Kimkim Trip Reviews for Japan

Eleanor took care to arrange our trip full of tours we requested. She also checked in during the trip to make sure we had everything we needed. We especially loved our tour guides in Nara.
Thank you!

Hotel Review

Osaka Tokyu REI Hotel

Osaka

Breakfast was amazing. We got a room with 1 bed that was definitely too small for 2 people.

Authenticity & Character

Hotel was clean & modern, but not special

Location

Close to transportation

Staff

Helpful and caring

Cleanliness & Comfort

Small beds, get a room with 2 beds if you're sharing

Activity Review

Exploring Yoshino: A Journey through Mount Yoshinoyama and Historic Temples

Nara

Our guide was wonderful, knowledgeable & interesting. She clearly knew all about the area and had great lunch recommendations. Yoshino is beautiful & peaceful in the off season.

Quality of Experience

It was beautiful & our guide was lovely

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Comfortable clean ride

KimKim & Oshinobi Travel (Reina, Hiroshi & Emi) helped plan and execute an unbelievable trip to Japan in April 2025 in which 4 of us visited Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka and Koyasan. Leaving things a bit late (end of February), KimKim was the only travel agent able to put together the itinerary we wanted, finding us hotels, activities and guides that were all top notch. The travel logistics (trains, cars, subways, etc.), coordination and level of service during our trip were second to none, with excellent responsiveness on WhatsApp or by phone during all hours of the day. The suggested activities were all excellent choices as well, and we would not have wanted to miss any of them. Thanks very much for an awesome trip!

Hotel Reviews

THE HOTEL HIGASHIYAMA by Kyoto Tokyu Hotel

Kyoto

Executive Rooms are roomy and worth the money. Standard rooms very cramped.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fufu Hakone

Hakone

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Tsukiji Fish Market Walking Tour

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From Start to finish Cory created a wonderful itinerary for our girls trip. Her choice of hotels were impeccable and so well situated. She was always responsive and helpful when we’d run into little bumbs. Based on her suggestions we truly had a memorable trip and loved every minute of it .

We booked the trip to Japan in April 2025 during cherry blossom season with Kimkim. Olivia did a great job helping us with the planing before and during the trip. She responses promptly whenever we had questions or issues to resolve.

Hotels in Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto were nice and centrally located. Hotel in Osaka were below our expectation. I wish we could stay longer in the Hakone ryokan hotel as it was raining from the time we arrived in the afternoon until the next morning (not even one day) so we did not have time to view and enjoy the beautiful surrounding as well as to spend more time in the onsen.

It was a bit short of time to check in the hotel in Kyoto and then go for the tea ceremony right after that. Thanks Olivia quickly provided us with the driver so we could get there in time for the event. Much appreciated!

The guides were kind and friendly, however, I wish they could tell us more stories during the travelling to and at the historic sites like other guides we were with in the past. We had some minor communication issues with the drivers as well at the airport and in Kyoto. We heard that it is more difficult for Japanese to learn English than people from other nations.

Overall we had a great time . Thanks Kimkim and Olivia for helping us with our memorable family trip to Japan!

Activity Review

Tokyo Night Foodie Tour in Shinjuku

Tokyo

Excellent food tour, enjoyed the food and the city tour!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All the private guides were amazing. We really liked our time with them, usually they would pick a restaurant for lunch that included a local dish, which was very enjoyable.

Hotel Review

Hotel Fukinomori

We booked a private onsen under the stars... The authentic dinner experience was marvelous.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Half Day Rural Bike Tour

Takayama

Beautiful location to bike. Guide was very enjoyable to work with.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Really liked this island tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Sagano Bamboo Grove & Arashiyama Walking Tour (Join-in)

Kyoto

We were unable to go on the boat ride, which took away a lot from the tour. Too many shrines and gardens

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Fun-Filled Cooking Class in Tokyo - Wagyu Beef and More

