On Monday, September 18 my husband and I ended our 3 week trip to Japan by touring Osaka Nightlife on a private food tour led by Marie. What a wonderful experience. Marie was a treasure and the food was terrific. We tasted things we hadn't had during the rest of our trip and learned about Osaka's version of things like sushi, which was wonderful. We especially enjoyed our meal in an izakaya. Great food and sake and we learned about the izakaya tradition. Five stars to Arigato and Marie.

This was an extremely disappointing food tour…we would highly recommend avoiding it! In a city where there are so many delicious restaurants and eateries I can not believe that the stops and bites experienced on this trip were so bad. We booked this tour (although double the price of competitors) because we really wanted to enjoy delicious food, along with insights and background on Tokyo/Japan cultural and history….unfortunately we got neither. This is not the first tour we have experienced while traveling abroad, but it will be the last we experience with this touring company. Instead of the tour, I would highly recommend getting restaurant recommendations from your hotel (there really are so many great spots in Tokyo) and enjoy a few tasty bites for dinner.

Went to three restaurants, a good variety of food & the guide was aware of any food restrictions & allergies. Our guide was Noboru. He was always providing information about the food, the sites along the walk and seemed to have a wealth of information. His English was really good & his sense of humor gave us many laughs. A very fun evening & good food.

Breakfast tour of Fish Market area. Yappy, our guide was informative, attentive and picked some amazing seafood for breakfast and a picnic lunch. Highly recommended.

Our tour guide Maya was fantastic! She was funny and vibrant, and she took a number of pictures for us. She took her time to tell us about Japanese culture, eating etiquette, recommendations of sights to see and such. The food was wonderful. We stopped at 4 restaurants and a dessert place. Our stomachs were quite full by the third restaurant! Highly recommended.

We attended three Arigato tours during our stay in Japan: one in Kyoto with Noboru, one in Osaka with Marcos and we ended with a tour of the fish market with Sandra. All the tours were amazing!! 10/10 would recommend! The food was great and each tour guide had their own unique perspective on Japan and the culture and we loved talking to all of them! These tours were such a great way to experience an area with a local who showed us the less obvious places and things to eat. All of our guides were very knowledgeable about their area and seemed passionate about the food and place. We came away full and with new appreciations for Japan and it’s food. Highly recommend!

What a treat! Yappi was a great tour guide: entertaining, informative and great company. We went to places we would never have found, we ate things we would never have tried. If You’re in two minds about this, book it. You will not regret it! Thank you.

Our guide Kay made this a very enjoyable and educational experience. She has great energy and spirit. If you’re from the States , request Kay!

We did the three hour food and beverage golden gai tour. We started off by meeting up with our tour guide Daniel! I was very surprised that he was actually from California like us and not japanese, at first I was skeptical because we wanted the Japanese food experience but those doubts quickly went away once he started showing us around and giving us a detailed history lesson and tour of the area! Daniel was very professional, personable, knowledgeable and super funny. He made the entire experience a blast oh and the food was amazing!! I hate sushi and he brought us to a sushi place and showed us the correct way to eat it and asked if I would try at least 1 piece, I was hesitant but went for it and it was amazing!! I have tried sushi several times before and absolutely hated it but this sushi was so delicious!!! Daniel would ask questions and get to know each of us and then tailor the tour to each of us! Like my wife loves disney and while walking around would point out the hidden disney stuff to include the giant disney castle on the roof of a building. For me I wanted to see godzilla, not only did he take us there but he made sure it was when it was moving and roaring! All the food was amazing and the bar at the end was an absolute blast! We all sang to include Daniel karaoke ( it was the Tequila song) but it still counts his energy and personality made this one of the best tours. My only issue was that it was too short!!! I wish it was longer. If you are thinking about doing this tour DO IT and ask for Daniel, you will not regret it!

We booked a food tour with Arigato food tours and we had Alex as our tour guide. He has been living in Japan for 8 years and his perspective as a foreigner was greatly appreciated. He provided us with pictures and historical information of Japan as it relates to the food and the culture of food in Japan. We hope to visit again soon and we will definitely try and book with Alex the next time we come!

We had such a great time with our guide Alex exploring Japanese food scene and culture in colorful Shibuya! The trip started quite stressful as we could not find the meeting place. The coordinates given in the instructions were leading us to a wrong place. Although we had a photo of the meeting place, nobody of those we asked for directions knew where it is. After finding the spot, we were relieved to see that our guide was still waiting for us. Alex met us with a smile and understanding, saying he will notfy his organization about the issue. Alex was an amazing guide for us. He managed to catch interest of all of us including our teenager, who is sometimes hard to engage. Any questions we asked (and we can be quite nerdy) was answered with great details and stories. We could sense how much love and passion Alex had for Japan. We discovered traditions, understood reasons behind certain rituals and prejudice, we saw Shibuya as locals. We are foodies and took the tour at the end of our almost 3-weeks trip in Japan. We felt that some of the food we tried was not as good in comaprison to some of the the dishes we tasted along our journey. Izakaya was really nice, sushi place as well. While we definitely had better ramen and okonomiyaki. But our guide personality, generosity in sharing his knowledge and all the interesting stories totatlly made up for that. We would absolutely recommend the tour!

The tour began with a very warm welcome by Marie near the Kanji museum. We had a private walking tour with her . She took us around the heritage Gion district telling about the history of the life of Geishas and Maishas who inhabited these areas for years. A very bubbly and well informed girl, Marie has a great comfort with English so she explained everything with ease. We tasted some local food at quaint shops like an amazing chocolatier( Cacao ??) A small box of chocolates of our choice were also part of the tour. Then we walked across to another heritage area and finally reached the restaurant for the 10 course Kaiseki dinner. Marie was a great company- explaining the choice of sake available and the food that was being served. A very personalized experience curated by the Arigato tours,will recommend this tour most definitely to anyone interested in such a local experience in Kyoto.

A wonderful way to get the best out of Uji in half a day - a place famous for its teas and also for its association with Genji Monogatari. Our guide Sae instantly adapted to us (me a prior visitor to Japan, and a Genji fan, my sons more interested in the food and ice-cream, the Phoenix Pavilion), so the tour worked well for all of us. I thought I already had a good knowledge of Japan (and it was my second time in Uji), but I learnt many new things. Enjoyed an excellent lunch, and the visit to the tea producers (16 generations by appointment to the Shogun) was a delight. Sae was very knowledgeable, friendly and fun. Would heartily recommend to anyone visiting Kyoto.

Yu was an excellent guide with no shortage of facts and amusing stories. He showed is around a varied selection of eating spots without too much walking between.

Alex offered great information while being both personable and entertaining. Get ready to see Shinjuku through the eyes of a local, all while picking up important cultural norms that will be useful for the rest of your trip. Oh, do come hungry too because there is a A LOT of food.