Kyoto in One Day: Kinkaku-ji Temple & Nijo Castle — Guide Satoko

Can You See a Geisha Dance Performance on a Private Kyoto Tour? A Licensed Guide's Report on Kamogawa Odori, Kinkaku-ji, and Nijo Castle

From the initial correspondence, the guests mentioned that they wanted to see a geisha dance, so I recommended options such as Kamogawa Odori, the Gion geisha district art museum, and Gion Corner. They chose Kamogawa Odori, so I asked them to purchase tickets in advance. When I asked about the situation, they said, "The credit card wasn't accepted and it didn't go through, so we'd like to ask whether same-day tickets are available." Therefore, the tour started with inquiring about same-day tickets at the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater. Luckily, there were same-day seats available for the whole group for the 16:00 performance, so after they purchased them, we headed to the next destination.

The guests wanted to visit Nijo Castle and Kinkaku-ji, so I figured we could manage to return by 16:00 using public transportation, and we headed to the nearest station, Kyotoshiyakusho-mae Station. Initially, since Nijo Castle closed earlier, I planned to visit Nijo Castle first, but the guests seemed to find everything so unusual that they walked slowly while taking photos, and took their time going to the restroom upon reaching the station, so I began to worry about whether we could visit both using public transportation. So I told them that we would go to Kinkaku-ji first, which was a higher priority for the guests, and then visit Nijo Castle afterward to see only the buildings. They agreed, so they processed a fare adjustment at Nishioji-Oike and we headed to the bus stop.

At Kinkaku-ji, the members asked me all sorts of questions as they pleased. Since other tourists were trying to toss coins into the bowl in front of the Jizo statue, the guests also gave it a try. They even handed me a one-yen coin, and when I tossed it, mine actually landed in the bowl, and the people around us got a little excited. I had heard from the beginning that one of the guests had difficulty walking, and that person finally sat down at Anmintaku. To be honest, although I have guided many people, this was the first time someone sat down partway through Kinkaku-ji, so I was surprised. (Generally, guests with walking difficulties seem to just see the Golden Pavilion and then head outside.) So, at the Kijin-tou seat next to the Sekkatei teahouse, I said, "This is where a shogun used to sit long ago, so please sit here and feel like a shogun for a while," and the companions happily took photos.

At this point, the representative seemed to realize that at this pace we wouldn't make it by public transportation, and they said they wanted to go to Nijo Castle by taxi. Just when I thought that would speed things up, some of the guests spotted wasabi peanuts at the shop by the exit and sat down to begin a little snack time. Once the snack time ended, we luckily found a taxi that could carry five people and headed to Nijo Castle. Since we were short on time, I explained the history as we walked. At the Karamon gate, they were moved by each and every carving. As we had discussed at the outset, having seen the buildings, we took a taxi to the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater. After checking in, everyone enjoyed the riverside scenery, and then watched the stage performance for about an hour. Since I hadn't seen it myself in over 20 years, I enjoyed it too.

After the performance, one of the guests said they were going to smoke a cigarette by the river, so the remaining members chatted for a while in the chairs set up outside the theater for guests. Then a member of the hayashi musicians who had finished the performance came out, so we all sent them off with applause, and the musician smiled bashfully. Since there was a little time left before the tour ended, I asked what they wanted to do, and they said, "We want to see Gion," so we decided to walk to Gion. Since they had presumably already strolled through Pontocho, we decided to head from Sanjo-Ohashi Bridge to Shinbashi and then Hanamikoji. Since it was clear that the guest with walking difficulties would say they were tired along the way, I told them we could travel by taxi instead, but they said they were fine, so we decided to walk. Along the way, they found an antique shop on Nawate-Odori and stopped in.

Unlike the narrow atmosphere of Pontocho, Shinbashi and Hanamikoji were perhaps more spacious due to the time of day, and the guests were impressed, saying, "The atmosphere is wonderful." I also explained how to distinguish an ochaya (teahouse), and since they liked the pine tree of an ochaya, we took a commemorative photo with it in the background. As we approached Hanamikoji, the guest with walking difficulties seemed to say they wanted to go home soon, so I told them, "There's a kaburenjo theater at the end of this street, so we'll see it and then head to the station," and somehow soothed them as we headed toward Kawabata-Dori. Along the way, we passed Miyagawa-cho, so I said, "If you go left, there's another geisha district," and one of the companions said, "I definitely want to come again. Next time I'll bring a wheelchair for this person." Somehow encouraging that person to keep walking, we reached Shijo-Kawaramachi Station and said our goodbyes. The photo was taken in front of the Pontocho Kaburenjo Theater.

Click here for more details: Kyoto Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with Licensed 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!