Osaka Customized Private Tour in 1 Day — Guide Nori

What's a Private One-Day Osaka Cultural Tour Like? A Licensed Guide's Report

The guests were a group visiting Osaka from Oceania, and they were a very close-knit group of longtime friends. During the pre-tour email correspondence, the request was: "We leave the itinerary entirely up to you as the guide. Just please make sure to include places where we can understand Japanese culture, and be sure to include time for lunch." In line with that request, I finalized the following itinerary and received approval from the group's representative: (1) the Umeda Sky Building (explaining the characteristics of Osaka while enjoying panoramic views of the city), (2) Osaka Castle (the setting of the Siege of Osaka, a turning point in the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate), (3) Dotonbori and lunch (explaining and experiencing Osaka's food culture), and (4) Shitennoji Temple (explaining the influence of Buddhist culture).

On the day of the tour, under the usual extreme heat, and since everyone including the guide was on the older side, I made a special effort to avoid moving around under the blazing sun as much as possible. First, although the itinerary originally planned to use public transportation for all travel, whenever it took more than ten minutes on foot to reach the nearest station, I changed to using a taxi with the guests' consent (two of the four transfers were changed to taxi). I also regularly encouraged everyone to stay hydrated and made sure to allow plenty of time for lunch and rest.

Even under the harsh conditions of the extreme heat, the guests asked all sorts of questions at each site and listened intently to the explanations. In particular, for lunch I recommended okonomiyaki in Dotonbori, and they were delighted, saying, "This is really delicious. We love it." One of the guests took a liking to the "kote" (spatula) used to eat okonomiyaki, and there was even a moment when this guest asked the restaurant staff, "I'd like to use this at home, so please sell it to me." The staff member, looking somewhat troubled, said, "It's not for sale, so please forgive us." This story had another twist. On the way to the last stop, Shitennoji Temple, this same guest sharp-eyed spotted a household-goods shop along the approach and stopped, saying, "They might have a 'kote' here. Please ask the shop staff." When I asked, the shopkeeper immediately said, "Of course we have them," and brought out the item. The guests were very pleased and seemed to buy several, both for personal use and as souvenirs. Then, at the end of the tour, one of them ended up in my hands. "This is a token of our thanks. Please use it," they said. In fact, I already had one at home, but I kept that to myself and gratefully accepted it. In any case, it was a fun tour with a warm and friendly atmosphere among people of the same generation.

Click here for more details: Osaka Customized Private Tour in 1 Day with 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.