Tokyo

Excellent food and instruction

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall, a great trip, with guides who were personable and helpful. We experienced a few logistical hiccups that could be corrected for future travelers:
1. Wrong info for train from Kyoto to Nagoya. Told car 10 then had to move to car 15 when traveling.
2. Needed more info for first train trip to Hakone.
3. Kyoto - would have preferred a hotel in better location - closer walking distance to train station, restaurants and shops
4. Arrived at flower arranging late but loved it
5. Hakone hotel and experience was excellent. Loved the Onsen.
6. Sushi making activity was great fun - very enjoyable
7. Instructions on how to find Hakone hotel would have been helpful, for example “the hotel is walking distance from the station. Walk up the hill from the train station. Entrance is via a gated path and signage is in Japanese only”
8. Takayama - not enough time to visit the museum and do sake tasting without paying driver and guide overtime. Not sure why that happened?
9. Takayama - long drive for 1 hour monkey visit.
10. Loved the tea ceremony and sushi making class.
11. Hotel in Tokyo in great location.
12. The guides who were provided were all good, and Johnny, who accompanied the Tokyo leg of our trip, was outstanding.

Hotel Review

Tokinoyu Setsugetsuka

Hakone-machi

Great onsen and room accommodations.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Nagamachi Samurai District

Kanazawa

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kenrokuen Garden

Kanazawa

Definitely a worthwhile experience to walk through this beautiful park and gardens.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Japanese Kado (Ikebana) Experience

Tokyo

We were very interested in this activity and the hands on opportunity it offered. The instruction was excellent, and the individual feedback on our arrangements much appreciated.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Kyoto Tour by Private Vehicle and Guide: Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion), Geisha (Maiko) Tea Ceremony & Show Nishiki Market, Nijo Castle

Kyoto

Well organized, interesting and beautiful experience with a geisha. Enjoyed the hands on tea ceremony and the Q&A session with the Geisha.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tsukiji Outer Market Visit and Sushi Making Lesson

Tokyo

Our favorite experience in Tokyo! Teacher/chef was delightful! He was both expert and very funny, communicating in Japanese but making things clear by demonstrating the steps involved. We ended up laughing our way to a delicious sushi dinner!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tokyo Tour by Private Vehicle and Guide

Tokyo

Guide Johnny was great. Only note is make sure arrival to classes is timely.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thanks to Kimkim we had a wonderful trip of Japan and South Korea. We got to see all the must-sees, from the Imperial Palace Gardens to Himeji Castle to the Korean DMZ, but we also got to see a few less-obvious places. We went to Kinomoto to visit a soy sauce brewery and a sake brewery, we stayed in a wonderful hotel with hot springs in Hakone and we visited teamLab Borderless in Tokyo - which was incredibly impressive, a very *different* kind of art experience. And of course, we got to try all kinds of different foods, which was half the point of our trip :D

Our tour guides were all friendly and the trip went smoothly. Shona coordinated with us and even provided alternative ideas for a self-guided day when her original suggestion turned out to be unexpectedly closed.

Hotel Review

Hakone Hotel Kajikaso

Hakone

Lovely hot spring tub in the room, very comfortable room overall. The food was great, and we got lucky enough to have a geisha performance while we had our kaiseki dinner. The "public" section of the hot springs was also really really nice, including sitting outside during a rainstorm.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Tokyo Night Foodie Tour in Shinjuku

Tokyo

Fuka was lovely company on a fun trip to Shinjuku - and she selected great restaurants, too!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cory did a great job planning our trip to Japan. Having her book our hotels, trains and a few tours really gave us ease of mind!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel 1899 Tokyo

Shinbashi

Authenticity & Character

Location

There was not much near the hotel

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Resol Kyoto Shijo Muromachi

kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Loved the grass floors

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

SOKI KANAZAWA

Kanazawa

We loved this hotel, the Onsen was great and the overall experience was lovely

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vista Tokyo Tsukiji

Great hotel and breakfast, very small and the AC was very confusing and would turn off quickly

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Size

Activity Reviews

Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony with Kimono Wearing (Higashiyama)

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

This was such a fun tour, we ate amazing food and got a bit of history as well

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Night Food Tour in Shinjuku

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was very nice but did not interact with us as much as the other tour we did

Transport

Cory was good but there were small things that should be addressed for a better seamless experience.
Our luxury cars were not given the right address and were not adequate enough to accommodate our bags.

Some of the instructions were vague like bus T for Hakone. We should have all gotten our wifi as the devices were not working properly and the battery would die quickly so this made navigation slightly challenging.

