Beautiful Autumn Leaves

On Sunday, I guided a group of young people who are staying in Tokyo for a medium to long term, to Koishikawa Korakuen Garden as member of Tokyo City Guide Club. It was divided about 10 guests into four groups, and I guided two guests from India and Germany. The autumn leaves were in full bloom at that time, so I think the guests enjoyed themselves well.

However, since the pairings were decided at the entrance to the garden, it was the first time that both guides and guest group, so there were some confusions.

Koishikawa Korakuen Garden was built to make people in Edo, who could not easily travel to Kyoto, to enjoy a simulated Kyoto trip, but it was some difference for participants from Germany, which had a similar feudal system, and participants from India, which has a different history, to understand the background. In addition, the English pronunciation of the guests was different, so it was difficult to communicate within the participants.

I have explained this garden many times before, and I had information in advance about the type of people I would be guiding, so I was able to plan the scenario and time allocation of my explanation to a certain extent, but I also had to worry about how much I should improvise to suit the pace and level of understanding of the two guests.

Also, because we were divided into four groups, we had to coordinate the viewing time for the whole group, and I had to skip some places to explain, so as a guide, I was a little worried and left with regrets about how much the group enjoyed. However, we were saved by the fact that the autumn leaves were at their best.