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!

Custom Japan private tour packages: expert tours & services

Sea of Clouds and tea fields in the Nunozawa valley west of Tokyo

My 100% custom Japan private tour packages, on all 5 islands since 1990, are made for your budget, your travel preferences and your personal interests in Japan (from traditional to contemporary culture). These tailormade packages can include any combination of guided private tours, self-guided private tours, and my unique value-added travel services. My custom Japan private tour packages can be a few days (in Tokyo for example) or last for a month or more. Most of my tour package clients are in Japan for 10-14 days. Every client is different. The more I know about the client the easier and better the design. And I work quickly. Learn more!

No matter what tour package combination you choose from the above tour options & travel services (transfers from A to B, restaurant ideas & reservations, tickets, etc.), everything I design & execute for you:

  • Is made for who you are and how you like to travel,
  • Will save you time & money,
  • Will improve your trip travel time,
  • Can be designed to avoid super peak season crowds,
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Over the last 35 years, I have worked with countless clients from North America, southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand, Latin America, and Europe. Some clients prefer all-guided Japan private tour packages, but most clients (since the late 2010s) are using a mixture of my guided Japan private tours and my wide range of self-guided tours & travel services. Some clients never see a licensed tour guide but go everywhere you can go in Japan.

My custom private Japan tour packages are built on day-by-day (and usually night-by-night) itinerary summaries that include hotel, transfer notes, tour activities and sights, timing notes, and logistical notes. All my Japan private tour packages include door-to-door (i.e., hotel to hotel) transfers with clear instructions for taxis, entering and exiting stations, platform numbers, etc. Daytime tour programming can use public transportation and taxis, or a hired vehicle & driver. I feel subway and train and tram in Tokyo and Kyoto are perfect for speed, cost, and people watching! In the end, the choices are always yours!

No matter who you are or how you like to travel, Your Japan Private Tours has the expertise and the experience (35 years of experience!). My Japan private tour packages are made "by hand" to suit each and every client's needs: from couples, families and luxury travelers to small groups, Bleisure travelers.

Testimonials from past guided tour clients. Remember: Being with an experienced local tour guide is an opportunity to engage with a “modern” Japanese person who can also tell you a lot about Japan’s traditional history and culture. Not every tour day but one or two. Actual self-guided tour stories from past clients; all over Japan. These true stories will help you to better understand how much you can do anywhere in Japan with zero Japanese fluency if you use YJPT’s unique self-guided tours, packages, and services. You don’t need to use my planning and design expertise every day but only on days where it makes sense. Only when it saves you time and or improves the quality of your morning, afternoon or evening. The choices are all yours!

And please note: the more information you provide the better the itinerary design outcomes. Tell me exactly what you want, and I will try to design precisely what you have asked for.

My YouTube channel's growing video playlist, created from my huge Japanese photo collection, will also help you to "see" what you could see on your next trip to Japan. Presently, there are 3 videos that showcase: 1. Portraits of Japanese people in daily life (5 min.). 2. The Japanese Shinto religion: images, scenes, and symbols (2.66 min.). 3. Japanese Buddhism in daily life: images, scenes, and symbols (5 min.). Go to my YouTube channel.

For off-the-beaten-track Japan cross-country custom Japan private tour packages, I can "guide" you to unusual places on your own: town & country! My logistically value-added self-guided transfers (for example hotel X in city X to hotel Y in city Y) can be perfectly timed for long-haul travel (or incredibly precise big city travel). I design and create transfers using private vehicles & drivers, taxis, trains, trams, subways, and countryside buses. Expect precision timing and instructions for buying tickets on the go in perfect Japanese! Plus, maps, graphics and relevant cultural-historical insights. Learn more!

Most clients (i.e., most tourists that visit Japan) follow the extended Golden Route that connects Tokyo (Edo) and Kyoto (Japan's imperial capital from 794 to 1867). These two cities are only two hours and twenty minutes apart when you use Japan's famous Nozomi-class shinkansen bullet trains, departing every 15 min. or so. But there are a lot of interesting stops between Tokyo and Kyoto and if your trip is 10 days or more then consider the options on the extended Golden Route (jump ahead with index below).

Everyone has questions about their trip to Japan and how my services work. You will find most of your questions answered in my Japan guided tour FAQs (start time and location; itinerary design; expenses; tips . . .) or on my self-guided tour FAQ page (design; delivery; types; expenses . . .).

