Kyoto in Half a Day: Kyoto Imperial Palace & Goo Shrine — Guide Satoko

What Is a Private Kyoto History Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Nijo Castle and Kyoto Imperial Palace

Before the tour, there was a question in the pre-tour communication asking whether I held a guide license. The meeting time was also changed a couple of times, and the guests said they wanted more time to think it over, so I felt anxious right up until the day of the tour. The meeting was finally set for 8:40 in front of Nijo Castle, but on the morning of the tour I received a message asking to push the start back by 25 minutes. Fortunately, the guests arrived by taxi at 8:50, so the start was not delayed by much. Since the guest introduction noted a request for "a guide who is knowledgeable about history," I prepared some materials based on the visual guide Japanese history timeline provided by the company, with a few additions of my own. First, I explained beforehand that although Kyoto was the capital for a long time, the period during which the imperial family actually held political power was short, that there were three warrior governments, and the relationship between the shogun and the emperor.

After entering Nijo Castle and explaining the Karamon gate, it became apparent that one of the guests had recently been injured and wanted to walk while taking frequent rests. The two younger members of the group listened to my explanations at first, but as the other guests were asking many enthusiastic questions and I was responding to them, they probably found it a bit dull. For much of the time, they were talking among themselves. After walking around the Ninomaru Palace, since the guests had gone to Kiyomizu-dera in the morning and had not had breakfast, they said they wanted to eat somewhere, so I guided them to the simple dining hall at Nijo Castle. They seemed to enjoy curry and wagyu beef sandwiches, and ate them happily. One of the guests took a liking to mango juice and said it was delicious.

After that, we admired the Ninomaru Garden and decided to go to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Considering one guest's condition, we decided to take a taxi. Here again, some of the guests were talking among themselves, so I mainly guided the others. Like me, they were especially moved by the Oike Garden, and some of the guests stopped for a while to watch the carp and birds. Finally, since one of the guests seemed to have an injured leg, we decided to stop by Goo Shrine, known for legs and lower back. The guests did not seem to have any objection to visiting a shrine as a tourist attraction, but they asked me, "What exactly are people praying to?" and at first I did not understand what they were asking. According to the explanation from one of the guests, who follows a particular faith that worships a single god, they could not understand why Japanese people worship at shrines in so many different places. I explained that Japanese people regard all sorts of things in nature as deities, and that real historical people are also revered as gods. This once again made me realize that when religions differ, what seems obvious to us is not obvious at all.

When it was time to part, I stamped a Goo Shrine pamphlet for the younger members of the group and gave them character stickers as a souvenir before saying goodbye. The photo was taken at the Oike Garden of the Kyoto Imperial Palace.

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