Sandy Ren

We had an unforgettable custom journey through Japan and South Korea, organized by KimKim. It included memorable Hiroshima, dazzling Tokyo, historical Osaka and Kyoto, spiritual journey at Mount Koya and a more intimate taste of Central Japan hiking the historical Nakasendo Trail. South Korea was no less stunning. Guides, properties and transfers were all first rate. Sandy provided an amazing local support. Highly recommended!

Hotel Reviews

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku

Tokyo

Excellent service and clean, comfortable.

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THE KNOT HIROSHIMA

Hiroshima

Authenticity & Character

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Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Authenticity & Character

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Jokiin

Koyasan

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Vischio Kyoto by GRANVIA

Kyoto

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Taoya Kisoji

Tsumago

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Excellent dining experience.

Kisoji Inn Iwaya

Kiso-Fukushima

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Staff

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Though it was clean , the room was not so inviting and my daughter thought it smelled like smoke.

Matsumoto Hotel Kagetsu

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The breakfast though authentic and healthy was a little stark

Karuizawa Tsuruya Ryokan

it is too bad breakfast was not included here.

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Truly special. It is too bad we did not have breakfast nor dinner reservations.

Shima Onsen Sekizenkan

Gunma

Breakfast and dinner though authentic were a little exotic and stark.

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Ramada Encore by Wyndham Busan Haeundae

Busan

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NINE TREE BY PARNAS SEOUL MYEONDONG 2

Seoul

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Activity Reviews

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Japan

Long drive - poor weather.

Quality of Experience

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Full Day Tokyo City Tour with Akihabara district

Tokyo

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Full Day Miyajima Island and Memorial Park Tour

Hiroshima

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World Heritage Himeji Castle & Kobe Tour

Osaka

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Osaka Castle and Umeda Sky Building

Osaka

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Kimono Tea Ceremony at Kyoto Maikoya

Kyoto

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Fushimi Inari Taisha and Kinkakuji Temple

Kyoto

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Day Trip to Nara: Temples, Deer, and Historic Streets

Kyoto

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Half Day Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour

Kyoto

bamboo grove overcrowded; should have arranged for private pousse-pousse tour which uses uncrowded paths.

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Hike from Nagiso to Nojiri

Kiso-Fukushima

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Walk from Tsumago to Magome

Tsumago

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Traverse the Torii Pass to Narai

Narai

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Food

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Narai to Kiso-Hirasawa

Narai

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Gamcheon Village, BIFF Square and Jagalchi Market

Busan

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Half Day Busan City Tour with Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Busan

It was raining which spoiled some of the effects.

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Half Day Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village

Seoul

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Full Day Korean DMZ and Seoul Tower Tour

Seoul

Limited interest and long drive.

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Karuizawa with Shiraito Falls, Kumoba Pond, Old Karuizawa Ginza Street & Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza

Karuizawa

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Full Day Seoraksan Tour From Seoul

Seoul

Traffic jam caused long delays and limited some of the scope. Would have like to hike in the park but did not have time.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I am so glad we hired Sandy from Kim Kim for our vacation. The service was white glove all the way. We did like 10 or so versions of the same vacation with me changing this like every week until we got the vacation we wanted. She was very patient through the process. And she even gave me really good advice and suggestions. During the vacation, we were able to get support throughout the vacation. The guides she booked were all wonderful. The accommodations were progressively amazing. Each one being better than the previous, and we loved all bookings. I will use her services again. for our next trip. We went for 26 days to Japan and Thailand.

Hotel Reviews

Shiba Park Hotel

Tokyo

Nice accommodations. Great restaurant. I like how this hotel provides self-laundry service on every floor, though it was always busy and we couldn't use it ourselves. Great bar also.

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Matsuzakaya Honten

Kanagawa

Step back in time to have an authentic old-fashioned Japanese experience. Loved the spacious room and the onsen.

