Kyoto in Half a Day: Tenryuji Temple & Kinkakuji Temple — Guide Satoko

What's a Private Kyoto Tour of Arashiyama and Kinkaku-ji Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visitors from Europe. When I had guided visitors from the same region before, one guest had mentioned wanting to see the bamboo grove near Kodai-ji, saying that bamboo does not grow in their home region. When I asked if that was really true, they said that even if it existed, it would be quite thin. We traveled to Arashiyama by the Hankyu line. One of the guests seemed to love the view of the mountains and river from Hankyu Arashiyama Station to Kameyama Park, and took photos enthusiastically. Since I am not very familiar with their home region, I asked whether there were mountains there, and they replied that even if there were, they would be about 150 meters. I remarked that this was about the same height as Monkey Park. Because traveling to Kinkaku-ji would take quite a while, I had arranged in advance that we would enter Tenryu-ji from the north gate and view the buildings from the outside, which the guests agreed to. The garden was full of colorful flowers, which the guests especially enjoyed. I suggested that they might like to sit on the bench by the Sogen-ji garden pond and meditate, but they said they would try it if there were few people, though since it was crowded it was not necessary. We then moved to Kitano-Hakubaicho by the Randen tram. The guests photographed the beautiful interior of the tram. At Kitano-Hakubaicho we tried to transfer to city bus 205, but it was so full that we let about two buses pass. Kinkaku-ji seemed less crowded than the previous day, so I think we were able to enjoy the visit relatively at our own pace. When I called out "yoisho" at the entrance to Kameyama Park and on the slope up to Kinkaku-ji, the guests seemed to remember it and found it amusing. Once we had finished the itinerary, I asked what they would like to do in the afternoon, and they said they wanted to return near their hotel and have lunch, so I decided to see them off to the nearest bus stop. The person managing the bus stop was not the type to actively call out to passengers, so I decided to wait together with the guests until they boarded the bus. The photo was taken in the bamboo grove near the north gate of Tenryu-ji.

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Tour Report by Satoko

I am a 53-year-old woman, living in Kyoto for nearly 40 years. I got the license in 2001. Since then, I worked as an interpreter or a translator in several companies, secretary at universities, and now work for a company on weekdays at the international dept.I do guiding job only weekend now. I started full swing guiding career after COVID-19 pandemic. I have gotten good review from many of my guests. I love my hometown, Kyoto which has a lot of interesting and historical sites to see. Particularly, I am native to Arashiyama which is famous for bamboo forest. So, I know a lot of places where you can relax yourself around this area. Other than that, Kyoto has many attractive sites which surely interest you.Also, I like meeting many people from different cultural background. I am very happy if I learn about your culture as well. Let’s enjoy exploring around Kyoto!