My name is HASHIZAKI Schingo (橋崎 晋吾), call me Schingo, that’s my given name.
I am a freelance English speaking tour guide working for international tourists since 2015. I never gave up on working as a tour guide despite the COVID pandemic. I’m a father of a 9 yo son and a husband of my lovely wife (as shown below). We live in a mountainous region “Gokanosho“, a collection of 5 sparsely populated villages situated in the heart of the mountain range running through Kyushu.
I’ve guided in all the prefectures of Kyushu such as Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Oita, Kagoshima, Saga, Nagasaki and Fukuoka in Kyushu. And despite the pandemic that devastated all across the globe, here I stand still. I survived!
In 2019 alone, I guided 178 groups from 26 different countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Singapore, Malaysia, USA, UK, France, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, the list goes on. And thankfully, I have received wonderful reviews on TripAdvisor as shown below.
Just FYI, below is my certificate for a National licensed English speaking tour guide issued by the Japan Tourism Agency which I got by passing all of the required 4-subject (English / Japan’s Geography / Japan’s History / Common knowledge [Politics / Economics / Industries / Culture, etc]) examination held only once a year.
I have lived in Kumamoto Prefecture for over 40 years in total since I was born. The more I learn about Kumamoto, the more I get to love Kumamoto. I am very proud that Kumamoto gives us Japan’s beautiful aspects such as mountains with full of trees, clean rivers and streams, various agricultural products, historical sites, traditional ceremonies, yummy local foods, ways of living which have been imparted from generation to generation since the ancient times. Should you visit Kumamoto and its surrounding places, and would like to have some really good experiences of Japan, just ask me before you go any further. I’d be pleased to offer some suitable advice on what you would like to see an visit, and its tour arrangement.