Save time & have a better time anywhere in Japan (since 1990) with my expert private custom Japan tours & travel services. Learn more! WhatsApp: +1-415-230-0579. Email me today!

Ian Ropke: Your all-Japan travel expert, specialist and designer!

Ian Martin Ropke Founder and Owner of Your Japan Private Tours

I design & make tours and packages for who you are and how you like to travel. The more I know about your budget, travel preferences and interests, the easier it is for me to design what you want. Note: I can design to budget, just ask! OK? Basic price are listed below.

  • Guided tours (Gt); expenses not included; 4, 6, 8 hours: Yen 39,000/1-6 people, 54,000, 72,000; add 7% for each person over 6pax; I only work with licensed guides;
  • Self-guided tours (Sgt); expenses not included: 2, 4, 6, 8 hours: Yen 5,000/1-6 people, 12,000, 16,500, 24,000; add 7% for each person over 6pax;
  • Reservations & transfer arrangement service charges:* Yen 4,800/instance/1-6 people; add 5% for each person over 6pax: restaurants (including to and from logistics), vehicle + driver, and perfect step-by-step bilingual transfer instructions from any A to any B in Japan (for example, Tokyo hotel to Kyoto hotel).

    • *Notes: 1. Expenses are not included in Sgt and Gt prices quoted above (lunch, taxi, train, subway, temple entry, etc.). Learn more!

As the founder and owner of Your Japan Private Tours (est. 1990), I, Ian Martin Ropke (Canadian) have been planning and designing tours and services on all 5 Japanese islands for over 30 years. As a professional Japan travel expert, specialist and designer, I have worked with a wide range of international clients on their Japan travels and journeys. I have experience with all dietary issues, the elderly and physically challenged, and multi-generational clients. I have extensive Japan tourism experience ranging from more than 15 years as the Editor-in-Chief of the now-defunct Kyoto Visitor's Guide, working with local government agencies, and running a popular bed and breakfast in Kyoto for more than 12 years.

Since 1990, I have provided guided and self guided independent tour services on all of Japan's 5 islands (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and Okinawa). I know Japan, Japanese culture, and Japanese people extremely well. I can speak, read and write the language, and studied Japanese intensively at a Kyoto language school from 1990-1993.

In a way, I am the ultimate Japan insider. I have traveled extensively all over the country since the early 1980s. I have been based in Kyoto since 1989 (but also spend a fair bit of time in North America during off season months). I lived in Tokyo for a year and have visited Tokyo and the surrounding area frequently since the early 1990s. I am also active as a journalist and Japan travel writer. Japan is one of the world's "most" unique cultures and also one of the most challenging countries for travel and business. My expert, highly personal service style can make a difference (but please note I only work with 4 or 5 clients a month, less in off season months).

I have worked for a wide range of clients including affluent families and couples from the USA, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, and, increasingly Southeast Asia, in general.

As a bespoke Japan travel expert, specialist, designer, I specialize in many key Japan travel areas including nature travel, high traditional and contemporary culture, arts & crafts including studio visits, everything to do with cuisine and restaurants (high and low). My specialties include walking, driving and hiking tours anywhere in Japan (town & country), Japanese cuisine experiences (from gourmet to street food), all key forms of Japanese traditional culture (tea ceremony, gardens, religion), and everything to do with modern contemporary Japan (manga, anime, art, architecture, tech).

I have also provided a wide range of corporate travel services and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events (MICE) services to large corporations from North America and Europe.

An overview of my work and life:1. My work is 100% traveler or client centric and everything I do is tailored to the client and their specific cultural needs. 2. I am the only tour operator in Japan that specializes in both guided and self guided independent tours anywhere in Japan (That's right! All 5 islands since 1990!). 3. I am one of the few tour operators in the industry that advises and assists clients from everywhere anywhere in Japan. 4. I work with a great team of vetted, licensed tour guides in and around Tokyo | Kyoto | Osaka | and in other major centers. 5. I have also guided many families and groups in Kyoto and Tokyo as a qualified lecturer on Japanese history, culture and art. 6. I am also an active startup founder, journalist, and wood sculptor.