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Nice, picturesque mountains

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Cleanliness & Comfort

The Gate Hotel Kyoto Takasegawa by Hulic

Kyoto

5 star hotel in the middle of Kyoto. Right in the middle of the town, with easy access to the city's attractions.

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Hotel New Otani Osaka

Osaka

Great hotel and very comfortable lodgings right in the middle of the town. Walking distance to the castle.

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Activity Reviews

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi with Oishi Park

Tokyo

It was a cloudy day but great attractions. We got our Mt Fuji picture anyway thanks to some clever photography. Nice places to shop and eat close by. The funicular to the top of the hill was beautiful.

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Tokyo Highlights Day Tour with Tsukiji Outer Fish Market

Tokyo

I loved the Shibuya crossing and Parco Department store. Also we did some wonderful parks, shrines, and even the Emperor's Castle.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Sam was amazing and very knowledgable.

Transport

Yanaka Historical Walking Tour in Tokyo's Old Town

Tokyo

It was fun. Not what we thought, but we liked the shrine, the city, and the cat cafe was wonderful.

Quality of Experience

The cat cafe.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very knowledgeable guide.

Transport

Full Day Kyoto City Tour with Fushimi Inari-Taisha

Kyoto

Very fun! Also a very edifying experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was knowledgeable and friendly

Transport

Half Day Sagano Bamboo Grove and Tenryuji Temple Tour

Kyoto

Beautiful grove, nice boat tour. I loved the tour of the temples. If you want to learn about Japanese history, this is the tour for you.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was a teacher and also knowledgable and friendly.

Transport

Tea Ceremony in Kyoto FLOWER TEAHOUSE

Kyoto

It was fun although my least favorite of the experiences we booked. I have never been through a tea ceremony. So it's worth doing if you haven't done it before. Funny thing if you go into a regular tea place, they will do a form of this if you order matcha.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Osaka Highlights Bike Tour

Japan

Loved this tour. Got to eat Okonomiyaki. Most of the biking is easy, with a lot of it downhill.

Quality of Experience

Food

Okonomiyaki is the best!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very knowledgeable and friendly; we thought this would be worse than it was since they changed the guide at the last minute.

Transport

Full Day Miyama Village Tour From Kyoto

Japan

Very fun; got to do Japanese tie-dying, which was a last minute change due to another feature being unavailable. We had a blast with our tie-die. You should add this permanently to the tour. The village was fun, though far, and it gave us a unique experience. We are glad we did this tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

the guide was wonderful. She's a teacher and very friendly.

Transport

transport in an SUV, with comfy chairs!

Kyoto-Nara -Osaka

Osaka

Very fun tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We traveled to Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto for 7 days. Sandy arranged all of our transportation, hotels and several guides and outings. Beginning in Toyko, we spent a day with a guide which was very helpful because it helped us get familiar with the public transportation. After that we were able to wonder around the city easily with helpful suggestions on what to visit based on the areas we were in. Our hotel, Shiba Park Hotel, was perfect for us. The neighborhood was more relaxed and low key, but still very accessible to parks, shrines and temples that we wanted to visit.
Next, we traveled to Hakone. We had a wonderful driver and guide get us down there and we enjoyed the Mishami Skywalk and ziplining through the nature. I loved stopping in this town, as it was fun to wander along Lake Ashi and was a nice respite from being in the busy city. It was amazing how green and lush the entire area was. And don't miss staying at a ryokan so you can experience the onsen - a wonderful, relaxing experience and I was able to get a much needed massage (from all the walking!)
We then traveled by bullet train down to Kyoto. Traveling by train was the best, in my opinion, because it allowed us to sightsee and still travel efficiently. I loved Kyoto. It had a smaller, older feel than Tokyo. It felt like you could wander for hours, stopping to look a temples and shrines at almost every corner and grabbing a bite to eat and drink - which is exactly what we did. We opted to walk most of the city to see things and enjoyed going at our own pace. Sandy set up a sake tasting tour which was great. It was in a cool neighborhood we probably would not have a chance to visit - it was informative and a great group of people. We also rented kimonos one afternoon and participated in a traditional tea ceremony - a true highlight of the trip! It was a wonderful activity that brought us to a neighborhood we ended up hanging out in for hours - the ceremony itself was calming and culturally informative. The woman who lead it was wonderful.
Overall, we had a great trip. Unfortunately, we did not have as much time as I felt necessary to really experience everything we wanted to do and see, but Sandy made the most of the time we did have! Would definitely use this service again!

