Guest’ Comments

“Amazing tour with Ichi! Our BEST memory of Japan”

Wow – if I can rate Ichi 1-10, he would be 11. Our family; my wife and two teenage girls had so much fun learning about Japan and visiting so many sites with Ichi. He first met us at our hotel in Kyoto exactly on time, with a huge smile and promptly taught the girls how to count in Japanese. He then sat with us to discuss our plans for the day and made sure that we included all the “last minute” sites we had thought about on our plane ride over from New York. What makes Ichi such an excellent guide is that his great awareness of his clients’ interests and knows when to spend more or less time at a site, when to take a break, and how to keep everyone engaged throughout the day – not a small task when travelling with teenagers. As proof, my daughters didn’t look at their iPhones one time during the day! I could rave about Ichi for many pages, but what you need to know is that he is simply the best guide we have had in over 10 years of international travel! I guarantee that if you sign up with Ichi, you will have a fun, full, and fantastic day – simply a great experience and many memories to take home that will last a lifetime.

United States

We spent 4 days in Japan and visited Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima and Miyajima. Our tour guide Ichi was amazing and exceptional. His warm personality, flexibility, excellent knowledge of culture and history of these cities made our trip truly memorable and enlightening. Overall, our tour was super great. We would highly recommend Ichi to anyone visiting Osaka and the neighboring cities. He is a fantastic guide & definitely the highest of our tour.

Philippines

“More of a friend than a guide – 10 stars”

We have just returned from a 12 day trip to Japan. This was our first trip to Japan, so I hired 4 different guides in 4 different cities. Ichi was by far the best guide our entire trip. By the time we got to him in Osaka, we had done 2 tours and exhausted. It seems Japanese culture is very structured and keeping to the structure and on time is a priority. While I can appreciate that, it is also a vacation so it must be enjoyable and allow for some flexibility. Ichi first recommended the hotel we stayed in which was a big help. When he met us there, he was so friendly and enthusiastic. He took us to Nara and Osaka. He always took our needs into consideration, even taking us to a bookstore and helping our daughter find the Anime she had been looking for. He made the train rides interesting by teaching us how to fold an origami crane and how to speak Japanese as well as writing our names in Japanese. He made me feel like we were hanging out with a friend who was showing us around (I did not get this feeling from any of the other guides). His joy is infectious, and I would definitely recommend him as there is not a better guide.

United States

I am so happy I had Toichi as my tour guide. As a person in the wheelchair I had much worry and concerns, especially about the accessibility access. Toichi did extraordinary work to prepare before I came. Knowing where the elevators were in the stations, asking a lot of questions, and he was willing to help to push my wheelchair all around, and so on. He is funny and very energetic. I recommend him as your tour guide. Thank you Toichi!

Indonesia

We recently visited Kobe in Sept as one of the ports we visited on a cruise of Japan we were only in the port Kobe one day so to maximize our time we hired Toichi as our private guide to maximize our time to see the high points of Kobe which turned out to be a great investment , Toichi is a warm and generous person interesting well informed knowledgeable of Japan history Toichi will adapt the excursion depending on your time and what you want to see it was an easy and enjoyable day I highly recommend Toichi as a personal guide he is a funny person that is really easy to get along with.

Canada

Ichi was a joy to have as a guide. He was super organized and friendly, and an excellent communicator in English. We had told him about our interest in seeing a Bunraku Puppet performance at the National Bunraku Theater and I had bought tickets online ahead of time for us and him to attend a performance. In messages back and forth, he helped us figure out the train schedule and logistics of train stations to make sure we arrived in time at our hotel to meet him and get to the performance on time. Ichi was very organized about the schedule and set of neighborhoods, fish market, shopping areas and historic sites that we could see during the day. At the same time, he was flexible about adjusting the schedule when needed, and catering to our interests. When we let him know of our interest in crafts and ceramic ware and my husband and I became immersed in looking at ceramic ware at one shop, Ichi did a great job of keeping our teenage son interested in other things rather than impatiently waiting for us. He taught him how to play a wonderful local game with a wooden toy and taught him to fold a crane with origami paper. He also taught our son how to write his name in Japanese. We went through a number of interesting neighborhoods that he told us the history of, and he told us interesting stories about other events and places in Osaka. We were especially interested in history and politics and we enjoyed learning about Japanese history and culture from his insights. Finally, Ichi went to great lengths to help us understand transit routes on the train and helped us get our tickets for our next day’s trip to Koyasan; his explanation of the transit options for the subsequent day proved invaluable in helping us make the early train to start that trip. Ichi is friendly, has a great sense of humor and keen insights, and a can-do, upbeat, pragmatic attitude. We would be glad to work with him again when/if we visit Japan in the future.

