Kyoto in 1 Day from Osaka: Customized Tour — Guide Kazu

Title: What Is a Private Osaka Tour Like for Cruise Passengers? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting from North America, currently making a stop by cruise ship. The itinerary for this tour had been arranged by one of the guests. One of the guests was very fond of conversation and at first made a great effort to speak in fairly good Japanese, but partway through switched to English, perhaps finding it tiring. This guest seemed unable to grasp, on a practical level, the way Shinto and Buddhism coexist in the everyday lives of ordinary Japanese people, asking many questions such as: What do you actually do at a shrine? What is a temple? What about weddings, funerals, New Year's celebrations, and Shichi-Go-San? The enthusiasm behind these questions was truly remarkable. We also talked about many other topics, including Saigo Takamori, pensions, Japanese sake (especially Gekkeikan), English education in Japan, wartime Japan, and politics such as who the next prime minister might be, and various other things I have since forgotten. I even got the impression that this guest may have wanted to hear about these kinds of topics from a Japanese person more than to go sightseeing. It felt just like chatting over drinks at a traditional izakaya after work. The other guest was rather quiet, tending to read the panels and displays and ask questions only when something was unclear. At the end, in front of a ship at Tempozan, I received a somewhat personal question and we ended up talking for another ten minutes or so before saying goodbye. They are continuing their cruise, planning to visit Kochi, Kagoshima, and then continue on to other destinations. I felt a real connection with this guest and would love to meet again and, next time, talk over drinks.

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Tour Report by Kazu

Hello, this is Kazu Akiyama, your tour guide. Nice to meet you and welcome to Japan. Thank you for joining me on the tour. Now I am a retired salaried worker, living in Osaka. I have been very much interested in not only learning Japanese history, culture, religion myself, but also talking about them (sometimes going off topics) in English with tourists from all over the world as well. I am so excited being with you as your guide on coming day! I am very much looking forward to you enjoying with me visiting the must-see places and some of the hidden gems. See you soon. Thank you – Kazu Akiyama