Japan Explorer - Melbourne, VIC

Bruce B.

I highly recommend Japan Explorer for your trip to Japan. Emi has the local knowledge and can improve on your ideas to craft a detailed itinerary that makes the journey both smooth and rewarding. Japan is an amazing experience but getting to the less travelled areas takes your trip to the next level. The Sumo tournament in Fukuoka along with the Yatsushiro and Chichibu festivals were true life experiences. Thank you, Emi, we will be back to organize northern Japan in the future.

peter A.

Emi at Japan Explorer organised everything for my family’s December holiday in Japan. She organised all the train and bus tickets, all the accommodation, half day cultural tours, Disneyland tickets. She also provided a detailed travel itinerary as well as full day itinerary suggestions. We visited Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirogawa, Takayama and Kyoto. It was fantastic. I can’t praise Emi enough. She did a fabulous job and it was great value.

Mary T.

My friends and I wanted to do a girls trip to Japan to celebrate our 40th birthdays, but didn't have the motivation to organise or book anything...Thanks to Emi at Japan Explorer she took care of everything for us leaving us free to enjoy the trip. The itinerary she designed for us was incredibly detailed and easy to follow. We went to Osaka, but then more unusually to the island of Shikoku, however this was not a problem for Emi. She even organised our hire care and train passes. We had a wonderful time and loved the places of interest and experiences suggested by Emi. If you are looking for something tailor made for you then look no further than Japan Explorer and save yourself the stress!

Julia D.

My friend and I just came back from our trip to Japan using Japan Explorer. We had help with planning and organising for our trip by Emi. In which she helped us with the itinerary after we went through other travel agents who where not competent or just didn't get back to our emails.

Emi was fantastic at not only with her communication with keeping us informed but also her awesome planning and organising to make the trip as enjoyable and stress free as possible. She helped us alot and we couldn't thank her enough!

If you are planning your next trip to Japan I highly recommend using Japan Explorer.

Once again thank you so much Emi for working your magic and making the trip a memorable one!

Sebastian C.

Our first trip to Japan was awesome thanks to Emi at Japan Explorer. Friendly and knowledgeable, we were given so many practical tips that made navigating the cities fun and easy. The advice on where to go/stay and what to see was first class. Thank you so much! Highly recommended!

Jeff E.

Having been back from Japan for nearly two weeks now, we needed to say how much we enjoyed this trip. We are not strangers to Japan, this being my 6th trip, and wife's 4th.
However, the itinerary arranged for us by Emi @ Japan Explorer was absolutely fantastic. Everything went smoothly and seamlessly, from the flights, to the trains, the accommodation ... everything.
Jane managed to get many very good opportunities to view and admire (and photograph!) the cherry blossoms, and we enjoyed exlporing the towns we stayed in on Kyushu. Yufuin, and particularly Yufu-no-Oyado Hotaru, was a wonderful surprise. When shown to our accommodation at Yufu-no-Oyado Hotaru, Jane was so speechless, all she could say was, "I LOVE Emi!!" We were both quite taken aback at just how incredible this ryokan is.
Our Nakasendo walk went without any problems. All the ryokan were great. Standouts (in no particulat order) were Onyado Daikichi at Tsumago - very pleasant hosts and comfortable rooms. Also Minshiku Kato at Narai. Again, a great host and comfortable rooms in a great location. Oyado Onn Nakatsugawa, appeared very new, and was amazing. Having said that, we could find no fault with any of our accommodation. Wherever we travelled by train, the hotels were right near railway stations ... very handy!
Emi’s detailed itinerary was spot-on. The sightseeing suggestions and directions were great too.
Shibu Onsen and Shinsenkan Matsuya didn't dissapoint either, even if we didn't quite get through all of the 9 onsen during our stay - but we tried.
We could go on and on, but the bottom line was that the whole holiday was wonderful, thanks to the advice, planning and attention to detail by Japan Explorer.

Leo C.

For our travel, my wife and I will usually organise it but being unfamiliar with Japan, we needed some help. The purpose of the trip was the Rugby World Cup but we wanted to do some touring in between the games. We choose Japan Explorer (even though we are not from Melbourne) and from the start we were impressed by their knowledge and also their flexibility in putting a holiday in around the rugby. We spoke through what we were after and received some excellent advice. Japan Explorer put together an itinerary that was well researched and very comprehensive. It had everything from activating the JR passes to guiding us to our hotels once we arrived in the different cities and suggestions for things to see each day. Japan Explorer also organised guides in the Iya Valley. I also found that the company provided what I thought was excellent value for money for our trip. This is a great example of how small business works really well to personalise your experience and we look forward to working with them again.

Ian P.

Highly recommend talking with Emi from Japan Explorer if you are planning a Japan trip. She is very helpful and knows Japan inside out and will put together an itinerary based on your interests. She also made sure we were OK and had some contingency plans in place during the recent Typhoon emergency.