I would

Katsu Okada-San of KimKim helped to create lasting memories on our first trip to Japan.

This was our first visit to Japan; my ancestors are from Kumamoto-Ken. I daydreamed about Japan for years, cherry blossoms, Mt. Fuji-san, sashimi and being enveloped by the culture.

The experience changed my life and my family’s lives, and I owe this to Katsu Okada-san. He tailored our needs with definite care and excellent communication needed for a family traveling across the ocean to unfamiliarity.

Upon arrival at Kansai airport in Osaka, he arranged for a driver to take us to our hotel. He helped to arrange guides in Osaka, Kumamoto, Kyoto, Hakone and lastly, Tokyo. Detailed instructions were sent by email and tickets sent to our hotels in advance with handwritten, step-by-step itinerary to travel to and from places. He set us up with lovely Japanese-native, mostly English-speaking guides in each city. Here are their names and memories of them:

Sachi Oguchi-san in Osaka - she was kind, patient and flexible, and took us off course to the Osaka Natural History Museum. She encouraged us to try the foods Osaka is known for.
Noboru Narukawa-san in Kumamoto – He was the kindest and sunniest person; he reminded me of my Japanese family in Hawaii. We communicated with Google Translate.
Akiko Tonomura-san in Kyoto - She was just as wonderful as the other guides, fun, enjoyable to learn from and kind, kind, kind.
Eriko Ishiguro-san in Tokyo - So filled with tender care for our family and really got to know us personally. She helped us to get familiar with Tokyo’s transportation system; I’m envious of its efficiency.

Through continued correspondence with Okada-san before, during and after Japan, I got to know him almost as a friend, sharing stories and emotions evoked by them. That’s the part of this writing I wanted to emphasize, how someone so far could have so much impact across the miles.

Thank you, Okada-san, from my and my family’s heart, for doing what you do so well and for helping to change our lives and viewpoints of the world.

Great Itinerary and and we really enjoyed the trip. Eleanor was really helpful throughout our trip and could always rely on her to respond to any questions or queries we had.

Adeline worked with me to plan me and my husband's first trip to Japan. The accommodations were fabulous and varied from traditional ryokan to modern hotel. We were able to experience more rural areas of Japan as well as the major city hubs and the tickets/instructions for transportation were ready for us at the first location. She was an amazing resource throughout and thought of everything.

Two bad sections -
The geisha tea dinner - tourist trap - bad food
Very disappointed

Also lunch sumo - expected lunch with live wrestling was on tv.

Guides were great. Very flexible

We had a great time in Japan during peak cherry blossom season. Really enjoyed our tours in Kyoto and Osaka. Hotels were all well located.

Hotel Reviews

Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza gochome

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed was uncomfortable

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour with a Boat Ride

Kyoto

Kyoto Highlights: Kinkaku-ji Temple, Nijo Castle and Fushimi-Inari Taisha

Kyoto

The guide was great, saw so much in one day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Tokyo

Not sure if it is worth the 2 hour drive from Tokyo since you may not be able to see the mountain due to cloud cover.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide was great but driver almost fell asleep and it was a scary moment.

Transport

Driver almost fell asleep on the way back.

We were especially pleased with our guide, Gary. He was especially great working with our 17 year old grandkids. We were a little disappointed with the hotels in Kyoto and Osaka. We were also disappointed that we did not have the last part on the itinerary with the culinary adventure. Also we did not have the yen allowance mentioned.
Overall we all agreed that it was a thorough view of Japan, just as we requested.

1. The standard of tour guides were very high, we were very pleased with all 3. They were very informative, flexible and made the most of the time given.
2. In Tokyo we visited the fish market (not in our plans, but suggested by our guide) it was amazing. We went early morning and saw the hustle & bustle of the market, while stopping at several to sample items for our breakfast. Maybe a good suggestion, if you didn’t already know about it.
3. As you know we had issues with the 1st pick up driver, but we also had similar issues with another driver who did pick up on our second to last day, when he picked us up from Tokyo station to take to the hotel. Again we were wondering around the station looking for him, while he sat in the car texting directions. Not ideal with 2 kids and 5 suitcases. Also my younger daughter had to sit on my knee in the car because the rear seat belt was faulty. His suggestion was that he would drive slow!! Stewart also questioned his driving skills. But noted all the other drivers were reliable and safe.
4. We liked all the hotels we stayed in, maybe the first one in Tokyo and the Kyoto one could have been a little closer to the centre, to save on taxis.

