Kyoto: Sightseeing: Kinkaku-ji Temple — Guide Nori

What Does a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour with a Licensed Guide Look Like? A Guide's Report

The guests this time were a group visiting Japan from South America. They were a lovely, close-knit group, calm and full of curiosity, with a deep interest in Japanese history and culture. Through our correspondence beforehand, it was clear they were eager to visit as many famous sites as possible. Their initial request listed six locations: Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari, Gion, Arashiyama, and Nishiki Market. However, they accepted my advice that "packing in too much would rush the guests and could diminish the sense of anticipation," and we narrowed it down to mainly four locations (①Kinkaku-ji ⇒ ②Arashiyama: Bamboo Path, Tenryu-ji, Togetsukyo Bridge ⇒ ③Kiyomizu-dera ⇒ ④Fushimi Inari Taisha).

During the day's sightseeing, I made the most of the advantage of traveling by private car, using the travel time between destinations fully to provide explanations. My explanations focused on a common theme across the sites — the basics of "Japanese religion (Buddhism and Shinto)" and its relationship with politics — and, building on that, I explained each destination. Since one-way explanations from the guide alone can become tiring, I occasionally posed questions (quizzes) related to what I had explained. The guests found this interesting and thought carefully about them, creating an interactive "class" that I felt was quite lively.

The challenge on this tour was that Kyoto city was entering the period of the "Gion Festival," so traffic congestion during travel was unavoidable. Thanks to the private car driver's quick thinking in choosing routes that avoided congestion as much as possible, we were able to carry out the sightseeing almost exactly as scheduled. It was a day for which I was deeply grateful to the experienced local driver. In the end, I dropped them off at JR Kyoto Station almost on schedule and saw them off as they departed for their next destination, Osaka. I felt a real sense of connection with the guests, and it was a very pleasant guiding experience.

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.