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

Title: What Is a Private 4-Hour Osaka Walking and Taxi Tour Like in Summer? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Japan from North America for a trip. Originally one more member of the group had planned to join, but due to the long journey they were resting at the hotel instead. Over lunch, I learned that the group had relocated across Asia and North America over the years. They were a very cheerful and close-knit group, always full of lively and enjoyable conversation.

The greatest challenge during this tour was the heat. For this reason, the planned itinerary (Hotel ⇒ Osaka Castle ⇒ Dotonbori ⇒ Kuromon Market) had originally called for using the subway for all transfers, as it is convenient, but walking between destinations under the blazing sun proved unbearable. After consulting with the guests on the spot, we switched to traveling by taxi. Thanks to this, there was almost no walking in the scorching heat, and we could move about comfortably. At the same time, I was able to explain the next destinations while in the air-conditioned taxi, which greatly deepened their understanding of Osaka's history and culture.

What the guests especially enjoyed during the tour was lunch at Dotonbori. At the request of the guests, I chose a well-known okonomiyaki restaurant in Dotonbori. The guests were very interested in Osaka's food culture and expressed their gratitude, saying, "This is the first time we've been able to eat okonomiyaki and takoyaki made locally in Osaka. The real thing really is different. Thank you for choosing this restaurant."

Because lunch ran considerably longer than planned, at the guests' request we skipped the final destination, Kuromon Market, and instead strolled around the Dotonbori area. I introduced how Osaka's Minami district is rich not only in popular food culture but also in popular entertainment, and we enjoyed the walk. In the end, the guests discovered an amusement arcade with bowling, billiards, and table tennis, and decided to play table tennis. There was little guiding time left, but at the guests' invitation I also enjoyed playing table tennis with them.

Although it was a short tour of four hours, I was able to guide a close-knit group even in the heat, and it was a very pleasant guiding experience.

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.