Japan Travel Agents

My husband and I went to Japan for a little over two weeks to see the red maples and gold ginko leaves, and we were not disappointed! Claudia and her team did a wonderful job of making sure our vacation went smooth and helped arrange tours with excellent guides we adored. From Kiyo and Yuki for our Tokyo Tours to our Osaka food guide and our self-discovered Kobe Sake Guide (Kampai Sake Tours with Hiro), we had amazing and kind people showing us the culture and beauty of Japan. The hotel accommodations, especially those in Osaka and Kinosaki were great. Food recommendations and activities were also top notch. Thank you Claudia and team for your hard work and help— we had a lovely time!

Hotel Reviews

The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Osaka Midosuji

Osaka

Beautiful hotel, large room, great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Very convenient to train stations, nice area to be in

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Royal Twin Hotel Kyoto Hachijoguchi

Kyoto

Loved the ambiance of this hotel. Very calming and elegant. Location was a little far from Kyoto’s station, but not awful (10-15 min walk). The room was a little smaller than our other rooms, but was still very nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nishimuraya Honkan

Kinosaki

A very expensive stay, but so worth the price! Keiseki meals, private in room baths and onsens, and kind/attentive staff makes this place super special.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit the World of Ghibli and explore more of Tokyo!

Tokyo

Kiyo was so fun and lovely to hang out with! Really enjoyed all her knowledge and her amazing food recommendation in town.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kyoto History and Culture

Kyoto

Leo (Ryosuke — I think his name was), was previously a teacher, I believe, because his knowledge on history of landmarks in Kyoto was impeccable. We had a great time with him leading the way and saw beautiful places and learned a lot! He also took great pics!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Akihabara Tour

Tokyo

Yuki was so knowledgeable about the area and fun to spend the afternoon with. He and his colleague showed us all around akihabara, which otherwise would have been very overwhelming. He even was able to connect us to a great restaurant and make a reservation for us in Kobe later on our trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Food Tour

Osaka

One of our favorite tours! The food was SO GOOD and I am convinced there is no way we would have found this place without our amazing guide! Thank you so much for the experience and all the great knowledge of Osaka and its food culture.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All the members of my family have been to Japan multiple times, but this trip helped us to deepen our understanding and explore new parts of the country we'd never accessed before. Shona provided wonderful service from planning to booking to helping us to handle unexpected bumps in the road (a member of my party left their passport at a hotel early on, and she was immensely helpful in us getting it back seamlessly and stress free).

A few standout guides/experiences:
Architecture Walking Tour in Omotesando - this was our first formal experience on the trip and set the tone. Yoshi was a passionate, thoughtful, and friendly guide who helped us to understand the architectural treasures hidden in plain sight in this busy neighborhood.

Hidden Gem Food & Whiskey Night Tour near Roppongi - We were staying in Roppongi and didn't realize that there was such an amazing enclave of restaurants so close by. Ellen clearly loves food and this neighborhood, and seeing it through her eyes was very fun. At the end of the night, we ate a meal at the neighborhoo Obaa-chan's restaurant. What a special experience to be in a 4 table restaurant and be served a home-cooked, custom meal from the neighborhood granny!

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Chureito Pagoda & Oishi Park - Really loved spending time with Toru. He helped provide a great background on Japanese history and geography. His enthusiasm for the towns was infectious. It was clear how excited he was to get clear views of Fuji and this made the experience special.

Takayama Full-Day Walking Tour - Miyuki has so much pride and love for Takayama. You could tell based on her description of the annual festival, and the way she would pick up any stray pieces of litter along the way during our tour. That spoke volumes to me about the values of Miyuki and the Japanese people overall. She also pointed us towards her neighborhood restaurant, which was probably the one of the best meal and dining experiences we had during the trip. Still thinking about that Omelette.

Half Day Artisan Tour in Kanazawa - Nozomi was energic, fun, and incredibly well connected in the city. I was impressed with her connection to so many of the artisans of Kanazawa. Impressively, we decided to spend the first part of the tour in the Geisha district, and Nozomi was able to provide a full history and background from memory, without planning. Additionally, she heard we were interested in seafood and pointed us to a very special restaurant to enjoy after the tour, even calling and making a reservation for us. Never would have found that place on our own and I've never seen my dad so happy at a meal.

Hotel Reviews

Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu

Hakone

A wonderful Ryokan experience. There are two different onsens, which alternate between Men and Women each day. We were left slack jawed by the outdoor waterfall and hotspring. Simply magical. Would recommend the buffet meals here - they're quite extensive and quite good.

