Shona Zhang

Our trip to Japan was memorable and full of beauty. The itinerary gave us a wonderful mix of cultural, historical, and scenic experiences. Kamakura was by far my favorite stop - peaceful, rich in history, and beautifully guided by Kimura, who was phenomenal. He was kind, engaging, and incredibly knowledgeable. We learned so much and felt truly cared for.

Unfortunately, our experience in Nikko was disappointing. Our guide, Martin, seemed ill, which was especially concerning because my mother is immunocompromised. His clothes and glasses appeared dirty, and the tour itself felt unorganized. We learned very little about the sites, didn’t have time to browse the shops, and there was no break for lunch, which left everyone hungry by the end of the day.

We raised our concerns, and the kimkim team responded quickly by assigning Edward for our Mt. Fuji excursion. Edward was wonderful - professional, thoughtful, and attentive. Thanks to him, we finished our trip on a positive note.

Our travel specialist, Shona, was kind but missed the mark in a few areas. Our hotel was changed twice after payments had already been made, our Disney tickets were not secured early enough to make restaurant reservations, and I also noticed that our Disney tickets were purchased for the wrong day leading to a bed to change around our itinerary very close to our departure date. Shona also mixed up the time of our final call, which caused some confusion and didn’t allow for our entire group to be present. The travel documents we received also had small errors, such as listing the wrong months (March and April instead of October) and including information about an activity we weren’t doing. We asked for restaurant recommendations but received only a few food ideas shortly before departure, so we ended up doing that research ourselves. Finally, our Mario Kart tour was cancelled due to rain, so Shona was kind enough to refund us directly $112/pp for the tickets and driver fees. While in Japan, Shona was very responsive and made sure we were taken care of. I wish this was the sentiment before getting to Japan, too.

Despite these bumps, Japan itself was absolutely magical. Kamakura and Mt. Fuji were unforgettable, and Kimura and Edward were the true highlights of our journey. With a little more attention to detail in the planning and communication process, this trip could have been flawless.

Hotel Review

Sunshine City Prince Hotel Ikebukuro Tokyo

Tokyo

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Full Day Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi Tour with Whisky Tasting

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the Natural Wonders of Nikko

Japan

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tokyo-Kamakura-Tokyo

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Meiji Shrine,the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace Akihabara,and Harajuku Tour

Tokyo

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The itinerary of the trip was unbelievable and Shona planned the trip of a lifetime…in the final analysis that is all that matters! We did have some minor challenges along the way which are worth mentioning to provide constructive feedback for next client. These include 1. Major issues w web site …after over a year of planning, the itinerary was dropped and had to be rebuilt. Our friends could not at first pay final payment because business office had no record of trip! We were never able to get two distinct trip plans….for example new plan did not reflect free meals at hotel in Hakone which was on earlier version ( although Shona eventually included). Minor issue but only 2 tee shirts provided at Christmas although 4 people traveling and paying money. Sometimes communication was challenging. Zoom calls did not work, for example. Shona worked really hard and generally available at all hours of day, leading us to worry that she might have needed more help from team. We learned the hard way that asking for extra steps, such as tickets to a tennis tournament, could be so challenging to not be worth the effort on the part of all. This I suspect is a function of the complex nature of Japan. The web site was confusing. Changes made in chat section not always accurately updated in trip plans, leading to some confusion, such as not knowing when rides to train would show up, location for foodie tour meet up spot was wrong, so spent an hour waiting in pouring rain to finally meet guide, etc. For the most part, these challenges were limited in number and guides, train tickets,etc. all worked like clockwork. Hotels were great, with exception of last night in Tokyo..room was so small it was hard for my husband and I to even move around free space. Your last night before a long journey home you really want to start w a good night’s sleep so that was disappointing. The hotels were in great locations and high quality, however, although the lake hotel in Nikko was far from town so long taxi rides for bike tour. In retrospect, we are still glad we stayed there as it was a very unique experience and the other choices would not have been as good. We had 4 guides that were over the top and made our experiences especially wonderful… we bonded so well with them that it was hard to say goodbye ( Tokyo, Kyoto, Nikko bike trip, and Nara transfer). All guides were good, but it was clear which ones were doing it to pick up extra money while in school, for example, versus having a true passion. We did not like the tours where you had to pay entrance fees yourself, such as with Kanazawa tours. For the most part, the itinerary did a great job ( with help of guides ) of avoiding crowds during high traffic season, which was greatly appreciated . The main exception was Tokyo sky tower on Sunday afternoon—- 2 hrs of lines and so crowded on top hard to take in view.

