We have just returned from a three week tour of Japan with Patrick Harnett and JCT! There aren't... read more
We have just returned from a three week tour of Japan with Patrick Harnett and JCT! There aren't... read more
My husband & I have just returned from a private tour -3 weeks with JCT "Remote Japan". We wanted a... read more
We have just returned from an incredible 17 day trip with Japan Custom Tours. In the initial planning of our itinerary we dealt predominantly with Patrick and Wendy who were excellent to deal with, always prompt in replying to emails and very patient with the endless questions we had.
We toured with Wendy and Koji who were absolutely fantastic. They took any stress of culture, language or using the train system away so we could totally relax and enjoy our holiday. I was so impressed with their attention to detail - Wendy gave us some travel items on arrival we did not realise were essential (shade umbrella, fan and flannel) and also willingly offered to do our laundry if needed. Koji is such an asset to the company. He took care of all the day to day details of getting from A to B; patiently answered our many questions as we embraced the amazing culture of his country and he genuinely worked above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that our experience was memorable – which it certainly was.
Travelling in July we had unexpected issues with flooding and an unprecedented heatwave. Patrick, Wendy and Koji worked tirelessly behind the scenes to provide fantastic alternatives where necessary, taking into account our preferences at all times.
At the end of our 17 days with Koji and Wendy, our experiences with JCT had changed us from tourists to travellers and I felt I was saying goodbye to friends. Japan Custom Tours (JCT) comes with my highest recommendations.
Dear Patrick: Thank you for an amazing five week trip. We loved travelling on the trains and saw things we wanted to see as well as many places that we did not know we wanted to see!
Your organization of the trip and knowledge of the trains was indispensable. The hotels exceeded our expectations and staying at the Ryokan was a special highlight. We tried and enjoyed many foods, eating always in local restaurants. Your ability to tailor the activities on a daily basis to suite us really added to the trip. For us, this holiday was a very enjoyable adventure that gave us an insight into unique Japan that we will never forget.
We highly recommend Japan custom tours.
Dorothy and Bill
Dorothy and Bill, it was a huge five weeks and while we had mapped out a schedule well in advance covering every day we still managed to add in extra things along the way. And, I would also say thank you for being great guests, being interested, trying different things and asking lots of questions. It meant you could get more out of the trip and see a lot more of Japan than the average tourist. Patrick
We travelled with Wendy and Koji from Japan Custom Tours in June 2018 for 16 days.
Koji as our prime daytime guide was the ultimate professional, nothing was ever too much trouble and if he couldn’t answer a question then he would rush off to find out the answer or have it for you the next day. His main concern is always his client’s wellbeing and enjoyment.
Wendy and Koji as a team were friendly, caring, experienced professionals and made our trip a one of a kind specialised experience.
One of us had an injured ankle and Wendy and Koji went above and beyond their duties to ensure that the programme was changed to cater for this without missing out on seeing the sights.
They made travelling the train system easy and gave us all the information we required to confidently continue our travels for a further 5 days in Tokyo.
We also enjoyed our nights out, trying all the different types of Japanese food and of course don’t try and outdo Wendy at Karaoke.
We would highly recommend Wendy and Koji to be your escorts and guides in Japan.
Thank you Rhonda and David
In May, we completed a fully escorted 17 day Spring Garden Tour with Japan Custom Tours (JCT). The tour, which we helped design, was based on a previous JCT tour with the addition of Japans top three gardens. Patrick, our tour guide, with his impressive knowledge of Japan and his detailed understanding of the rail network, very quickly worked out the logistics and made suggestions on how to travel around Japan, thus maximizing our time to be able to do the things we wanted.
Patrick’s planning was exemplary and it showed in many ways. Hotels were first class, centrally located, and included breakfast. His in-depth knowledge of Japan’s high speed rail network allowed us to get to the various attractions in a timely manner and with no downtime. We made some small last minute changes to our schedule and these were accommodated without issue. This made for a very relaxed holiday with nothing to do but drink in the sights and enjoy Patrick’s insights to the history of each of them. We would thoroughly recommend Japan Custom Tours to anyone wanting an absolutely fabulous taste of Japan.
Just returned from a 15-day tour around Japan & it greatly exceeded our expectations. I found Japan Custom Tours through TripAdvisor reviews, which were all 5-star; we definitely concur. Many tour agencies provide a rail pass but expect you to get from place to place on your own. We wanted a guided tour & this was just perfect.
From the beginning when I formed the itinerary with Patrick for our group of 4 (2 couples), all details were handled very professionally. Our actual guides were Koji and Wendy (that’s right-2 guides for 4 people!). They planned our excursions carefully so that we had maximum sightseeing opportunities, but also time to rest every day. They tried to include activities which would appeal to the husbands, who were tiring of the many shrines. They were able to get us 4 tickets to the Yayoi Kusama museum in Tokyo, & this is very difficult.
All travel was by train except for occasional taxis, & all of our seats were reserved ahead of time. Koji expertly navigated through all the stations & we never missed a train. Hotels were almost always just across the street from the train station & they were all excellent.
They had advised us to bring only carry-on luggage for ease in the trains & crowds. Incredibly, Wendy did our laundry 3 times during the tour, & she refused any payment!
They helped us non-adventurers enjoy different varieties of Japanese food.
And to top it all off we saw LOTS of cherry blossoms!
We had one day in Tokyo for a day trip to see MT. Fuji. I contacted Japan Custom Tour based on the TripAdvisor ratings and we were extremely lucky that Patrick was available for a day tour.
What a great day! Patrick met the 4 of us at our hotel and we were off to the train station for our adventure on a beautiful but cold day. He tailored the day to our personal needs (one of us cannot walk long distances).
We learned so much about the area and the sights. Patrick is amazing --- it's like visiting an old friend who shot you his country. We cannot say enough good things about his abilities, We would love to do a longer tour of Japan, if we can, some day in the future and would definitely choose Japan Custom Tours again.