Hiroshima & Miyajima in 1 Day: Private Tour — Guide Sebastian

Title: What Is a Private Guided Tour of Hiroshima and Miyajima Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were active visitors who mentioned they run regularly, and they walked (or ran) up and down every set of stairs all the way to the end. Since they had only arrived in Japan the day before and had not yet made any preparations, my first task was to help them withdraw cash yen from a convenience store ATM. On this trip, their destinations within Japan were only Hiroshima and Tokyo (plus an optional bus tour to Mount Fuji), after which they were scheduled to board a cruise to Southeast Asia. Perhaps for this reason, their interest in nuclear weapons and war was very high. They wanted to learn about the reality of the atomic bombing and how Japanese people feel about it, so they spent a great deal of time carefully exploring the Peace Memorial Park. Rather than going through a prepared list of questions in order, their style was to probe deeper into the points that caught their interest during my explanations. In addition, they asked many active questions about social topics such as Japan's feudal system, holidays, and tax system. I believe I was able to answer almost all of them.

When I went ahead to the pier to move to Miyajima via the World Heritage Sea Route, leaving the guests at the museum, the ticketing line was longer than I had ever seen, apparently due to a shortage of staff, so I gave up on that route. Instead, we traveled to Miyajima by taxi (to Nishi-Hiroshima Station, with the guests agreeing to cover the fare of 1,230 yen), train, and ferry. Compared to Hiroshima, Miyajima was treated somewhat as a secondary highlight, but the guests seemed overwhelmed by the sheer size of the Grand Torii Gate, which we could walk right up to because of the low tide.

Since they had not yet decided where to have dinner, on the way back I gave them a list of bars I had prepared for the previous day's guests, as well as the website of the restaurant they were most interested in. After arriving at Hiroshima Station, I helped them purchase limited express and Green Car tickets for the bullet train back to Tokyo the next day (reserving seats on the Mount Fuji side) at the ticket machine, and after showing them around the restaurant area in the station building, we parted ways within Hiroshima Station at the guests' request. Having flown from North America to Narita the previous day and arriving in Hiroshima late at night, some of the guests seemed a little tired from jet lag in the latter half of the tour, but even so, they kept smiling until the very end.

Click here for more details: Hiroshima & Miyajima in 1 Day: Private Tour, Licensed Guide

Tour Report by Sebastian

Hello, my name is Soshi Ebisuda. My first name is Soshi but my nickname may be easier to remember, so please call me Sebastian!

My guiding as a government-licensed interpreter in English is specialized in the areas of Tokyo (where I live now) and Hiroshima (my hometown). Professionally I have a long track record in the finance industry, working for a multinational company, and therefore am quite experienced to host international visitors. My areas of interest include Japanese and western history, travel (especially by railroads), and mountains. I also have a trekking guide license of Japan Mountain Guides Association, so will be happy to guide you to beautiful mountains from spring to autumn.

I look forward to seeing you in Japan!