Exceeding Expectations

Japan | May 6 - May 19, 2025

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!