Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car — Guide Toshi

Title: What Can You See on a Private Car Tour of Kyoto from a Cruise Ship? A Licensed Guide's Report

Today's guests were a group of visitors from North America who were in Japan aboard a cruise ship. They were cheerful people with a strong interest in Japan and Japanese culture, asking many questions at each destination as well as in the car, making it a lively day of sightseeing throughout. Since they planned to explore Kyoto on their own the following day, they requested a car tour focused mainly on locations away from the city center, so we decided to visit Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, and Kinkaku-ji.

At Fushimi Inari Taisha, a wide range of questions came up about Shinto, the meaning of the torii gates, how to worship, and the significance of the vermilion color. While answering these questions, I guided them through the main shrine and Senbon Torii, and they tried their luck at the power spots.

In Arashiyama, I guided them through Tenryu-ji Temple, taking time to show them the strolling-style garden and the plant garden. They fully enjoyed the natural beauty created by the fresh green foliage as we also walked through the bamboo grove. They took many commemorative photos, which took a fair amount of time, but I believe that shows how much they enjoyed it. From the bamboo grove, we passed through Kameyama Park. Although we could not see the beautiful Hozugawa River due to the heavy rain the day before, we then moved on to Kinkaku-ji, where they again took many photos with the beautiful golden building and garden as the backdrop.

Finally, the guests expressed a wish to have dinner in a shopping district, so I guided them through Nishiki Market. At the end, we moved from there to an electronics store in Kawaramachi, where I introduced several of the restaurants on its upper floor before we parted ways.

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Tour Report by Toshi

After a rather long teaching experience at Japanese college, I converted my career about 6 years ago into working as a tour guide for the tourists visiting Japan.
As my career overseas, I’ve been in the UN and the Japanese Embassy, all in the USA, totaling more than 6 years.
And then I had made a big change in my career from a diplomat to an academic researcher. For that career to achieve, I studied abroad and won a doctorate degree in linguistics from Indiana University and landed a teaching position at college in Japan.
With all these interesting and exciting experiences I’ve made myself ready to enrich your tour and make it both enjoyable and worthwhile.