At both Nijo castle and Koyimizu Temple we were approached by several University students studying English who asked if they could guide us. This cost us nothing and we also had a chat with them about their lives in Japan which was very interesting.

I never used a guide, but my understanding is that if you do use one, it's common courtesy to pay for their admission into shines, and pay for their lunch or dinner (nothing extravagant) if it happens to be around lunch or dinner-time. Admission to shrines is usually $3-$4 per person.

In Nara, when I went into a city visitor center to grab a map, they were very eager to to call a personal guide for me. It was free, except for the admission fees and lunch. I very politely said it wasn't necessary and that I wasn't worth the bother, but I still feel guilty after seeing the disappointed look on their faces. (This was in February.)

These are courtesy guides, real volunteers, not like those in Bali or other developing countries where people are in the habit of hiring personal guides because they are so cheap. Prefossional guides in Japan are very expensive.

We arranged for volunteer guides for 2 different days in Kyoto. I had tentatively planned for one in Nara as well, but decided not to because our itinerary there was a little up in the air.

Check here at the JNTO website: jnto.go.jp/eng/…list_volunteerGuides_a-n.html

Hi Pondguy,what did you think of the guide that you had in Kyoto?codger

Codger,

We had 2 different guides in Kyoto. I contacted the Good Samaritan Club, which is comprised of students from Doshisha, Kyoto and Ritsumeikan Universities. Our first guide was a young lady from Ritsumeikan, and I had asked her to accompany us for our walk from Ginkakuji to Nanzenji. Our second guide on another day, was a young man from Kyoto University and he accompanied us for Kiyomizudera and the surrounding neighborhood.

The knowledge that each of our guides had about the sights varied, as you can well imagine. However, in both cases, our guides were definite positive enhancements to our visits. They are all volunteers, and if nothing else, as another poster has already commented, they can offer insights into their own personal lives. So you can understand a little bit more about how Japanese live in this cultural exchange. I would highly recommend it.