USA

Toichi was very easy to deal with over the e-mail as he planned our walk. I suggested what we would like to see and Toichi used this as the basis of his suggested walk, as well as suggesting his own ideas taking in to account the number of hours available and our age (we are both 74). As we came out of immigration he was waiting for us – the very entertaining day had started.. Nothing was too much trouble and he even showed my wife where a particular shop was located and helped her as she bought certain items. We visited cherry blossom near the mint, the castle, Dotonbori area and had lunch in a non- tourist Japanese restaurant, couldn’t have asked for more. He then escorted us back to our cruise ship and waited until we boarded. I highly recommend

Australia

Toichi is witty, humorous, energetic, excited guide.He is an encyclopaedia on Japan and has exceptional story telling skills. His jokes are real funny. He knows Kyoto like back of his hand and knows nice nooks and corners which are not touristy. He is exceptional. He had kept all background info at the hotel before our arrival. He already had a word with the bus driver and worked out the plan. I cannot imagine Kyoto without Toichi. I wish we had more time with him. We were extended family of 9 persons and by the end of second day, he had become the 10th member.

India

One word describes Ichi. Excellent. As we were stopping off at Himeji on our way to Kyoto, I thought it would be good to book a guide to get us to the Castle and back in quickest time and with minimum fuss, but what we got from Ichi was 100 times more than that. He was waiting on us right at the door of our train, helped us find lockers for our suitcases. We got a lesson in how to count in Japanese, he gave us the history of the Castle along with a history lesson of Japan. We got an origami lesson to make a paper crane. We also managed to visit the Gardens next door. He was informative, funny, friendly and we just had the best experience. He actually had a bad cold, but that did not hold him back in way. We bought some food eat to on the train and Ichi ran off, came back and surprised us by buying us a dessert for our lunch as a gift. If you get the chance book this “guy” (he will understand why “guy”,1 he will not disappoint you.

UK

Ichi was an amazing guide. He really went above and beyond for our family of 8, including my elderly father. We truly enjoyed our time with Ichi. His English is excellent and his guidance through Kyoto and Monkey Park/Bamboo Forest was great. We threw him a lot of curve balls with schedule and sites to visit, but he was so accommodating and kind about it all. We had kids traveling with us ranging from aged 12-15 and he was fun and kind communicating with them (even showing some Japanese writing while the parents shopped a bit). I would highly recommend Ichi – he’s personable, kind and welcoming.

USA

On my first visit to Osaka, my guide Toichi provided excellent insight as well as knowledge only savvy locals would know. He gave me historical background information that made the city come alive. He took me to tiny alleyways with excellent restaurants and we also visited a water god shrine that was not in my guide book! He also explained in a very interesting manner about the various customs and cultural aspects of both traditional and contemporary Osaka. He is incredibly knowledgeable and speaks excellent British English. I would definitely ask him to be my guide again! Thank you, Toichi!

Korea

Toichi picked us up in our Namba hotel at 10 am & took a train ride to Kyoto. I’m really glad we hired him because unlike our 1st trip to Kyoto 2015, we kind of wandered around the city on our own & didn’t see much. Aside from his surprisingly great english skills being western educated, knowledge of Japan’s history, both friendly & accomodating; with Toichi, we got to see the major attractions like the Inari Shrine, Hojo Rock Garden, Isuien Garden, experienced a traditional Kyoto lunch, saw the ongoing Yayaoi Kusama art exhibit, Gion-geisha town, Imperial Palace and at 4 pm headed off to Bamboo Grove in Arashimaya. Toichi made sure to include my preference for landscapes & art. The cab rides in between sites in Kyoto allowed us to cover much. We headed back to Namba by train at 6pm with a more concrete understanding of Kyoto’s importance in Japan’s history, aside of course from all the quaint & beautiful visuals unique to Kyoto.

