Kyoto: Meeting about the itinerary — Guide Satoko

Title: What Is a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Like When Plans Change? A Licensed Guide's Report

The meeting point was listed as a hotel, so I waited for the guests there, but when they did not appear at the appointed time, I asked the hotel staff, who told me that no such guests were staying there. When I checked the [Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/) reservation screen again, I found a note in the remarks section written by the agency asking me to pick up the guests at a different hotel with a similar name. Thinking there might be another hotel, I confirmed this and found it to be the case, so I hurried by taxi to the other hotel. (I apologize, but I had simply assumed the agency had misspoken the name.) When I explained the reason and apologized, the guests did not seem to mind much. Rather, they told me that they had hired a guide the previous day as well, and had already completed most of the itinerary I had discussed with them, so they asked me to plan a different route. It seemed the guests had assumed the same guide would accompany them for two consecutive days, and they complained quite a bit that this was not the case. They said they had already visited Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji, and Fushimi Inari Taisha, so I had to choose other destinations. They said they wanted to visit Sanjusangendo and also wanted to have something delicious for lunch, so after much deliberation, I decided to include Kiyomizu-dera as the next destination after Sanjusangendo. (In March I had guided two tours that included Kiyomizu-dera at the guests' request, but the crowds were so heavy that Kiyomizu-zaka was almost impassable, so on both occasions I had given up on going inside. I had also considered Nijo Castle, but there are almost no places to eat around Nijo Castle.) The guests seemed quite interested in Sanjusangendo, and in addition to my explanation, they read the descriptions posted on the walls very attentively. Unfortunately, photography is prohibited inside the hall, so they bought postcards. Next we were to move to Kiyomizu-dera, but one of the guests said their breakfast had been light and wanted to have lunch, so I suggested that there was a Western-style restaurant on Chawan-zaka before reaching Kiyomizu-dera, and proposed having lunch there. Unfortunately, that Western-style restaurant was closed. The guests no longer had the energy to explore Kiyomizu-dera and said that just taking photos would be enough, so we decided to look for a restaurant on the other side, along Kiyomizu-zaka. However, there were no restaurants to their liking, and even when there were, the wait times were long, so for the time being we decided to go down the slope and look for a restaurant. In the end, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant at the bottom of the hill. After that, we had planned to go to Nijo Castle, but that would have required walking to the subway station again, and since I felt bad about making them walk so much, I decided instead to stroll to Heian Shrine. The weather was fine and they said they wanted ice cream, so we took a break along the way at Maruyama Park. I talked about Chion-in, Shoren-in, and other sites, and when the torii gate of Heian Shrine came into view, the guests were very moved. As for what to do next, they said they were tired and wished to return to the hotel. So I saw them off to the hotel, and once we reached Kyoto Hachijo-guchi they said they could find their way from there, so we parted ways.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Full-Day Private Tour with Licensed Guide

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!