In summary, what I really liked about the trio was attention to making experiences unique, and not touristy, so we felt we really could experience the real Japan. The private guides did that, as well special events such as country bike trip in Nikko, monastery stay in Koyasan, geisha tea house ceremony, Nara deer interactions, visit to ancient home in third town on Shirakawago day trip, Kimono museum in Mt Fuji, etc. Please don’t take the comments above as taking away from the incredible service we got from Shona. This was not a cookie cutter trip to a very busy tourist site… it was well planned, unique, creative, flowed well and a great collaborative effort between ourselves and our guide!,

Hotel Reviews

Hakone Kowakien TEN-YU

Hakone

Dinners great

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

莲华定院 (Ren'gejo-in Temple (Pilgrim's Lodging))

Unique experience although hungry after meals!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Candeo Hotels Osaka The Tower

Osaka

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Hotel Sanraku Kanazawa

Kanazawa

View of electrical equipment on roof of building next door

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Chuzenji Kanaya Hotel

Big room beautiful location Rooms a bit dated but very charming . Far from town

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ginza PREMIER

Tokyo

Rooms too small. Breakfast good and location great

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Room too small. View into office suite of building across way

Activity Reviews

Osaka Foodie Walking Tour at dark

Osaka

Guide good .. first restaurant just mediocre.. second good. Poring rain and we were told to meet at old meeting point ..had to walk in rain to catch up to guide

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transfer from Kyoto to Osaka via Nara

Japan

Highlight of trip was spending so much time w Hector… he even walked back to hotel check in w us to be sure no issues and kept sending useful advice after the long day w him ended. So much fun. Lived his knowledge, enthusiasm, sense of humor, shortcuts and tailored itinerary

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kyoto Arashiyama Bamboo Forest & Garden Walking Tour (Join-in)

Kyoto

Just ok

Half Day Fushimi Inari Taisha to Tofuku-ji Temple Hiking Experience

Kyoto

Guide was nice but harder to communicate with

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Geisha (Maiko) Tea Ceremony & Show

Kyoto

Thought it would be touristy but it felt very authentic and we really loved the Q and A w geisha

Quality of Experience

Kanazawa Full Day Walking Tour

Kanazawa

Guide was nice but did not feel as if we learned as much . Did not like concept of paying for lunch for all.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Shirakawago Day Trip

Kanazawa

Loved all 3 towns,but the most authentic was the last one.. especially house visit.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Night Tour of Kanawaza With Dinner

Kanazawa

Guide was just Ok . Restaurant was great and unique

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nikko 33km Scenic Cycling + Farmhouse Lunch (Approx. 5 Hours)

Nikko

Our tour guide was so wonderful ! Loved the entire day . Bikes good. Well organized .

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Get a Taste of Nikko's Nature and Culture: Toshogu Shrine.

Nikko

KENTO was as good as it gets … so much fun and we will never forget our time with him.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi Tour with Whisky Tasting

Tokyo

Yumi was outstanding

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Tokyo City Tour

Tokyo

Yumi was as good as it gets .. we became best friends before the trio was over. She spent so much time ensuring everything went smoothly and had unique suggestiins to make Tokyo and mt Fuji flow smoothly.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The service provided by Shona was above expectations. She responded immediately to all our questions and requests and kept in touch with us throughout our trip. Having train transportation arranged and ticketed in advance was very helpful. We particularly enjoyed the smaller towns/cities we visited, including Tsumago, Matsumoto, Kanazawa and Kurashiki.

Despite some challenges working with Shona, our local specialist, we had a great family trip to Japan as a young family with a 14 month old baby.

We felt that some of the suggestions and bookings by Shona were not family or child-friendly and that she would always say "no" at first to everything we asked, and gaslighted us about some of the bookings that we never approved being our fault.

When we booked 3 months in advance, she told us that she could help with restaurant recommendations and reservations, but 2 weeks before the trip she switched and told us that she doesn't do this and requires an additional service fee to help with reservations. We're big foodies, so this was really stressful leading up to our trip, scrambling to get into restaurants we'd want to try. She also told us 3 weeks in advance of our trip that some of the experiences she advertised were not available -- some were sold out (but why? She had 3 months advance notice to book them!), some because she hadn't actually fully researched if they'd be open the day she suggested we'd do them.

But the kimkim team helped overcome many of these difficulties with great customer service, some necessary refunds, easy communication, and generally made our trip much easier and better.

We had a lovely time in Tokyo with our guide Sarah at Senso-Ji temple, and then by ourselves at Team Lab Planets and the Studio Ghibli museum. Sarah was flexible when we were dealing with jetlag, and helped us re-arrange our tour schedule on a day our baby really needed a nap.