Taking a six and eight year old halfway around the world can feel pretty daunting. Our two kids came to us a year ago and said, “ we want to explore the world!” In hand was a list of 10 countries to start and Japan was at the top. My husband and I said well, go big or go home. I knew I needed some help with this one and KimKim and Sandy, our trip coordinator, to the rescue. The trip was designed so seamlessly, with an initial input from us and one tweak to the first draft, we had an incredible 10-day tour of Japan mapped out, to include a night in the mountains at a Buddhist temple! We were taken care of every step of the way. Cars, trains, tour guides, hotels, excursions . All taken care of. A very special thanks goes to Keiko, our tour guide in Tokyo, and Sanae, our tour guide in Kyoto. We loved them both! And we are already working with KimKim on our 2026 adventure to Iceland…the next county on the list:).

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Vischio Kyoto by GRANVIA

Kyoto

We loved this hotel. The location, food, staff were all excellent!

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Jokiin

Koyasan

The family room was beautiful

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Activity Reviews

Tokyo Highlights Day Tour with Tsukiji Outer Fish Market

Tokyo

We loved the market and the temple! Keiko our tour guide also took us to her favorite paper store for stationary which was a great little side trip I to a beautiful shopping area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Keiko was amazing! We stayed in touch after we departed Tokyo!

Transport

We walked and took the subway the whole day and we couldn’t believe how quiet and clean the subway was. And we all felt completely safe. Very different experience than a lot of big cities in the States.

Full Day Mt. Fuji with Lake Kawaguchi & Oishi Park

Japan

This was one of our favorite days. We absolutely loved the small mountain town around Mt Fuji, the boat ride on the lake, the old village we toured where they used to make silk and a beautiful Shinto shrine with the biggest cedar trees I’d ever seen! The landscape was amazing and we had the best sushi of our lives at this wonderful restaurant our guide, Keiko, picked out. They even made a special dish only available for dinner for our son for lunch. Everyone was so friendly!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Keiko was the best! Our driver was also friendly and did a great job.

Transport

I can’t thank Sandy enough for the incredible support she provided in planning my recent Asia trip. From start to finish, she was patient, attentive, and incredibly thoughtful. Every detail was carefully considered—from hotel bookings to excursions—and she made the entire process feel effortless.

What stood out most was how proactive and compassionate Sandy was, especially in arranging airport wheelchair assistance at every stop. It made such a difference in my travel experience, and I truly felt cared for throughout the journey.

She stayed in touch the whole time, making sure everything went smoothly, and was always just a message away when I needed something. If you're looking for someone who genuinely goes above and beyond, Sandy is the one. Five stars all the way!

