You Could Travel

Guide took us to a relatively obscure sushi restaurant featuring a private session with a sushi chef who explained and prepared everything before us. Sushi was fresh. Probably the best I've ever had!

Entertaining and educational. But not a true sumo match. Still worth it.

Located a short walk to the Tokyo Tower with views of the tower from the room. Breakfast was chaotic but offered views of Mt. Fuji on "lucky" days.

Beautiful hotel located adjacent to the Kyoto Central Station .. .in an ideal location for everything.

This villa is absolutely beautiful, with a sauna as well as indoor and outdoor baths. It is isolated with beautiful landscaping and outdoor spaces. The breakfast is delivered in the morning, but was a bit disappointing. I know Japan is a tea culture but there was no coffee (didn't know in advance to buy coffee for the machine). My only problem with it is that it is located way up a hill from the center of Takayama. It's a tough walk back up to the villa. We did take a taxi back to the villa and had to assist the driver to find the villa , even with his gps. Luckily I remembered some visual landmarks to get us to the space!

Excellent location literally across from the fish market and close to bus transportation. Beautiful rooms with large baths.

Excellent location within a few minutes to the train station and center. Smaller rooms but clean and comfortable. We weren't prepared for the tatami mats at breakfast and the low chairs but the food was excellent.

Excellent location with an excellent breakfast buffet including many Japanese items.

Nishiki Market as included as part of our explorations with a guide. The hype about Nishiki Market I widespread but it was honestly a bit disappointing. It is packed with tourists and barely any locals. The crowds make it tough to even get to some of the stalls. It feels like it was a "necessary" stop but it was so removed from the original market.

Great afternoon exploring the market, including many tastes of the local fish and specialties (gold leaf ice cream!) and then far beyond in the town.

Excellent energetic knowledgable guide thrilled to share hie new hometown with us.

Beautiful day exploring in the countryside with an excellent guide and driver

I knew about kintsugi prior to this experience but had no idea about the complexity involved. This was an excellent overview of not only the actual hands-on work but the background of the materials.

We absolutely adored this exploration of the era plantation and tasting the green tea varieties.

This was our first experience staying in an Onsen. Definitely something one should try at least once when they visit Japan! From leaving your shoes at the front door to picking out a kimono to wear while on-site, each experience was new. Dinner was served over several courses in your own private space in the dining area. Breakfast was in the same space, with many dishes offered. The beds were comfortable and the room was spacious and comfortable.

We weren't sure when we were first presented with the idea to stay in a hotel located within the train station in Hiroshima, but it turned out to be one of the best stays! The room was on the smaller side (bed right up against the wall), but we didn't spend much time there, as we were out seeing the historical sites. Breakfast in the on-site restaurant was outstanding with many local and western items to choose from. We caught the streetcar steps from the hotel door, and when we were leaving to head back to Tokyo, the Shinkansen platform was just at the other end of the train station. Easy Peasy!

We really enjoyed our 5 night stay at this hotel. The room was a nice size with a comfortable bed, and a relaxing shower that was separate from the sink and toilet (which was in it's own space!). The breakfast was outstanding, with many different dishes to try. The location was near a laundromat, restaurants and public transportation. The Nijo Castle was a short walk away and well worth the visit!

We stayed two nights in this hotel. The room was large enough to have space on both sides of the bed!! On-site restaurant offered a delicious breakfast with something for everyone. The location was walking distance to many sites and public transportation.

We enjoyed 4 nights at this hotel. The room was a bit smaller than we were thinking it would be (bed was against the wall and one of us had to crawl over the bed each night to sleep. The view from the room however, was amazing! We were on the 17th floor and had a city view with gorgeous sunsets. The on-site restaurant had an outstanding breakfast with many local and western dishes to try! The location was excellent being close to many subway stations and temples. We went to a 6:00 a.m. Buddhist service that was a 10 min walk from the hotel. We would definitely stay here again!

We've been on many food tours, and this one was pretty good. We had a small group of 6 for this tour, which was a good size. Our guide, Yuma, was nice and showed us some local history and a small temple where you wouldn't have expected to see one!. The local food was good.

We were fortunate to have Pam once again as our guide! She met us at our hotel and we took a taxi to the train station to catch a local express from Kyoto to Osaka for the day. Dotonbori and Shinsekai were short subway rides away from Osaka Castle. There were so many shops to explore in these districts! The castle was beautiful, though we didn't go inside as there was a huge line.

When this experience was first presented, I didn't think we would appreciate it as much as we did. Hisae and her mother were excellent, patient teachers. Japanese Calligraphy is very different from English calligraphy. For this class, we used a thicker brush to write out different symbols. Who knew a couple downward strokes and cross bars were a word! The brush strokes are performed in a style unique to Japanese Calligraphy. Hisae's mother was very gracious and wrote out our grandchildren's names in Japanese calligraphy for us to present to them as something special from Japan.

Our guide, Pam, was the best! She walked us down some back roads to see some off the radar temples before heading to the bamboo grove. The bamboo is never cut in this area, so it's quite dense and beautiful!

What a fun experience! It's like getting ready for the prom. You pick out your kimono and the ladies help you get it wrapped the correct way. Then they do your hair and add accessories to your hair to make you shine! Then it's off to take pictures in the garden. Once you're done, you are led to the tea room where a lovely lady explains and demonstrates how to make Matcha tea. This experience was something even my husband enjoyed. There is also an option to wear your kimono all day as you wander around the Gion area.

Akira was our guide for this half-day tour. We toured around the Rokuharamitsu-ji and Kiyomizu-dera temple. What amazing buildings! Our next stop was in the Gion area of Kyoto. So much history and streets to wander down!

We had a lot of fun with the guest artist decorating Japanese bowls to keep - we were pleasantly surprised how well our bowls turned out! The location was close to where we were staying and was in a one room building, which is also used for other activities. Lots of light and a welcoming location.

Our guide, Rimiko, took us all around the Omicho Market where we tried some raw oysters, Crab and pork croquettes, local Wagyu beef freshly grilled as well as some favorite desserts of Rimiko that she introduced us to. We stopped at the Oyama Shrine on the way to the Samurai district and saw where the Samurai lived at one time, though the area has been gentrified.

This actually turned out to be a fun experience. The retired sumo wrestlers had a good rapport with the audience and knew how to work the crowd!

This was a small group tour with 7 of us (an Australian family of 5 and my husband and myself). The guide spoke very good English - she had lived in Australia for a time, which was very helpful as we had lots of questions. The tour actually took place in parts of the red light district of Tokyo. What an eye-opening experience that was. Often food tours will inundate you with 7-10 stops .This tour was nice in that we only went to 3 spots. The first stop was to a restaurant where we had tempeh and sushi. The second stop was the best - Korean barbeque wagyu beef we grilled at the table - delicious! Last stop was to see the lights over the city and have some gelato. The tour guide was fun and the group had a good time!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time with Masa-san, our guide the first full day in Tokyo! Masa-san was very knowledgeable about both the Buddhist and Shinto temples we explored. He was enormously helpful in showing us how to navigate the subway system and using our Suica card.