Tailor-made Holidays in Japan Traveller Reviews

This was a 2 week trip on Japan's main island beginning with Tokyo and ending with Kyoto, but was a great balance between cities and smaller towns and villages, with a highlight being 3 days walking on the Nakasendo trail. There was an interesting balance between city hotels and traditional Ryokans too.

Inside Japan are very knowledgable and helped us get the itinerary right for us in the planning stages. The attention to detail, service level and the background information provided to guide us through our trip was excellent and everything ran very smoothly.

This was our second visit to Japan, before the start of term for Hazel at Kyushu University, on her language year abroad. I thought I was accompanying her on her wish to visit the major sacred shrines of Japan, so the gods would look with favour on her studies. I found that the shrines represented another world within modern Japan. They are green places, with ancient trees reaching towards the sky. Places with running water to wash the hands and mouth. They are the places my memory is drawn to on my return. We did visit the busy places too. I collected photos of scaffolding, as I had in Rome and Florence. We travelled by many trains as we zigzagged from Tokyo to Matsumoto, to Ise, Nara and Kyoto. Then onward to Matsue on the north coast, where the half-irish, half-greek author Lafcadio Hearn settled for a while before travelling south to Kumamoto where the winters were more mild. And so did we. Travel to Kumamoto, where the Lafcadio Hearn residence was currently closed. Not a problem, we were heading for the mountains, first to take the scenic railway from Hitoyoshi, climbing through a switchback of loop lines and reverse climbs to give us stunning views in all directions. Finally we drove towards the active volcano of Mt Aso, arriving at the onsen town of Kurokawa. The good weather broke and we were pelted with rain before being served an amazing dinner and the chance to pool hop through 8-10 steaming hot onsen. And then home. I was driving through the white-out of rain cloud, above the tree line, following just an orange line to keep me on the road. We drop slowly down to the real world again. Now I understand why every town needs its local shrine. They are a reminder of the deep green places enfolded in the high ground. The official title of Hazel's course of study is 'Japan in Today's World'. We fashioned our own encounter with the help of mark at InsideJapan

This is one to one service, where I talk about where we might like to visit and what we might like to do. It's a bit difficult when parent and child are travelling together, but with a bit of inventiveness and patience from Mark, we have a hugely interesting itinerary. Its execution was superb too. The accommodation was varied, some quirky, some with a business traveller gloss, but all gave us a good welcome and helped us find our way round. This was a real bespoke tour.

My trip to Tokyo, Japan trip was for me, both life-changing and life affirming. I've wanted to visit since I was a child and had received an opportunity to do so after college graduation. Due to increasingly severe health problems, I was forced to fore-go my dreams of travel and spend a decade in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices. When I was finally healthy enough and financially secure enough to make this dream come true, I needed someone who could have my back. I was not only visiting Japan for the first time, but this was to be my first time travelling outside the US. There was also the issue of the Japanese language, in which I'm not proficient. With help from InsideJapan, I spent a week in Tokyo doing a mostly self-guided experience. (But I never felt alone or like I didn't have back-up; should something arise.) I spent a day wondering Harajuku and Shibuya with a guide, and then using the tools provided, made my own way to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, the art museums of Roppongi Hills, Tokyo DisneySea in Urayasu, had a kimono dressing with my hair done and a professional photography at a cultural center in Yanaka, wondered Ueno Park and the Tokyo National Museum, and was wowed by the digital artwork at teamLab: Borderless in Odaiba. If I was obsessed with Japan the dream before, I'm enamored with Japan the reality. I hope to return in the next few years, explore outside of Tokyo and I will of course, seek out InsideJapan.

