If you meet someone visiting Kyoto, try asking them if they know Mr. Hirooka, nicknamed “Johnnie Hillwalker.” He is one of the most famous tour guides in Japan and conducts his unique walking tour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday starting in front of JR Kyoto station. He had worked for a leading tour agency for more than 30 years, and after mandatory retirement in 1996, he started his unique walking tour that now attracts around 3000 tourists per year.
The tour is called “Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English.” You can easily guess from the name what kind of attraction it is. However, the uniqueness of this tour is that tourists will not visit a single “must see” sightseeing spot according to the guide books on Japan. Instead, they will be introduced to small shrines, a factory of Japanese handicrafts, hidden streets, a spine-chilling graveyard and other attractive spots. Even without visiting a well-known sightseeing spot, participants seem to be deeply satisfied with this five hour walking tour experiencing the everyday life of Kyotoites.
Though 3000 customers take part in his tour yearly, he did not achieve this great success over night. A lady who has been working for an information desk located close to JR Kyoto station mentioned to me that she used to have the habit of counting the number of participants for his tour looking out of the window from her desk. For the first few years, counting the number was a very easy task since the tourists were just a few or so each day. As the years went by, she one day found a huge group marching in the street. She thought it might be a group boarding a sightseeing coach. However, in front of the long line, she located a hat, Johnnie’s trademark, proudly leading the group. With great joy and in tribute to him, she stopped her long-lasting habit of counting the number of tourists.
In Japan, such a great person like him should be called “sensei.” When I started my WaRaiDo Guide Networks business, I visited him to learn and tried calling him “sensei” but he refused this title simply saying “I am a tour guide.” Since then I do not call him “sensei” in person, but when I talk about him with someone else, I cannot help saying “sensei.” And he has long been a de facto advisor especially for our walking tour service.
When you find a major free paper about Kyoto, the “Kyoto Visitors Guide,” just open the front page, and you will find a picture of “sensei” and me. I am so happy every time I look at the pictures of two men who are coincidently from the same high school.
For more in-details, visit the website of “Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English” through our LINK page.