Thank you for your help and we look forward to book our next trip with you.

Hotel Reviews

Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Blossom Kyoto

Kyoto

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mitsui Garden Hotel Roppongi Tokyo Premier

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

One Day Miyajima Island and Hiroshima Tour

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gion District and Nishiki Market

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Kids-Friendly Samurai Ninja Museum and Kimono Tea Ceremony

Kyoto

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi with Oishi Park

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo City Tour with Tokyo Tower

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sandy and team were great. Some teething issues with being able to contact someone on the ground when we arrived due to connection problems and a late hour of night but all worked out and mostly smooth sailing from then on in. Our local guides: Kaiko, Kahori and a special mention to Masaaki san, were amazing. Masaaki was especially great and very understanding on our last full day in Japan when our kids (9 and 11) were tired after clocking over 20,000 steps everyday for two weeks.

We especially loved the local and less touristy recommendations and Masaaki's ability to pivot at short notice due to bad weather. The kids absolutely loved the Toeii Film Studio!!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Rose Garden Shinjuku

Hotel is in a good location, close to central transport. Clean and comfortable. Sometimes a bit loud at night from street noise. Beds are comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sotetsu Fresa Inn Hiroshima

Hiroshima

Hotel is clean and comfortable enough. Breakfast is decent. Location is good for transport. Hotel is very busy though (Special mention to the staff running the breakfast room though, Japanese efficiency 👍).

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cross Hotel Osaka

Osaka

Superb location for Osaka sightseeing and shopping. Close to the metro and shopping streets. Hotel is clean and well appointed. Breakfast was the best on our trip. Only criticism is if you stay in a room on the street side rooms are noisy at night.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Park Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

This was our favourite hotel during the trip. Clean, quiet and well equipped rooms. The breakfast has a decent offering and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour with a Boat Ride

Kyoto

We didn't get to the boat ride or the monkey park due to weather but the alternative was just as good if not better.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Tokyo

Such a great day, we were lucky that the weather let us see Fuji all morning before the clouds came in. We loved our local Hotou lunch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo Day Tour with Tsukiji Outer Market & Senso-ji - East & Central

Tokyo

A really good tour of the city, the personal explanation of the temple and shrine. Authentic Japanese paper making and traditional Nori making. We had a really great day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ben did a phenomenal job planning my family trip to Japan! Our guides, Peter and Ursula, were very helpful as well! We can’t wait to book our next adventure with KimKim!

Eleanor helped plan a trip to Japan for me (senior citizen) and my adult son. We said we are interested in art and food, and Eleanor suggested some activities that fit our interests. The Zentis hotel in Osaka was lovely and in a very good location. Our guide, Yuki, was knowledgeable and kind. She showed us how to use the public transportation, which was very helpful. We enjoyed the cooking class and the foodie tour and the day at Meiji Castle and Kobe. Our trip was planned to fit with my son's work schedule, but it turned out that we arrived one day after the start of cherry blossom season, very beautiful but also very crowded. Our Kyoto guide, Mr. Tanaka, is a Kyoto native, very knowledgeable and professorial. In addition to showing us some of the famous tourist sites, he suggested great, typically Japanese restaurants for lunch. The one negative thing for me was our hotel in Kyoto. It is a very busy tourist hotel, which could have been in any city in the world.

We have just returned from our once-in-a-lifetime family trip to Japan. Travelling with two young children is not meant to be a relaxing adventure but Eleanor’s pre trip planning has taken the stress out. We were able to focus on soaking up the atmosphere (cherry blossom season-yay!), the culture, meet amazing local people, drown in the incredible food and feel comfortable knowing the rest is taken care of. Eleanor was very receptive to our needs travelling with a baby and a 4 year old. Our accommodation needs and transfer assistance between hotel/ train stations/ airport were spot on. She was available every step of the way.
We have fallen in love with Japan and we will definitely be back.