Go to my tour and travel service pricelist (in JPY) to see what's included (expenses are never included but can be precisely determined in advance; please inquire), general daily expense guidelines sleeping, transportation and cuisine experiences. Learn more by finding the right content in the index below: popular routes, city and day trip tours, more about my travel services, and general FAQs. Take your time. I work quickly! Learn more!

Save up to 66% with my self-guided custom Japan private tour packages!

A Japanese 5,000-yen note featuring a picture of Higuchi Ichiyo (1872-1896), the first professional female writer in Japan.

If guided day tours are too expensive for your budget, you can spend up to 66% less and have perfect logistics and a complete sense of control, with my expert self-guided custom Japan private tour packages. Everyone wants expert guidance and that's what self-guided tour packages deliver! Self-guided Japan private tour packages tours can be used for city tours, day trips from major centers, and off-the-beaten-track routes and destinations.

My expert self-guided custom package tours of Japan are always personalized to your needs and interests. And they are always designed to get you to the best places without wasting time. And then they "guide” you through the day or night in perfect detail (with maps, graphics, step-by-step bilingual instruction sets, and historical & cultural insights). The smartphone PDF programs for each day & night can be printed in BW in advance. The best efficiency is if one person follows the smartphone PDF, while another uses the BW printout of the same PDF.

Self-guided Japan private tour packages are also ideal when you and your family or small group want to be independent or have a more intimate experience without having to communicate with a licensed guide. The expert guidance and logistics in my Japan self-guided tours allow you to travel anywhere in Japan with confidence. I have designed self-guided tours on all the main islands of Japan, including some very remote places.

My self-guided Japan tour packages can include any of the following:

  • Advice, suggestions, and directions for lunch.
  • Highly detailed walking instructions for train stations, key areas, and all over the Japanese countryside.
  • Good maps and graphics, and, where useful, Google map pins and links (for clients with a mobile wifi router or Japanese SIM card).
  • Clear, concise English-Japanese instructions for taxis & for telling taxi drivers where you want to go exactly (Japanese addresses are super tricky!), and for buying train, bus or subway tickets on the go like a pro! Just show a total stranger your smartphone screen and they will buy your tickets for you in seconds.
  • Precise train, subway, bus, ferry information for any day of the year including platform numbers, travel times, transfers, and everything else you need to get from any A to to any B in Japan like a local.
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Choose the advantages of my unique self-guided Japan tour packages to travel anywhere on Japan’s five incredible island worlds: 1. Honshu Island: The Golden Route from Tokyo to Kyoto with optional stops in Hakone, Takayama and Kanazawa. 2.Kyushu Island: Hot springs, ceramic villages and coastal wonders. 3. Hokkaido: Japan's most pristine and wild island is ideal for getting into the great outdoors, hot spring bathing, skiing and incredible seafood. 4. Shikoku Island: For spiritual journeys (especially the 88-temple pilgrimage), remote natural valleys and beaches, and stunning seaside rice terraces. 5. The islands of Okinawa: Ideal for a bit of classic R & R at the end of a long trip. Okinawa has great beaches, scuba diving and snorkeling, different music, and an unusual history. Learn more!

Golden Route custom private Japan tour packages

The mysterious and deep spiritual vibrations at Kyoto's Fushimi Inari Grand Shrine are a Golden Route highlight experience!

Since most international travelers going to Japan spend 10-14 days in country, the majority, especially if it's their first Japan trip, want custom private Japan tour packages on the Golden Route. This route includes Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and a few keys places in between these three essential "bookend" destinations. Some travelers just visit Tokyo and Kyoto and nothing in between, but most experience 2 or 3 of the amazing stops between these two important centers that define the Golden Route.

Common stops on the Golden Route from Tokyo to Kyoto include the following. 1. Tokyo: with day trips to Izu, Kamakura, Hakone (Fuji), Lake Kawaguchi (Fuji), Kawagoe and Nikko. 2. A night in a high end hot spring ryokan in Hakone | Mount Fuji (or Lake Kawaguchi | Mount Fuji). 3. Many clients choose to spend a night or two in the Japanese Alps before Kyoto. The best place in the Alps is the Takayama | Hida | Shirakawago zone (which also links to the famous section of the Nakasendo Edo-period hiking trail and other historical trails: for hiking & walking enthusiasts). 4. Kanazawa or Little Kyoto is excellent for ancient structures but a lot less crowded with tourists. It is also the entry point to the remote and wild sides of the Noto Peninsula as well as the more accessible lacquer center of Wajima. 5. Kyoto the super basecamp of the Golden Route offers an almost endless range of activities and places to go. 6. Nara is usually a full day trip from Kyoto but can also be done in a half day. Hiroshima is also often a day trip from Kyoto (stopping at Himeji Castle en route).