Teresia was an amazing guide in Kyoto and Nara, also super understanding when we had to switch up our schedule and take the baby to the hotel for a nap early -- we got to see some parts of Kyoto we hadn't originally planned to see, but were some of our favorite experiences!

The drivers were always punctual, easy to communicate with, kept our car stocked with water bottles, didn't mind us playing Sesame Street music on our phones to soothe our baby, and got us to all our reservations on time or early.
Overall we'd use kimkim again, but be more careful and direct with out local specialist about our needs with a small child.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel New Otani Osaka

Osaka

It was fine -- we'd been staying at 5 star hotels our whole trip -- this one was noticeably older and less great. Little things missing like access to an outlet for both sides of the bed. The beds were ROCK hard. The buffet food wasn't very good -- didn't feel very fresh or delicious. I liked the idea of the morning coffee service, but in practice, the coffee was weak. They also charge $40 USD for late checkout, even though we'd booked a suite.

Location

Right next to a train station and across the street from some solid food options

Cleanliness & Comfort

It was clean but not very comfortable. Would love more accessible outlets next to the bed and a more private/separate living room and bedroom situation.

Hilton Kyoto

Kyoto

Beautiful hotel, really great amenities for suite level bookings, very kid-friendly

Location

Walking distance to the Nishiki Market! Right next to a 7/11 and a laundromat

Staff

They were so sweet with our baby, they gave her a little present that she loved

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu

Hakone

Really pretty hotel, lovely location. Their shuttle service was helpful, but they should add more shuttle pick up spots. The room had a bit of a musty smell, but probably due to people walking in it with wet feet from the onsen on the balcony. The buffet was huge and a bit intimidating, but I felt like most of the food was pretty good.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The musty smell from the onsen was pretty bad, but they did have a room air purifier, which helped.

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

Tokyo

Great service and breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Location

not very close to the train, a bit of a drive to everything

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Half Day Nara Park & Todai-Ji Temple

Japan

The deer are wild and pretty aggressive but very cute, and the temple was magnificent -- the Buddha is huge!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Sagano Bamboo Grove and Tenryuji Temple Tour

Kyoto

The Bamboo Grove and Tenryuji Temple were so cool to see! The Temple was our favorite we saw on our trip -- a beautiful Japanese garden and pond, lots of places to walk barefoot. It felt super cool -- and we loved learning that it used to be a villa! The Bamboo Grove was so crazy crowded though -- glad we went to see it and take photos, but it wasn't a relaxing experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kyoto Sightseeing Tour with Sake Tasting

Kyoto

We didn't have a sake tasting, and we actually didn't want one since we have a baby with us. But we loved seeing the Golden Pagoda and Fushimi Inari Shrine this day! Teresia our guide was great.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Mt. Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi Tour with Whisky Tasting

Tokyo

We did not do the Whisky Tasting because it was actually not available the day we were there (regularly closed on that day). This is something Shona our local specialist should have researched before offering it to us as an option when we booked. We didn't actually see Mt. Fuji, and Lake Kawaguchi isn't really that exciting without the view.

Quality of Experience

Didn't really feel like worth our time because we couldn't see Mt. Fuji. The Lake cruise is just out & back for 30 mins, which was fun for our baby, but not really that exciting or eventful.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We thought Sarah and our driver were great and answered all our questions. They made the day nice, even if the tour/experience wasn't so good

Transport

Sushi Making Masterclass in Tokyo: Learn Techniques from Experts in Asakusa

Tokyo

Not kid-friendly. They didn't have any high chairs so our toddler was running around the whole class. They had another couple there, so they were teaching at a fast pace while my husband and I were trying to take turns learning and taking care of the baby. They didn't provide her with any entertainment or really anything, so she picked up their broom and started sweeping and pulling things off of shelves. We thought they'd give her something like rice and seaweed to touch and play with and also that they'd go slowly and make sure we understood the steps before moving on, but they didn't and we felt rushed. Also they wouldn't allow us to take any of the sushi we made home with us, and our baby was ready to go about 3/4 of the way through the 2 hour class, so we didn't get to eat much of what we made.

Quality of Experience

They actually have a youtube channel where they teach all their skills. Maybe just look at that instead of going to this class.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The location they sent us to at first was wrong, there was a sign in the old location pointing to the new location down the street. The staff at this experience were not able to customize or help us as parents to get the same experience anyone else who took this class would have.

Transport

Easy planning and quick responses with Shona our local specialist. Went out of her way to get an item we had left on a transfer vehicle in Osaka delivered to us in the USA. Would like to have had more history and cultural experiences during the time we were in country, but all the guides were pleasant, prompt, and helpful.