Philippines

we had a fantastic day with Itchy ( number 1 ) he picked us up at the port in Kobe and took us on a great sight seeing and tasting experience and taught us to count in japanese with the help of a great story. we got on so well and found out that he used to make short films very close to where we are from in the UK also teaching us to write our own names in japanese was a great touch ( he had a lot of prepared things to do ) which made the whole day fun and memorable would highly recommend Itchy Thank you very much Martin & Jane and Neal & Rhonda

UK

Toichi made our first trip to Osaka a very memorable and special one. He went out of the way to ensure we got to see the sights the best way possible and peppered the journey with elements of Japanese culture and history. He was also very thoughtful trying to look out for lifts and escalators when my knee started giving problems. He customised everything from the route, sights right up to the lunch to meet our needs and was upbeat and full of energy throughout. We are grateful to have picked Toichi as our Guide and recommend him highly.

Singapore

He is a very nice person and he speaks English fluently and you can understand every word. His companion is very friendly and you feel with him like you feel with your own friends. He knows how to reach to all the important points of interest without making any mistakes and he has a comprehensive knowledge about every point of interest. If he is available, don’t hesitate and book immediately. Highly recommended!!!!

Israel

I am a travel agent who was asked by my clients to get them a private guide for Kyoto. I had no personal knowledge of Kyoto guides and my usual destination guides were horribly expensive and perhaps not great either! I read Toichi’s “profile” and decided he sounded like a good choice. What a treasure! I’ve heard from my clients at the end of their first day with him and they said he was great! The second day was also terrific. From my end, I liked him because he responded to anything I asked him (or told him about) almost instantly and always with what I could tell was good advice. From his written notes, he sounded as though he had a nice sense of humor and knowledge of the Kyoto area.

USA

I booked tours with Toichi for 5 days while I was staying in Osaka and was so happy I hired him as my guide. He’s very conversational in English, so communicating with him was always easy. His service was beyond exceptional and he went out of his way to meet any of my needs. He’s funny and full of energy and really adds to your experience of Japan. Don’t over-look Osaka when you’re selecting cities in Japan to tour. His home city is full of wonderful sites and he really loves guiding people around town.

USA

Toichi was an excellent guide and I really enjoyed the tour. He went above and beyond by making sure we got tickets to the National Bunraku Theatre which I’ve always wanted to see. The places we visited were interesting and fun which is exactly what I needed. He knows a lot about Osaka and made me feel very welcome. I can’t recommend him enough!

Australia

My family travelled through Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, with guides at every city. We were so lucky to meet Ichi-San on our last day. He studied in the US and UK so his English is very good- and also is a licensed guide who really is very knowledgeable about the city. Many of our other guides had a more limited level of knowledge- not sure if that is because there was a language barrier or they did not know the answers to our question, but Ichi had a deep knowledge of the culture and traditions of the region while keeping a modern and funny perspective of things. He pointed out all the typical touristy sights but also took us of the beaten path and showed us a glimpse of spots that locals enjoy. He has a very funny, dry sense of humor that made the city come alive in his descriptions. Between spots taught us Japanese, helped us to pick out interesting souvenirs, and even took us to a pharmacy to help us purchase cold medicine fot someone sick in our party. We all had a great time and wished that we had seen Kyoto with him. (I believe he guides through Kyoro, Nara, and Osaka). You will not be disappointed!! He really is good!

USA

Toichi was a very accommodating tour guide. We wanted a personalized and relaxed tour, and he made sure we were able to achieve that. Although it was raining hard when we went out with him, he was still able to make the day extremely enjoyable. From planning the tour, to the end of the tour, Toichi was such a gentleman. Highly recommended!

Philippines

Toichi went above and beyond. He contacted me several times leading up to the days we spent with him. I have a food allergy. He went out to restaurants ahead of time to locate businesses that could accommodate my special needs. He even sent me pictures of some of the dishes offered. We had a change of heart on our first day, and decided to go to an entirely different part of Kyoto. He was totally supportive of our change of heart and we had a great day. He taught us Japanese words, gave us historical background, taught us about everyday life in Japan, and generally gave 100 percent to us during the time we were together. He offered information to us also about cities he knew we’d be visiting in the future. I highly recommend Toichi!

USA

Toichi is very professional, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and he takes great pride in his work. He was very flexible and quickly adapted our tour to various options he presented to us. Toichi is articulate and very easy to understand! He is well prepared and provided valuable information before, during and even after our tours were complete.There is no way that we could have possibly seen or learned so much, in such a short time, without him. We thoroughly enjoyed our two days together. We would highly reccommend him for a tour guide. Don’t miss out, hire this man quickly!

Canada