Osaka in One Day: Travel to Kinkaku-ji Temple — Guide Nori

Title: Can You Do a Private Day Trip from Osaka to Kyoto by Cruise? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Japan by cruise ship from North America. Regarding the planning of the itinerary in Kyoto, prior communication was handled with the leader of the group. The cruise ship stayed in Osaka for two days; on the first day the guests completed sightseeing within Osaka city, and the tour I was in charge of was "Depart from Osaka ⇒ Sightseeing in Kyoto ⇒ Arrive in Osaka." This course was scheduled for eight hours, but since the round trip between Osaka and Kyoto alone takes more than two hours, actual sightseeing time in Kyoto was expected to be about five hours and thirty minutes. However, since we traveled by private vehicle, transfers could be made smoothly as long as traffic conditions were not bad, so I accommodated the guests' wishes as much as possible, and the initial plan became a bit full: "Arashiyama (Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji, Togetsukyo Bridge) ⇒ Kinkaku-ji ⇒ Nishiki Market and lunch ⇒ Gion ⇒ Fushimi Inari."

On the day, although the sun came out at times, the weather was mostly cloudy throughout the day, and compared with an earlier period, it was a tour under more comfortable conditions. I arrived at Tempozan in Osaka thirty minutes early, and five minutes later the private vehicle arrived, and I confirmed the outline of the itinerary with the driver. After that, as soon as I held up the welcome board in front of the cruise terminal building, the guests appeared and we met up. As soon as we exchanged greetings, they boarded the private vehicle, and it was a very smooth start.

Since it was more than an hour until we reached Arashiyama in Kyoto, in the car, in addition to introducing the driver and giving my own self-introduction as the guide, I asked the guests to introduce themselves as well. Thanks to these self-introductions, we came to understand each other well, and I was able to start the tour in a very open and friendly atmosphere, including talk about families. In the car, of course, I took my time explaining the overall flow of the tour, the characteristics of the places we would visit, the history and features of Japanese religions (Shinto and Buddhism), and Japanese history (especially the ancient, medieval, and early modern periods). Some of the guests had studied a great deal before visiting Japan, and questions came up very actively, so I answered each one carefully and helped them learn the basics.

After arriving in Kyoto, I made full use of the advantages of the private vehicle and proceeded as efficiently as possible while consulting with the driver. This was because, as I only learned once we started sightseeing in Kyoto, some of the guests could only walk very slowly. For that reason, since "Nishiki Market," which had been planned initially, was expected to be crowded, at the guests' request we canceled it and proceeded with the rest of the sightseeing at a relaxed pace. Also, the final destination, "Fushimi Inari," has many stairs, which was difficult for some of the guests, so we finished after visiting up to the main shrine.

It was a long eight-hour tour, and toward the end the guests looked tired, so on the way back to Tempozan in Osaka I refrained from giving explanations in the car, but the guests did not sleep and the conversation continued without pause. I was a little tired as well, but I was able to provide a very pleasant guiding experience.

Click here for more details: Kyoto in 1 Day from Osaka: Private Car Tour, 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.