At the bottom of this page you will find my publications, work history, educational background, personal interests, community projects, and a brief overview of other companies I have founded and am working on. My LinkedIn profile is here.

My full service pricelist, retail prices (no hidden or extra charges) for tours, transfers, restaurant experiences and more!

Save time & have a better time anywhere in Japan with my travel design expertise (since 1990). 100% designed for who you are & what you want! Learn more! Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google search) | Whatsapp: +1-415-230-0579.

Japan private travel expertise with all kinds of travelers

As a Japan travel expert, specialist and designer since 1990, I have been providing tour packages, tours and travel services on all of Japan's 5 islands (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and Okinawa) for a wide range of clients.

My clients and where they come from has changed a lot over the last 30 years. For the first 20 years about 70% of my clients were from the USA and Canada. Now 70% of my clients are from Southeast Asia, including Australia and New Zealand. Clients from Singapore are one of the biggest trends in recent years.

Most of my clients are families, often multi-generation families, and couples. I also work with a lot of retired travelers and many of them are doing off-the-beaten-track tours that include Tokyo and Kyoto but also Kyushu, the Japanese Alps region, and Shikoku and Hokkaido. Driving tours in a rental car are a common theme but many also rely on Japan's exceptional rail and bus system. And nearly all of these older clients rely almost 100% on my unique self guided independent tours & travel services.

And year by year, I have also had the privilege of working with a number of international companies and a few celebrities and luxury lifestyle travelers. My rates are the same for any and all clients but big clients like this tend to do more and thus require more guidance, advice and service. For some clients, usually large groups, I also acted as expert lecture-level guide (in Tokyo and Kyoto). I no longer guide clients as I am too busy with planning and design and my other business interests (and I am a single father with a 17-year-old daughter which takes up more time than you might think).

One of my best past client stories involved two 50-year-old daughter from Malaysia who were traveling with their 80-year-old retired architect father. The father toured with a foldable wheelchair. Their trip was 12 days and covered both Tokyo and Kyoto but also the countryside areas neighboring Kyoto and the Izu Peninsula (southwest of Tokyo). And for the entire journey, including many memorable reserved dinners, they never toured with a single local tour guide. They did the entire trip using only self guided independent tours together with a number of days with a hired car and driver (some spoke English; others did not) touring the countryside. They spoke no Japanese and relied entirely on my personalized itineraries and expert transportation guidance.

As a Japan travel specialist, I provide specific and expert solutions for a wide range traveler types and interests.

I frequently work with families (man of which are multi-generational families), elderly travelers, couples, and single travelers. And I provide BLeisure travel solutions for both business travelers and accompanying family members. I have also worked extensively all over Japan with travelers requiring wheelchairs and van & driver assistance, and also with many individuals with specific food allergies and issues.

I am experienced in almost every specialty area related to Japan travel and culture. Everything from deep city tour itineraries and customized private craft & art tours to nature, hiking tours and other off-the-beaten-track destinations and interests.

Japan luxury travel expert known for unique solutions and ideas

Over the past 30 years, I have provided Japan travel private travel packages, tours and services to quite a few luxury travelers and celebrity clients.

When it comes to luxury travel, Japan is famous for its high-end travel attractions. These include exclusive ryokan inns with ensuite indoor or outdoor private bathing and a restaurant cuisine menu in exclusive settings. I can provide guidance, reservations and all logistical requirements for this level of travel and dining.

Luxury and celebrity clients also prefer city and day-tour transportation in hired sedans with private drivers. I specialize in these services too, including airport pickup, meet and greet, and other logistical services and guidance.

And high-networth clients require a higher degree of privacy and personal service and I always work with the client to satisfy every need.