Sandy was able to fulfill all the requests we asked of her. The responses to e mails was exceptional.
The accommodation was varied in style ,with all of them being excellent. Highly recommend the Miyako City in Osaka, Ryokan Koho in Kyoto, Metroploitan in Sendi and Shibya Excel in Tokyo. All for different reasons. The Kanazawa Zoushi and Hotel Wood in Takayama were also unique. We could not have managed such unique stays on our own.
Thanks Sandy for all the train bookings. Each trip was wonderful, and seating could not have been better. We managed to have luggage room on all trips and did not need to "on send" our luggage. All vouchers and tickets for tours and travel arrived well in time for the experience. The one time we had to book train tickets on our own-we had a minor issue. It pays to use the professionals!!
The suggestions for free time were invaluable -as we did them all.
The private drivers ,although most had limited English ,added their own uniqueness to each day.
High lights for me were:
Nara park
Bike ride in Kyoto(so many cherry blossoms),
Full day bus trip with Kaci in Kyoto, Sunrise Tours. Kaci was one of the best tour guides-so knowledgeable and witty.
Matsushima bay cruise - Despite the fact that the weather was wet and cloudy
Sky tree in Tokyo
Trip to see Mt Fuji and the visitors/museum on Fuji .This suggested by the driver and well worth the visit.
Hike and chair lift on Mt Takao. Also saw street theatre and musical performances by the ticket office.
Day walk in Kanazawa. The guide- Yasuko- was the best we had.
Bike ride in Hida hagiwara. A long train trip to get there but the young man was knowledgeable and informative. He helped us get a bus back to the hotel due to an unprecedented train delay.
Bus trip to Shirakawago
These least inspiring tour was the Yanaka historical tour in Tokyo- Nezu shine was stunning with the azaleas, however too much time making the maneki-neko cat and not much else.
We also had two hiking tours amongst the time planned with Sandy.(with another tour company) She managed to make it all flow seamlessly. In hind sight I did not realize the number of trains we were catching-however it was the best way to see Japan at its most picturesque-cherry blossom time. We managed to see the blossoms in every town and city at their very best apart from Tokyo. I would highly recommend Sandy and Kim Kim to other travelers.
Big thankyou to Sandy for managing to satisfy all our requests and added suggestions.

This was our first visit to Japan and started as a 25th wedding anniversary trip, which eventually lead to a family vacation. We are a family of five, with 3 teenagers ranging in age from 16 to 19 years old. The interests within our group varied from wanting to explore big cities, learning about the history and culture, to experiencing life like a local. Despite these differences, we all had fairly high expectations and Japan did NOT disappoint!

Our itinerary was fairly ambitious - Tokyo, Disney Seas, Hankone, Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Miyajimaguchi/Hiroshima and Osaka. Perhaps we could have scheduled more 'down time' but we wanted to see and do as much as possible in our two weeks. Our Kim Kim travel expert Sandy was outstanding! We had 5 or 6 trip versions before we made our final itinerary and Sandy was always prompt to respond to our requests and questions. Even while on the ground in Japan, she was in touch and checked in to ensure the trip was running smoothly. She went above and beyond to ensure it was a once in a lifetime experience for us and even arranged a surprise anniversary cake during our trip!

We also arranged a few guided tour days during our two weeks and it was money well spent. And while all of our guides were friendly and extremely knowledgable, we would like to specifically thank Nick Sakurado in Tokyo for helping us on Day 1 to navigate the city and the subway/train systems. This allowed us to confidently use public transportation for the remainder of our trip. He was also brilliant in his lunch food recommendations!

We'd like also thank Tsuyama Hiroshi (Hiro), for walking us through Kyoto and Nara. He thoughtfully planned out our days to ensure we would avoid the peak tourist times at the more popular attractions. And lastly, we would like to express our appreciation to Kigami Masako for her patience and sharing her knowledge of Hiroshima both past and present. This travel day was very warm and she thoughtfully made lunch accommodations to allow those of us in the group extra time to cool down, before continuing on with our day.

I could go on and write much more but it would be a book length review. Each member of our travel group simply loved every minute of our trip and Japan exceeded all of our expectations. I know we will be back again one day. Arigato gozaimasu!

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

RIHGA Royal Hotel Kyoto

Kyoto

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Bed was uncomfortable

Osaka Excel Hotel Tokyu

Osaka

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Asakusa View Hotel Annex Rokku

Authenticity & Character

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza gochome

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bamboo Grove and Monkey Park Tour with a Boat Ride

Kyoto

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.

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

Kyoto

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

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Osaka Local Foodie Tour in Dotonbori and Shinsekai

Japan

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