Osaka Customized Half-Day Tour — Guide Nori

Title: What's a 4-Hour Private Osaka Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report on Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Shitennoji

The guests were visiting Japan from Oceania. They arrived in Japan and were traveling for about two weeks by cruise ship, stopping at various ports around the country to sightsee, with Kobe being their first port of call. Prior arrangements, including discussions about which places to visit, were made in advance with the guests. Although it was a short course of four hours including lunch, we settled on the three essential Osaka spots: Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Shitennoji Temple.

On the day, rain was forecast for the afternoon, but it never rained, making for a comfortable tour throughout. The guests were interested in Japanese history, particularly the history of samurai governance, which made Osaka Castle an ideal subject. As it happened, the cherry blossoms at Osaka Castle had begun to fall but still retained a splendid appearance, and the guests took a great many photos and were very satisfied. Next, we enjoyed a stroll around Dotonbori combined with lunch. For lunch we opted for a casual ramen, but due to a malfunction in the computer system at the ramen shop I usually use, we ended up waiting about 20 minutes. Still, the guests seemed to enjoy ramen with its dashi-based broth. Finally, at Shitennoji, one of Osaka's proud ancient temples, they experienced the world of Buddhism.

Although the distances on this course are not that great, moving by subway required many transfers and took time, so for the latter half we switched to traveling by taxi.

The guests were close to me in age, and during our travels and over lunch, we never ran out of topics — from family to society, education, and raising children. With frank and talkative guests, we had a very enjoyable tour.

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.