Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car — Guide Nori

Title: What's a Private Car Day Tour of Kyoto Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Arashiyama, Kinkaku-ji, and the Philosopher's Path

The guests this time were a group visiting Japan from North America. Prior communication and itinerary planning were arranged with one of the guests. It was their first visit to Japan, and they had a strong desire to "enjoy the best of Kyoto" while at the same time "avoiding places that are simply crowded," so there was quite a bit of email exchange before we finalized the destinations. During the exchange, there were also messages such as "we misunderstood the dates, so we need to change them" and "we changed our hotel," which meant it took a fair amount of time to finalize the itinerary. In the end, we settled on Arashiyama (Tenryu-ji ⇒ Bamboo Grove ⇒ Adashino Nenbutsu-ji) ⇒ Kinkaku-ji ⇒ Ginkaku-ji ⇒ the Philosopher's Path. All transportation was by private car, and the experienced driver helped us in many ways.

On the day, the weather was colder than usual for late March, and the cherry blossoms had only just barely begun to bloom. Although we were able to depart a little earlier than planned, just as we set off from the hotel toward the first destination of Kinkaku-ji, one of the guests suddenly requested, "There is a great coffee shop nearby, and I'd like to get a takeout, so please stop by." Since this had not been mentioned in advance, I hesitated for a moment, but judging that "a detour of a few minutes could be made up for later," I decided to make the stop. However, this turned out to be a miscalculation, as the guest did not return after five minutes, nor after ten. It was only after about fifteen minutes that they came back to the car. I explained to the guests, "Since we are running a little behind, we will save some time in Arashiyama," and they agreed.

After that, thanks to the cooperation of the guests, the tour went very smoothly. Since the destinations matched the guests' wishes, they were very satisfied, apart from the crowds at Kinkaku-ji and the Bamboo Grove. In particular, the "Kura Sushi" chosen for lunch was very much to their liking, as they said they often go to conveyor-belt sushi restaurants in their home area as well. At the start I felt a little nervous, wondering how things would turn out, but in the end it became an enjoyable tour with a warm and friendly group.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Private Tour by Car with Licensed 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.