Kyoto in One Day: Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine — Guide Satoko

What Is a Private One-Day Kyoto Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion, and Arashiyama

Before we met, the guests had sent me a photo of themselves, so I immediately recognized who they were. The guests had said they had dreamed of visiting Japan for decades and were especially interested in Japanese anime; the photo they sent even had an anime character in the background. They had been staying in Tokyo before this, but said they had never been to a shrine, so they listened attentively as I explained how to purify your hands and how to worship at a shrine. They also seemed interested in omikuji fortunes and omamori charms, which they purchased. Since it was early morning with few people around, they enjoyed taking photos at the Senbon Torii and trying the Omokaru-ishi stone. Originally the plan was to cover Kiyomizu-dera, Gion, Tenryu-ji, and the bamboo grove in six hours, so I asked in advance to take a taxi to the next destination, which they agreed to. They were moved by the scenery at Kiyomizu-dera and looked closely at the Buddhist statues inside the main hall. Coming out of Kiyomizu-dera, the guests said, "We've seen enough temples, so we won't go to Tenryu-ji," so they took their time shopping along Kiyomizu-zaka. After walking down Sannen-zaka, I asked whether they would like to continue shopping via Ninen-zaka, or, if they had had enough, go to see the five-story pagoda at Hokan-ji. They said they had shopped enough and did not need to pass through Ninen-zaka, so we decided to go via Hokan-ji and Yasaka Koshin-do. I introduced the interesting way of worshipping at Yasui Konpira-gu Shrine, and we strolled along Hanamikoji. Along the way we passed a geisha without makeup, and I told them, "That's a rare experience." We then took a taxi to Arashiyama. Although I had asked the taxi driver to go to "Torokko Arashiyama Station," there was a misunderstanding and we ended up at "Torokko Saga Station," so we had no choice but to walk to Nagatsuji-dori and enter the bamboo grove from there. I had thought we would walk all the way to Okochi Sanso, but one of the guests looked at the uphill path and said, "That's enough," and expressed a wish to have lunch on the way back to the hotel, so I saw them off at JR Saga-Arashiyama Station and we parted ways. Perhaps the sudden humidity that day had tired them out. As it will get hotter from now on, I was reminded once again that I must focus on carrying out tours while keeping a close eye on the guests' condition.

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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!