Japan business and corporate travel expert for services and planning

My clients over the past 30 years have also included many corporations and businesses for all business and corporate travel needs. This also includes extensive Japan conference and event experience. These include individual executives at corporations like Volvo (2008), Fannie Mae (2007), Google Maps (2018) and Continental Tire (2018). Many of my business clients were BLeisure travelers--often traveling with family members--including a billionaire sugar magnate from Mexico, steel company owners from Argentina, and a sheik from Dubai. And I have worked with various celebrities from Los Angeles, New York, Malaysia and Singapore.

I have also worked with a number of prominent corporate travel & business event planning clients over the years. From 2003 to 2009, I was in charge of BAE Systems' (formerly British Aerospace) Japanese culture seminar program (Tokyo & Kyoto). These week-long intercultural seminars (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009) "hosted" and educated 25-30 top BAE executives from around the world. My job was to take care of everything from touchdown to departure: transportation, guides, renting special facilities, cellphones, Japanese culture seminars, and private maiko | geiko | geisha banquets. My other clients include Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Prudential Financial, Fannie Mae, Google Maps, and AstraZeneca pharmaceuticals.

Major corporate clients I have worked with in Japan

1. BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace): From 2003 to 2009, I was in charge of organizing everything for BAE's 7-day cultural immersion program for top global executives (25-30 executives: all managing directors of BAE subsidiaries). BAE Systems hired me for this in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009. The program took place mainly in Kyoto but in 2009 it was split between Tokyo and Kyoto. For all the Kyoto programs, I rented an entire Buddhist temple on a small mountain near the Westin Miyako Hotel (where the participants stayed every time). I also provided all interpreters, guides, audio visual equipment, access to tea ceremony teachers and maiko | geiko | geisha, all transportation needs, banquet dinners, as well as private travel arrangements for some executives before and after the seminar.

2. Hewlett Packard: I personally handled a 3-day tour break for a 12-person team from the Singapore office (HP's Asian headquarters) in 2004. They chose my services because they found the ideas from JTB (Japan's biggest tour operator) to be too superficial and lacking in creativity.

3. Prudential Financial: I was hired for Prudential Financial's annual international board meeting which takes place in a different country every year. The 2001 board meeting took place in Tokyo and Kyoto, and about 40 participants from all over the world attended. I was the lecture-guide for the group in both Tokyo and Kyoto.

4. AstraZeneca Estonia: AstraZeneca Estonia hired me to coordinate a group of 24 participants (mostly doctors) from Estonia attending a major medical conference in Tokyo and Kyoto in the spring of 2009. I booked all the hotels for the group in Tokyo and Kyoto, handled all the transportation (in Tokyo, from Tokyo to Kyoto and in Kyoto), special banquet dinners in both Tokyo and Kyoto, and designed multiple excursion itineraries in Kyoto led by local tour guides.

Save time & have a better time anywhere in Japan with my travel design expertise (since 1990). 100% designed for who you are & what you want! Learn more! Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google search) | Whatsapp: +1-415-230-0579.

Publications related to Japan travel, history and culture

I have been writing about Japan travel, history and culture for nearly 30 years including 15 years as the Editor-in-Chief of the now defunct Kyoto Visitor's Guide. In 1999, I published a Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto in 1999 (hardcover) which is in the collections of many major research and university libraries around the world. And I write frequently as a Japan travel journalist and as a journalist in other areas of interest.

As the editor-in-chief of the Kyoto Visitors' Guide from 1995 to 2010, I produced roughly 90% of each monthly issue's content. This included countless detailed walking tours, many interviews with prominent Japanese people from all walks of life, and an evolving focus on compact practical Japan travel writing. When I left this job, I retained all the content I had created, nearly 5,000 articles, which I use extensively in my Japan private travel work for clients looking for even more detail.

Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto by Ian Martin RopkeI am the author of a Historical Dictionary of Osaka and Kyoto (ISBN 978-0810836228), one of the few reference sources cited in the bibliography section for the Wikipedia entry for Wikipedia entry for Kyoto, and the Further Reading section of the Wikipedia entry for Osaka. The book is a standard reference item on both cities and can be found in university libraries and other large libraries around the world. And you can still buy it on Amazon!

