REVIEWS

Fantastic service provided by Sandy at JTC. She understood our travel requirements, was vert informative and the hotel accommodation she suggested was ideal for us. Nagoya is a spectacular city, the people so friendly, I hope to return there soon.

Fabulously well organised trip to climb Mount Fuji. All in the group were catered for in respects of walking experience and ability and we all made it to the top!

Translator/guide was lovely and assisted climbers swiftly when beginning to have the effects of altitude sickness.

Only downside was the Onsen after the climb. Prior notice that is is nude not one permitting swimming costumes, would have made things less awkward. Unfortunately, two of us could not participate in this, which meant waiting dirty and smelly from the climb for 2 hours.

However, it did not ruin a great experience.

We simply had a fantastic time. We had lived in Tokyo twenty years ago for a couple of years but not travelled much, and wanted our teenage children to experience Japan for themselves (having heard many of our stories many times....) We wanted a variety of things to do: we shopped in Harajuku (and at the Pokémon Centres - Tokyo and Osaka versions!); climbed the staircases at Matsumoto Castle and enjoyed the taiko festival and potteries; bathed, slept and ate at onsen; traversed mountains and dams in the Japanese Alps ; saw the illuminations at Kodai-ji and the amazing dragons at Kennin-ji; enjoyed incredible hospitality at Ryokan Iwaso at Miya-jima and took the night cruise through the shrine gates at high tide; recovered from the blistering heat with the aid of delicious shaved ice; visited Hiroshima on Peace Day, astonishingly moving and inspiring; cycled, swam and experienced the art works on Naoshima; enjoyed yet more incredible hospitality at Uno Port Inn(hi Miko-san!) (and I never even mentioned the incredibly incredible kindness and attentiveness at Hotel Mume in Kyoto). What a pleasure it was to be in Japan as a tourist! I can't wait to go back. I would happily do all of the above again, but would like new experiences too, so will probably find some different places to go. And both our children want to go back (without us!).

Japan Centre arranged tickets for the Sumo Tournament for me. It was great to watch the event! Sandy, from Japan Centre, was extremely efficient and nice, a pleasure to deal with. 

Amazing country, incredible sights, sounds and tastes, fabulous people- just another world! We are already planning our return trip!

This was a return visit for me after many years but a first trip for my wife and son (14).  We tried to do a variety of things including climbing Mt Fuji, visiting Universal Studios and going to the Sumo as well as some of the more usual tourist sightseeing destinations.  The best bits were the quirky and cultural experiences such as the Sumo, staying in ryokan, Maid Cafe, Robot Restaurant, travelling on Shinkansen, etc.  My wife preferred getting out of the cities and next time I'd plan to spend more time in the mountains and countryside.  We had a limited appetite for seeing too many shrines and temples.  We were in Kyoto for Gion Matsuri which was fun in the evenings but the actual parade is quite a serious religious affair and not a fun carnival event.

A big Thank You is due to Kaoru at JTC for making all our hotel arrangements, and suggesting an itinerary that worked well. Also for providing Japanese translations of phrases you don't find in the guidebooks such as "can we leave our suitcases in your hotel until we return tomorrow afternoon".

Particular highlights for us were staying overnight in a Monastery in Koya-San, travelling by Bullet Train, and staying in a Capsule Hotel in Shinjuku. Not to mention the great food, sushi etc!

JTC kept us well informed of progress in making bookings, and we have no hesitation in recommending them for your trip to Japan.

Spent a very enjoyable 10 days touring the main sights in Japan. The quality of the tour was exceptional. Absolutely everything worked like clockwork and I can't e press my thanks enough to all those involved in putting it together. Hotel rooms and bathrooms are on the small size but everything works and the rooms are exceptionally clean. Japan is a great place to visit because it is incredibly efficient, friendly and safe and I'd recommend it to anyone. 

My holiday, to see gardens, traditional steel making (for swords) etc was greatly helped by JT's super local knowledge, ability to find hotels to closely match all my needs, plus their good administration.
The Green Pass was very cost effective as I undertook all my travel in Japan by rail: it was also useful as a pre-bought ticket for local trains, thus avoiding the need to queue up at ticket offices:
The river valley journeys, eg Okayama->Matsue, & Nagoya->Takayama, were particularly beautiful, even when it rained! And in the Green Car one can see out of the front of the train!
All my expectations were met - A big "Thank you"