Other popular, high-value destinations I like to add to the Golden Route include Mount Koya, Hiroshima | Miyajima, Himeji Castle and Kurashiki. It really depends on your interests and how much time you have and how you choose to use that time. And I can help you choose wisely and combine things to save you time and improve overall trip quality.

I also design and provide mostly self-guided custom Japan tour packages for destinations off the Golden Route including all of Japan's other amazing islands: from the wilds of Hokkaido, to the lush attractions of Kyushu. I have designed custom private Japan tour packages all over Japan since 1990. But I love it when a client requests a new area or approach . . . Driving tours are no problem if you want to rent a car. Not easy but with a little logistical map and driving assistance you can go anywhere! So, if off-the-beaten-track Japan travel is your thing, I can certainly design something that will suit your interests and travel style. Learn more!

Town, country, off-the-beaten-track custom Japan private tour packages

Nara's Horyujin Temple is where Buddhism first got started in Japan as a Chinese import in 550 AD.

My 100% custom Japan private tour package--city tours, day trips, walking tours, and special interest tours--can be focused on Japan's major tourist centers (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Takayama, Sapporo and Fukuoka) or you can go off the beaten track in the countryside and on the edges of major destinations. The choices are all yours!

Here is a list of the most popular tour variations and destinations chosen by my custom Japan private tour package clients since 1990:

  • Custom guided tours of old & new Tokyo: walking tours, contemporary culture tours, specialty tours, and night tours. Custom guided day trips & tours from Tokyo: to Hakone | Mount Fuji | Lake Kawaguchi, Kamakura, Nikko and the Izu Peninsula.
  • Guided Kyoto tours: walking tours, craft tours, garden tours, specialty tours, and night tours. Custom guided day trips & tours from Kyoto: to Nara, Osaka (especially for night tours), Shigaraki | Miho Museum, Himeji | Kurashiki, and Hiroshima.
  • Osaka guided private tours: focused on the city’s fresh fish & food markets, Osaka Castle, modern shopping, and amazing night life & youth culture watching. Custom guided day trips & tours from Osaka: to Kyoto, Kobe, Himeji | Kurashiki, and Koyasan.
  • I also work with great local tour guides in Takayama, Hiroshima, Sapporo and Fukuoka. For all other areas of Japan, and that means anywhere in Japan, I can arrange for local licensed tour guides with advance notice, but it is in exactly these situations where my self-guided tours are so useful. It's like being with a guide but the cost is 66% less!

When a local tour guide is not available for whatever reason, even in Tokyo or Kyoto, you can rely on my reliable tailormade self-guided tours, and for all off-the-beaten-track countryside tour designs (see below).

My custom Japan private tour packages also frequently feature guided (or self-guided) night tours & adventures (18:00-22:00). My most popular night tours: Tokyo (Roppongi | Shinjuku back lanes), Kyoto (Gion & Fushimi Inari Grand Shrine), and Osaka (Bladerunner Dotonbori). M y Japan night tours focus on shrines, superstition, people watching, contemporary art museums, street food, and stunning night scenes.

I also provide interesting early morning tour options for spiritual travelers, nature enthusiasts and photographers as part of my tour packages and tours. During super peak season in Kyoto (April, November), my serenely serene early morning self-guided tours are especially good value.

My expert Japan travel services: transfers, reservations, tickets

Every custom Japan private tour packages I design--guided or self-guided or both--includes a choice of time saving and convenient expert Japan travel services. I provide expert solutions for:

  • Transfers of any kind (to and from airports & from any A to any B in the country).
  • Restaurant reservations & cuisine experience in high-end Tokyo, Kyoto restaurants, and great local atmosphere joints all over Japan.
  • Assistance with local accommodation bookings (Japanese minshuku & high-end ryokan inns).
  • Plus all the services smart travelers need to save time & improve trip quality, including special tickets, luxury cars and drivers and normal vehicles and drivers, and private maiko geiko geisha experiences in Kyoto.
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No matter what you need or want to experience, Your Japan Private Tours has the experience and expertise to get what you want done. Learn more!