As a guest blogger, I have also contributed many articles on Japan and Japanese culture for Deep Kyoto and for the Japan Visitors Guide.

As a journalist, I write about Japan, climate change, philosophy and high tech themes.

Other work history related to Japan travel, society and culture

Before becoming a full-time Japan travel expert, I was also the Editor-in-chief of the Kyoto Visitors' Guide (1995-2010) and an English communications professor at Ritsumeikan University (1999-2009).

As the editor-in-chief of one of Japan's biggest and oldest English travel and tourism magazines (in print and online), I built a huge collection of green content articles on Kyoto and the surrounding region including Osaka and the deep countryside north of Kyoto. I was also involved with the design of the magazine's online website and early SEO strategies. My work with the parent company of KVG, Ad Brain Inc., also involved a lot of extra work projects for Japanese government agencies and corporations.

From 1999 to 2009 I was a part-time professor at Ritsumeikan University and other universities. Though I mostly taught first and second year engineering students highlevel reading skills and low-level speaking skills, I also designed and taught courses on tourism and travel from an international perspective. Teaching large classes (25-35 students) in Japan for 10 years also provided me with valuable insights into how Japanese society is changing and what Japan's weaknesses and strengths are in an international context.

Educational background and degrees related to my Japanese tourism expertise

I have a Bachelors of Science degree (1996), a Masters of Applied Linguistics degree (2007), and 40 years of experience researching and working in areas related to high technology and venture capital. And I studied Japanese at a Japanese language schools 6 days a week from 1989 to 1992. I love the intricacies and unique qualities of Japanese and try where ever I can to share this insider knowledge with my clients.

I started my Bachelors of Science degree at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada with a focus on electrical engineering and computer science. I completed the first three years of my BSc at the University of Waterloo. The final year was completed online at Brigham Young University (Utah, USA). My science background and my ability to read and write Japanese has given me a deep understanding of the Japanese economy and society. Many of my past clients have been interested in experiencing Japanese technology and factories and it was easy for me to make all the arrangements, which take much longer than in most other countries to set up.

My Masters of Applied Linguistics degree was completed at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia in 2007. The entire degree program was finished online. In addition to fluency in Japanese, I am also fluent in German, Swedish and soon Spanish. My understanding of linguistics and foreign languages creates unique advantages for understanding other foreign cultures and how those cultures "relate or interact" with the Japanese.

My expertise in high technology (mostly from a software and AI perspective) and the venture capital industry, a 40-year informal education, has also added to my understanding of Japan (mostly a hardware culture) and the solutions I can offer clients interested in these areas.

Personal interests, community work and global startup founder experience

In addition to my dedication to Japan private travel and Japan business or corporate travel services, I am interested in philosophy, self-help, quantum physics, global travel in every way, and wood sculpture (animistic, primitive guardian statues: zero power tools and zero chemicals). I am also the founder of NexussPlus Inc., a global startup for the upper middle class (family, business, government) that is also designing next generation hybrid, NI AIs, and picks & shovels for climate change.

I studied traditional Japanese woodworking (cabinetry) with a small group of Japanese carpenters and enthusiasts from 1991 to 1997. My teacher was the eldest son of Tatsuaki Kuroda, one of Japan's most accomplished mingei folkcraft artists (1930-1970). I continue to practice woodwork using Japanese hand tools but have focused mostly on animistic guardian statues and spiritual furniture.

I attended university at the University of Waterloo for my first 2.5 years and finished my degree at Brigham Young University. I also have a masters degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southern Queensland. I also lectured at Japanese universities from 1998 to 2008. I speak & read Japanese, and I am also fluent in German. My Swedish is also very good and my Spanish is not too bad!

Save time & have a better time anywhere in Japan with my travel design expertise (since 1990). 100% designed for who you are & what you want! Learn more! Ian Martin Ropke (unique on Google search) | Whatsapp: +1-415-230-0579.