REVIEWS

Jackie Katz, California

The trip was fantastic- We had a great time. Yoshi-san and Namuri-san were amazing guides.
They were essential and knew everything about Japan’s history.
Yoshi was very sweet our kids really connected with her.
Japan is a beautiful CLEAN country and the people are so kind.
We loved all the areas we visited. 

• There were so many highlights:
• Nara
• Big Buddha
• Phoenix Hall
• Loved our lunch at Hinatomaru (sushi)
• Kanazawa
• Ryokan Yoshikawa:Dinner with Maiko & Geiko at Yoshikawa.
• Philosophers’ Path was full of cherry blossoms.
• Beautiful Kyoto – Sakura everywhere!
• And they bloomed early- perfect timing!!
• Fushimi Inari Shrine
• Naoshima
• Teshima – loved the e-bikes.
• All the installations were amazing.
• Night Program of James Turrell
• Jingu Stadium baseball game Yakult Swallows x Hiroshima Carp- they won!
• Even managed to bike in Kyoto and find a Chabad house – Bobby was happy!
• All the hotels were excellent.
• The Palace Hotel was a 10 – location and was excellent for running outside in the morning amongst the Sakura
• Ritz Carlton was amazing – loved the location – and used their e-bikes.
• Benesse museum (beach) – perfect – and the restaurants too!!
• Everything went smoothly in our travels – we were well taken care of.
• Thank you for all your help and guidance!
• The trip was sensational and I loved it all!!!
• Thank you again for everything from our whole family.

We need to come back and see more of Japan and when we do I will be calling you!!

Thanks again for everything.

Adrianna Ma, California

I am en route to Narita with my parents after two amazing weeks in Japan, thanks to the meticulous planning on the part of the entire JapanQuest Journeys team as well as real-time adjustments and accommodations by the local team, especially our wonderful tour guide, Tomo.

It is a lot of work traveling with aging parents, especially opinionated ones! The team could not be more patient, gracious, and accommodating, and in being so made the trip more enjoyable and my life so much easier.

The sights and accommodations were superb, as are the private events you arranged. The highlight for both of my parents was the day in Kyoto that began with a guided meditation with the temple master and wrapped with a performance by talented and beautiful geishas. Mine are too many to name.

You have my gratitude and unequivocal support and endorsement of the high bar you set and deliver to. Thank you again.

Valerie Sugar, California

Our guide Narumi, was excellent. She was a very pleasant person to be with, and also very helpful to make changes as needed. All the drivers were good too. And we also highly recommend our Yakushima nature guide Nobu. He speaks English almost like an American, and he was able to tailor our visit.

As you had warned us, the cherry blossoms were early, so we missed their peak. However, Narumi remembered a temple garden in Kyoto, which had a grove of late-blooming cherry trees; she took us there, and they were spectacular! Also, the flower-viewing situation turned out fine, because the wisteria and azalea were blooming early, and we got a chance to enjoy those.

We enjoyed the Ritz Carlton, Kyoto, Chikurintei, Sankara, and Aman Tokyo. At Chikurintei, our suite was exquisite, and our private onsen in the garden was very special. We were able to enter their extraordinary gardens through our own back garden gate. The azaleas in their garden were in full bloom, so that was an extra treat for us.

The bottom line is that we enjoyed the trip and we appreciate all your efforts.

Robin Graham, Bethesda, Maryland

We were thrilled with our experience with Scott and JapanQuest Journeys. He and his team planned the most spectacular trip to Japan for our family and helped us create memories that will last for a lifetime. Scott and our tour guides were kind, responsive and completely understanding of what we wanted out of our trip to Japan. We would recommend JQJ to everyone we know who plans on going to Japan. We only wish we could do our trip all over again! 

Thank you Scott and JQJ!

Pablo L., Mexico

We all had an Awesome time in Japan – really memorable family trip. I had been to Kyoto once before and to Tokyo 5 or 6 times for business and once for pleasure. My wife and kids had not been to Kyoto, and they loved it – loved the culture, the architecture, the temples and the shrines, the food was outstanding…we had a bit of the Sakura’s, and all were amazing. 

The Geisha experience was one of the highlights for them. My wife and I had a meditation session and liked it so much that we organized a second meditation session once our kids arrived. The Hotel in Kyoto was really great We had never been to Nara, and the big temple was incredible! We also loved Sugimoto’s Observatory – we were a bit skeptical, not sure if it was worth visiting, and it turned out to be an amazing experience. We were lucky to have met Sugimoto-san there, in person. My kids had not been to Tokyo, and they loved it – the Aman was exceptional, the restaurants in Tokyo were world-class, 

Our guide was able to get us into the auction room in the fish market, and the was an amazing experience. We were all a bit hesitant about the cooking class, and it turned out to be fun and an intimate experience with an incredible woman that allowed us to experience the lives of a local Japanese family. The Sake tasting was interesting.

Our guide was one of the best guides ever. Extremely knowledgeable, very kind, great sense of humor, very adaptable, always on top of everything – truly exceptional.

We all want to go back soon and would love to have the same guide.

Many thanks for an outstanding trip!

John, Megan, and Jennifer Zimmerman, Florida

We had a 5-week journey with JapanQuest Journeys, Jason and Miho were our primary contacts, and Narumi and others were our guides. The service we have received has been outstanding! And for sure we had many WOW moments!

We were visiting our son, who lives in Osaka, whom we had not seen in 3 years because of the pandemic. It was our first trip to Japan ever, and was my husband and myself, plus our adult “kids” coming and going out of Narita, Osaka, and Tokyo…all went so smoothly and with guidance and direction that was so helpful as they navigated a foreign country.

“JapanQuest Journey’s arrangements at Mandarin Oriental could not have been more beautiful, and their chosen restaurants were EXPERIENCES! Cooking lesson with chef Kyoko?? No words for that experience …”

One of our WOW moments was the trip portion to TOKYO and our guide Narumi. Her knowledge, friendliness, and attention have given us such joy as a family for this last leg of having our USA kids here with us.

WOW. JapanQuest Journey’s arrangements at Mandarin Oriental could not have been more beautiful, and their chosen restaurants were EXPERIENCES! Cooking lesson with chef Kyoko?? No words for that experience, (WOW) after cooking with her, we became family.

WOW! The ryokan experience in Kanazawa. We were taken back in time, eating traditional Kanseiki and taking in the hot spring waters….they could not have been more lovely.

WOW! All the transportation that was arranged over 5 weeks! No glitches, no hiccups…always on time, professional, friendly and helpful! And there were a lot of people to move around!

JapanQuest Journeys facilitated a trip of a lifetime for us and we cannot say thank you enough.