Trilingual guide spreading love for one of Japan’s most beautiful historical towns.

The first chapters of Joris De Bievre’s life in Japan aren’t all that unusual. Born in France but interested in the Asian nation from a young age, he moved to Tokyo in his 20s, working in the IT field and taking trips around the country in his spare time.

Of the many places he visited, De Bievre was especially fond of Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture. The town is famous for its Higashi Chaya teahouse district with rows of preserved historical buildings and for Kenrokuen, considered one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. Charms such as those had De Bievre so enamored with the place that in 2022, after eight years of living in Tokyo, he moved to Kanazawa, continuing to work in systems engineering via a remote work arrangement.

However, he’s now picked up a second job in Kanazawa, and one that’s much less common for foreigners in Japan.

In the fall of last year, De Bievre was introduced via a mutual acquaintance to the owner of Kanazawa Ichirikisha, a rickshaw tour company that pulls customers around the city’s historical sightseeing quarters. “Why don’t you try working with us?” the owner asked De Bievre, who’d previously worked as a guide for Japanese tourists in France, and so he decided to take the rickshaw boss up on his offer.

Being a rickshaw puller in the modern era is job with two sides to it, though. Customers don’t just expect a ride, they also want to know about the local history and significance of places they pass along the route. So while De Bievre, who’s 39 years old, already enjoyed physical activity and talking with people, he needed to spend time apprenticing at Kanazawa Ichirikisha before he’d be ready to start serving actual customers.

He kept at it though, running routes with the Kanazawa Ichirikisha staff one day a week in the Higashiyama and Kannonmachi neighborhoods of the city. Finally, this month, on July 21, he made his official debut, pulling paying customers for the first time on a blisteringly hot day.

De Bievre is Kanazawa’s first foreign rickshaw puller, but that doesn’t mean that Kanazawa Ichirikisha is going to have him pulling foreign customers exclusively, as he’s able to communicate in Japanese. In fact, two of his first customers were a pair of Japanese women, one of whom remarked that “Hering explanations about this part of Kanazawa from the perspective of a foreign person has rekindled my interest and appreciation for my hometown.”

Kanazawa Ichirikisha does realize, though, that De Bievre’s ability to converse in his native French, as well as English, gives them a way to accommodate inbound foreign tourists who don’t speak Japanese. The current plan is for him to pull rickshaws primarily on weekends while continuing to work his regular job, and if you’re interested in booking a tour with Kanazawa Ichirikisha, their website can be found here.

Source: Hokuriku Shimbun (1, 2) via Yahoo! Japan News
Top image: Pakutaso
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