Shakira was the perfect consultant, helping me to restructure the abandoned plans from a decade ago and turn them into something that gave me all the experiences that I wished for while still coming in under budget. She answered my many questions, helped to customize my experience in ways that I wouldn't be able to on my own, and assured me of on the ground support once in Tokyo, should I need it. She also addressed a big concern, which is my shellfish allergy and made sure that my hotel was aware and that I was prepared when going out to eat so that I wouldn't have an episode. Brian was my first day Insider, who took me around Shibuya and Harajuku, showed me how to purify myself at Meiji-Jingu, took some wonderful photos, navigated our way to the many shops and art experiences that I had listed, and gave me a train map and taught me to use it!I'm eternally thankful to him because the things he showed me that first day allowed me enough independence to go the rest of the week on my own. I'm extremely pleased and thankful to InsideJapan! I was even bragging about them to other English speaking tourists who had gone entirely on their own and found more chaos and hurdles than I had because they didn't have someone on the ground, who knew the lay of the land.

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We found Japan an interesting but difficult trip. Finding restaurants to suit everyone's needs was difficult and stressful every single day; the crowds and the weather were brutal; and we were tense trying follow all the rules, especially since people tended to scold and correct us when we broke them (like when I put on mens' slippers instead of womens'). Japan is more "foreign" than any place I have visited in Europe or South America and I appreciated stretching my appreciation of the world, but it was not the most relaxing or the most fun. We visited: Tokyo, Hakone, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Takayama, Matsumoto.

I was very pleased with Inside Japan's planning and execution of our Japan trip. Their pretrip InfoPack very comprehensive and there were no errors at all in the services Inside Jpaan booked and and the tickets they provided. So thankful that everything was in order at every stop: taxis waiting, guides arriving, hotels in order, train and bus tickets correct.

We are a group of 3 adults and 3 kids (ages 8, 11, 14) from the USA. Although we are fairly seasoned European travelers, we felt that we needed some help arranging an adventure in Japan. Inside Asia tours really helped us make the most of our 11 days. We loved having a half or full day guide in each city - it made our experience much richer as well as more efficient. We really got to pack a lot in with our guides! The accommodations were varied - western hotel, private traditional townhouse, country villa - and all very comfortable. Our consultant took all of our wishes into consideration and then came up with a great plan. The major logistics were all taking care of so we could enjoy the cultural experience.

We had various full and half day guides in each city. One was a native Japanese woman while the rest were expats. We liked to hear their varied perspectives.

Small group tour of the Kyushu area of Japan, food, accommodation and activities all excellent.

Second year of using IJT and yet again it was excellent service from beginning to end.

Inside Japan Tours organised a gastronomy tour of Japan for me. I visited many different types of cities and towns, and had at least one gastronomic adventure in each. Although I had been to Japan many times before, I learned many new things about Japanes culture and food, and found everybody I dealt with to be friendly and courteous. IJT took the worry out of the trip, with all ground transport being well organised, and the occommodation was excellent. Changes to my itinerary were dealt with quickly and with great courtesy. I would highly recommend IJT to other travellers.

Inside Japan Tours were excellent from the time of the first enquirer, and demonstrated a keenness to customise the tour to my requirements, while not incurring undue expense.

Honeymoon to Japan travelling to several cities and two islands.

Amazing service, including in country. Well thought through itinerary, great planning. Great local knowledge helped us enjoy our Honeymoon.

My mum and I had an absolutely memorable and amazing trip to Japan that we would attribute to the well laid out plans and itinerary that was thought out by our travel consultant Sophie from InsideJapan Tours. We travelled the Golden Route (Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka). We were able to immerse ourselves in the culture whilst travelling at our own pace. We would love to travel to Japan again!

Our travel consultant listened to what we wanted for our trip and was able to make up an itinerary that suited our travel style.

This was my second tip with InsideJapan. The end product was the same as the first time--excellent service and information that allowed me to cram a lot of very specific interests and experiences into a 10-day period.

They answer all your obscure questions and help you to plan a detailed itinerary that takes you step-by-step from the moment you touch down in Japan to the moment you leave. They are also super-responsive to emails while you are in Japan.