Again, to recap, most of my custom Japan private tour package clients--on short trip packages and long trip packages--choose mostly my tailormade self-guided tours of Japan, some guided private tours (although none is becoming more and more common), plus my time-saving, trip-improving range of Japan travel services. In the end, the choices are all yours! No matter where you want to go or how you like to travel, Your Japan Private Tours has you covered! Learn more!

My full service pricelist in JPY, all retail priced, and what's included, expense guidelines for tours, transfers, restaurant experiences and more. Learn more!

General FAQs for custom Japan private tour packages

Jizo Buddhist saint stone statue in KyotoQuestion: Why should I consider your tours and services? And why are you more expensive than your competitors?

Answer: I am a private travel specialist and what I offer is quite different from most of my competitors. Many companies offer private tours and access to local tour guides. And Japanese tour operators design all the itineraries they sell. Unfortunately, many Japanese tour operators do not understand the needs of international clients and work on the "herd mentality" approach: the most famous places without much imagination or personalization. And an enormous number of local "freelance" Japanese tour guides, despite all the memorization and testing, are not great at itinerary design and don't understand their client's well. And most tour operators do not provide the level of personal attention that I do. I design all the itineraries together with the client. My local trained and tested guides then follow the final itinerary approved by the client. My services are more expensive because of my experience and because of all the personal attention I provide.

Question: What about self-guided tours? Why are they worth paying for?

Answer: I provide self-guided tours on all 5 Japanese islands (since 1990). Self-guided tours and packages are ideal for travelers on a budget (a self-guided tour is 66% less than a guided tour) and for travelers who want to go off the beaten track (which is the trend for a growing number of my southeast Asian and North American clients). I also design all the self-guided tour itineraries and the associated travel services required (i.e., logistics: subway, taxi, train, bus etc.). Compared to twenty years ago, my business is moving more and more to self-guided tours and services. In my opinion, they are logistically and qualitatively equal to a guided tour in almost every way!

Question: After flight and hotel expenses, what are the most expensive travel expenses for Japan?

Answer: This really depends on how much of Japan you wish to cover in a given time period. Bullet train and long distance express train travel is not cheap in Japan. A one-way trip from Tokyo to Kyoto by bullet train is Yen 14,000 (2.2 hours station to station). So, if you plan to go from Tokyo to Kyoto and back via Takayama-Kanazawa or directly you will have to travel by bullet train and fast long-haul JR trains. If you just stay in a big city like Kyoto or Tokyo then the daily subway and local train costs are really low: Yen 250-350 per trip. If you absolutely won't use public transportation then you will have to rely on taxis (Yen 700 for the first 2 km or 1.25 miles) or a car | van | bus and driver (Yen 70,000 per 8 hours in most of the country; add 25% for buses). The other significant expense is food, but this again depends on who you are and what you want to experience. Lunch in Japan is easy to find for Yen 800/person (in an authentic traditional ambiance). And dinner without alcohol is easy to find in izakayas and other local restaurants for Yen 3,500/person.

Question: What expenses are included in your tours?

Answer: My private tour prices do not include any expenses. You also have to pay for the guide's expenses during a guided tour (lunch is usually with the guide but not always). Many clients want to know exactly what the expenses are during a tour, and I can provide those expense details down to the dollar. So, if you want more clarity on expenses just ask for exact expenses per day per tour.

Question: If we take a guided tour, when does the tour start and where does the guide meet us?

Answer: Day tours usually start at 9:00 in the morning but sometimes 8:00. The start time is determined by the client's preferences and the tour itinerary. The guide always picks you up in the lobby of your hotel or inn or AirBnB.

Question: Are there any kinds of tours that you don't provide?

Answer: I provide any and all kinds of tours but only if the attractions and experiences are legal in nature. I don't accept requests for sex related tours (though I do provide LGBT tailored tours) or anything connected with drugs or other illegal activities.

Question: How long does it take for you to design a tour package or day tour itinerary? And do you charge for planning and design?

Answer: I do not charge for planning or itinerary design no matter how long it takes! Tour package design can take little time or a long time. It really depends on the client and the time available. For self-guided tours and packages, I usually need 7-10 days to get everything ready. But I have also managed to do this in 3-5 days. Again, every client and every trip is different.