama → lunch → Kasuga Taisha Shrine), I made efforts in my explanations to respond as much as possible to the guests' interests. Since the guests already had some basic knowledge of Japanese culture, I tried to build new discoveries and knowledge on top of that foundation. The main themes covered a wide range, including the differences and coexistence between Shinto and Buddhism, and their influence on the daily life of Japanese people. At the end of the tour, the guests expressed their gratitude, saying, "We were able to learn so many things today, thank you very much." The guests naturally also had a strong interest in the lives and culture of modern-day people in Japan, so since there was about an hour to spare at the end of the tour, I also showed them around the "Higashimuki Shopping Street" and the "Naramachi" area. During that time, they stopped by several shops, bought the local specialty "kakinoha-zushi (persimmon leaf sushi)," watched the high-speed mochi pounding at "Nakatanidou," and bought souvenirs at small shops making and selling handmade goods, enjoying themselves greatly.

I myself thoroughly enjoyed guiding, being able to share the Nara tour with such refreshing and curious guests.

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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.