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What I enjoyed about the Fall 2018 tour with Yosh was visiting places we have never been to before: Kanazawa, Toyama, Kurobe Gorge, Takayama, Nagoa, Hiroshima and Miyajima Island, and Himeji. It was so exciting because we rode the shinkansen so many times throughout this tour. Josh goes out of his way for all his guests and you learn to shop, eat and travel like a local. So many happy memories of this trip. He also plans the hotels very close to or in the train stations which makes it so easy. I would love to travel with Yosh again!…
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Date of experience: November 2018
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Yosh is a great tour guide - he tries to accommodate everyone on his tours. You will learn to travel Japan like a local. You can experience the culture, food, shopping, and travel (by train, subway and bus). This is not the usual tour. You have to walk quite a bit, but it is a wonderful experience. I also tasted a lot of sake and learned a lot about the various types of sake. Definitely gotta do it again.…
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Date of experience: April 2018
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Experiencing Japan with Maikai Ohana Tours was outstanding! We were immersed in the beautiful Japanese culture by visiting historical landmarks and traveling daily via public transportation on trains, buses, subways, and shin-kansen (bullet train), and of course, walking. We shopped at traditional street markets as well as large, modern shopping malls and department stores. Yosh, our tour guide, prepared a great tour itinerary, which you could take full advantage of, as we did, or you could join the group for some of the tours and also go on your own to do your own thing. Very flexible. Yosh freely shared with us his extensive knowledge of the best foods, drinks, and omiyage (gifts) of every region we visited. We stayed in large, bustling cities as well as in quieter, mountain regions. Our lodging ranged from very traditional to very modern; all excellent. Regarding access to the internet; all the hotels we stayed at provided free Wi-Fi access, which I thought would be sufficient. However, it was not very convenient when we were out and about, obviously. Therefore, the next time, I will rent a pocket Wi-Fi or activate an international plan. We had the best tour guide — Yosh, and the best group of people to tour Japan with. Our go-to Japan escorted tour company will always be Maikai Ohana Tours!…
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Date of experience: April 2018
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Just got back from the Spring Tour and it was Awesome! We got to see some beautiful sakura flowers, especially at Takayama which is at a higher elevation. The food is wonderful and very affordable. Some meals were provided, especially for breakfast, and the Japanese style breakfast buffet was yummy. Yosh knew many different places to eat (the foods which were known locally), and you got to choose what you appealed to you. (The Hida beef in Takayama was heavenly!) We used public transportation, trains, buses, shinkansen (bullet train), with a private bus for only one day. We got a chance to mingle with the local people this way and we have a good idea of how to get around the next time we return. Maikai Ohana tours is not your typical tour, you won't be herded into a tour bus with a guided speech with only a little time to race through different exhibits. We went to three local open markets, visited some of the major attractions and shrines in the cities we visited, and shopped at different areas. There was a mix of Japanese historic sites, different towns, and a chance to use an onsen (hot mineral water spring) in public or private so you get to try it out without worrying about having to "bare all" in public! We were given time to explore what interested us and rendezvous with the group at a certain time. If you decided that you wanted to explore something on your own, you had the ability to do so and meet back with the group later at the hotel. This allowed people who had already been to Japan and seen some of the attractions a chance to see something else, or go off on their own, and those of us who were newbies hung out with Yosh and were guided around. Our group was alot of fun, we did alot of laughing, definitely alot of eating, but with the walking, you actually exercise off as much as you eat! We had lots of time to shop.... (the Daiso or dollar store is fun!).... if you let Yosh know ahead of time what Japanese items you are specially looking for, he has great suggestions on where to get them. The sake tasting was great, and I picked up a few bottles at great prices. Japan is definitely a walking place. (Suggestion: if you are older, you might want to bring a cane to give you more stability when you are walking, and bring the foldable cane seat so you have someplace to rest on while waiting in line for various things.... ie...tickets, shopping, tourist sites, or just to take a breather.) It's definitely do-able, there are elevators and escalators, but there were stairs down in some places with only escalators going up. We are already planning our next trip and we will definitely schedule a return with Yosh! Thanks Yosh....can't wait to do it again!…
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Date of experience: April 2018
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This was our third trip with Maikai Ohana Tours and Yosh, and if it's possible it just keeps getting better. We had a great time traveling, touring and eating our way from Tokyo, to the Japanese Alps, to the Sea of Japan, then down south to Osaka and Hiroshima. The fall colors and attractions were fantastic and Yosh was always ready to point out the best local sights and treats in each area. We also traveled with some wonderful fun people and it was always a great time. Traveling and eating as the locals do might be different for those accustomed to being bused as tourists in and out of attractions and having pre-ordered meals. However, in my opinion its the only way to truly appreciate the Japanese culture and way of life. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were even talking about and planning our next trip with Maikai Ohana before we got back home. Thanks again to Yosh and all of our terrific tour mates for making this trip an especially memorable one. Eric and Natalie…
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Date of experience: November 2017
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