Kyoto in Half a Day: Move: Travel by bus to Gion — Guide Nori

What's a 4-Hour Private Family Tour of Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera and Gion Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

This tour was for a group visiting Kyoto from North America. Advance communication and coordination were handled through one of the guests. They had no particular requests for destinations, saying, "We'll leave the destinations up to you, but we'd definitely like to visit Gion." Since the guests' hotel was along the Keihan Line, about a 15-minute walk from Kiyomizu-dera, and Gion could be reached in about 5 minutes by bus after coming down from Kiyomizu-dera, I planned a 4-hour short course covering "Kiyomizu-dera ⇒ Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka ⇒ lunch and rest ⇒ Gion." This itinerary turned out to be unusually compact compared with other tours I have guided. This was out of consideration for the fact that it was a tour with young children, giving top priority to the agreement reached with the guests that "the health and safety of the children" should come first, and to minimize movement between destinations as much as possible.

However, once the tour actually began, sightseeing with two young children proved challenging. For most of the itinerary, the two children rode in a two-seat cart, and one of the guests pushed it from beginning to end, which must have been quite a physical burden. In particular, the long sloped roads of Kiyomizu-dera and moving through the crowds were extremely difficult. As the guide, I led the way and took as much care as possible to prevent the children from being jostled in the crowds. Fortunately, one of the guests was of a sturdy build and seemed to have plenty of stamina, which is why that role could be fulfilled. There was also some travel by bus, though brief, and there was concern about "how to protect the children in the crowds," but through the coordinated efforts of the guests and the guide, we managed to get through it. Above all, it was a half day in which I was soothed and encouraged by the smiles of two energetic children. The guests were also interested in Japanese culture and history, asking many questions wherever we went, which allowed us to deepen our exchange.

Finally, I would like to comment on the issue of "tours with young children." I have previously guided a group traveling with a very young child, and including this tour, concerns surrounding the issue of "tours with young children" once again come to mind. While guiding, when I look at other inbound groups, I have noticed more and more people traveling with young children in carts. In my case, by cooperating with the guests, I have managed to avoid accidents, but if a serious accident were to occur, it could become a major problem. If such cases increase, some form of restriction may become necessary. If [Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/) has any information or case studies on this matter, it would be helpful for future reference if they could be shared.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local Guide

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.