Osaka in Half a Day: Sightseeing ①: Osaka Castle — Guide Nori

What's a 4-Hour Private Osaka Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Osaka Castle, Umeda Sky Building, and Kaiyukan

The guests on this occasion were a group visiting Japan for sightseeing from Asia. Prior communication and itinerary discussions were carried out with the lead member of the group. It was quite difficult to reach these guests, and with the help of [Japan Guide Agency (JGA Inc.)](https://www.j-g-a.org/), who kindly sent reminders on my behalf, I still received no reply after sending my first contact in early March, and May arrived without any response.

In early May, I finally received a reply via a messaging app, saying they would contact me once they arrived in Osaka. After that, I received a list of places they wished to visit, but even though this was a 4-hour course, they listed about 10 desired destinations. I advised them, "Since this is a 4-hour course, considering travel time, we can visit at most three places," and after narrowing down the guests' requests, we finally confirmed the plan as "Osaka Castle → Umeda Sky Building → Kaiyukan Aquarium."

On the day, although the sunshine was strong at times, the air was dry so the shade felt cool, and conditions were reasonably good. The meeting time was originally set for 11:00 a.m., but the night before, the guests contacted me asking to move the departure up to 10:00, so we changed it on short notice. We were able to meet at the Hotel right at 10:00.

After a brief self-introduction and a quick discussion, we started the tour right away. We headed for Osaka Castle, but upon arriving they asked, "How much is the admission fee?" When I answered, "1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for high school and university students," they said, "We don't need to go inside," so they listened to my explanation while viewing the castle keep. At the next stop, Umeda Sky Building, when we reached the floor just below the top and it came time to buy the entrance tickets (2,000 yen per adult), the guests said, "Some of us are not good with heights, so we don't need to go up to the observation floor," and here again the admission fee seemed to be a concern. After coming down from the Umeda Sky Building, when I was about to head to the next stop, Kaiyukan Aquarium, the guests said, "We don't need to go to Kaiyukan, so it's fine to end the guiding here. After this we'll walk around the Umeda shopping district on our own, or head to Dotonbori." Even though I said, "There is still more than an hour of guiding time left, and I would like to show you around…," they replied, "Don't worry about the remaining time. We appreciate all your guidance so far," so I had no choice but to end the tour.

This was the first time such a thing had happened in my guiding experience so far, and I am reflecting on it with a sense of frustration.

Click here for more details: Osaka Customized Half-Day Tour with Licensed Local 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.