Authenticity & Character

Top tier onsens

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Amazing food on site

Honjin Hiranoya Kachoan

Takayama

Wonderful full service Ryokan.

Authenticity & Character

Very authentic Ryokan

Location

Staff

Kind and attentive

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were quite large, with multiple rooms.

Mitsui Garden Hotel Roppongi Tokyo Premier

Tokyo

Right in the heart of Roppongi. Solid breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel, A Pan Pacific Partner Hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

A little dated compared to our other accommodations on this trip.

Hyatt Centric Kanazawa

Kanazawa

Authenticity & Character

Location

Located right next to the train station, and next to some amazing restaurants

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Architecture Walking Tour in Omotesando

Tokyo

This was our first formal experience on the trip and set the tone. Yoshi was a passionate, thoughtful, and friendly guide who helped us to understand the architectural treasures hidden in plain sight in this busy neighborhood. Great experience if you want to practice photography!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hidden Gem Food & Whiskey Night Tour near Roppongi

Tokyo

We were staying in Roppongi and didn't realize that there was such an amazing enclave of restaurants so close by. Ellen clearly loves food and this neighborhood, and seeing it through her eyes was very fun. At the end of the night, we ate a meal at the neighborhoo Obaa-chan's restaurant. What a special experience to be in a 4 table restaurant and be served a home-cooked, custom meal from the neighborhood granny!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Warm, passionate, and very personally connected to the neighborhood

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Chureito Pagoda & Oishi Park

Tokyo

Really loved spending time with Toru. He helped provide a great background on Japanese history and geography. His enthusiasm for the towns was infectious. It was clear how excited he was to get clear views of Fuji and this made the experience special.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Takayama Full-Day Walking Tour

Takayama

Miyuki has so much pride and love for Takayama. You could tell based on her description of the annual festival, and the way she would pick up any stray pieces of litter along the way during our tour. That spoke volumes to me about the values of Miyuki and the Japanese people overall. She also pointed us towards her neighborhood restaurant, which was probably the one of the best meal and dining experiences we had during the trip. Still thinking about that Omelette.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Half Day Artisan Tour in Kanazawa

Kanazawa

Nozomi was energic, fun, and incredibly well connected in the city. I was impressed with her connection to so many of the artisans of Kanazawa. Impressively, we decided to spend the first part of the tour in the Geisha district, and Nozomi was able to provide a full history and background from memory, without planning. Additionally, she heard we were interested in seafood and pointed us to a very special restaurant to enjoy after the tour, even calling and making a reservation for us. Never would have found that place on our own and I've never seen my dad so happy at a meal.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Instead of booking a large, generic group tour with fixed dates, rushed schedules, and little flexibility, I wanted something more personal for my first solo trip to Japan—and Kimkim delivered exactly that. Being able to choose my own dates and have a completely customized itinerary was exactly what I was looking for.

My local specialist, Leny, really took the time to understand who I am and what I wanted out of this trip. Over several weeks, we worked together to create a thoughtful, well-paced daily itinerary. I could choose from hotels that matched my style and budget, a mix of private and small-group tours in areas I wanted to explore, the foods I was excited to eat, and the sights I didn’t want to miss. Everything was well organized, including realistic travel time between locations, which made the trip feel smooth and stress-free.

Leny’s expertise, planning, recommendations, and patience made this trip truly exceptional and memorable. Every tour she arranged was fantastic—none were canceled, and all of the guides were knowledgeable, friendly, and genuinely enthusiastic. Some personal highlights included the 5-hour Tsukiji, Akihabara & Asakusa Highlights Tour, Best of Shibuya Food Tour, Dinner with a Maiko in Kyoto (which unexpectedly turned into a private dinner with a Geisha!), the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest & Garden walking tour, Kyoto’s Nijo Castle and Imperial Palace tour, and the All-Star Food Tour in Ginza.

One of the most valuable parts of the experience was knowing that Leny or someone on her team was always available if I needed help. I received daily reminders of the next day’s plans along with any tickets or vouchers, which was reassuring. Her real-time communication and spot-on recommendations for restaurants, shops, souvenirs, and museums were invaluable. Even when something didn’t go as planned, Leny and her team jumped into action, kept me informed, and resolved the issue with a solution that ended up being even better than the original plan. And when I got lost in Japan’s train stations many times, her team’s patience and guidance made all the difference.

Even though this was a solo trip, I felt like I had a supportive team behind me. Next time, I plan to bring my two teenage daughters to Japan, and I will absolutely be using Kimkim again to plan that trip.