Kyoto: Tour End — Guide Kazu

What's a Private Kyoto Day Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were visiting Japan for the first time from Europe. On the day, one member of the group rested at the hotel due to feeling unwell, so the tour proceeded with the rest of the group. Their flight from Europe had been cancelled due to the attack on Iraq, and their trip was rescheduled from the 12th to the 20th. Everyone was friendly and approachable, which made it easy for me to strike up conversation as well. The weather was fine, and by the afternoon it felt slightly warm. As it was the first day of a three-day weekend, everywhere was very crowded, including with Japanese tourists. If I had not made a reservation at the lunch restaurant, I believe we would have had to wait about an hour. The bus heading toward the Higashiyama area skipped one of its stops (Gojozaka) due to the large number of tourists. There were also Japanese drivers touring by private car up the slope toward Yasaka Pagoda (with Shiga license plates), which caused quite a bit of confusion. They seemed unfamiliar with the roads. Private car sightseeing during this season should really be avoided. We used taxis from Kinkaku-ji to Nishioji-Oike and from Nanzen-ji to Higashiyama-Sanjo. The photo was taken at Kinkaku-ji.

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Tour Report by KAZU

I was born and grew up in Kyoto and now live near Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. I used to be a schoolteacher of English and welcome a lot of students from foreign countries. I really enjoyed showing them around Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Himeji, and Hiroshima. I have been a professional tour guide for about 8 years. I always try to let my guests learn Japanese traditional and modern culture. Since I was born in Kyoto, I know a lot about its culture and people. I myself enjoyed several sports, such as soccer, judo, and marathon when I was young. I’m much interested in baseball and sumo. My motto as a tour guide is to let my guests learn about our tradition and culture precisely and really enjoy themselves. I strongly hope you will enjoy the tour in Japan with me.