It was fantastic to have everything sorted so we didn’t have to stress, and the mobile wifi router was absolutely indispensable, so thanks for that! And the information pack was really thorough and well thought out – covering pretty much every question that occurred to us.

Thanks for everything!

Having all the bullet train tickets booked in advance, knowing that a private transfer to the hotel in Hakone would be what our slightly jet-lagged children (and us) would need for day three, picking hotels that were in the perfect locations, I could go on. And providing such detailed trip notes so we knew exactly what each day entailed as well as the city guides with lots of useful notes about what to see and do. We loved our days with our guides, especially on the first day in Tokyo when having someone else essentially take charge of the day meant we could ease ourselves into the trip. The food tour in Osaka was also a particular highlight – in fact the food in general everywhere we went was fantastic, especially the hotel breakfasts which the kids were big fans of!

Highlights were Hakone – the hotel was just so lovely with an amazing view. And the buffet dinner was out of this world! It’s also a highlight as we got to see Mt Fuji clearly in the few hours the clouds cleared and felt very lucky to have done so.

We also all loved the trek along the Nakasenda Way – such a contrast to the busy cities we visited and a glimpse of a different Japan. Kyoto felt rather hectic as there was just so much to try and see and do in a short space of time, and some places could get very crowded. But our guide took us to the Nanzen-ji Temple which was magical – the vast wooden buildings and the beautiful Japanese gardens up in the hills with hardly anyone there. It will stand out in our memories for a long time. 

The team on the ground was great too – letting us know when our bullet train was delayed and keeping us up to date with that, and then changing our hotel bookings halfway through when I realised having all four of us in a room was too much (for me anyway!). The hotel in Tokyo was in a great location. Great for shopping and getting to the metro (we even walked to Tokyo station with our bags when we checked out).

I’ve already recommended you guys to a few others and we’ll definitely use you again for our next big trip. Big thanks to Jess for all her help in getting everything organised. 

Huge thanks also to you and Liddy for all your support with our booking and for making everything run so smoothly. This is the second trip we’ve booked via Stubborn Mule and your insightful country knowledge and attentive, high-quality customer service means that we’re very likely to be back again in future. For busy people who love to travel well, this is such a winning combination 🙂

… taking in the Peace Museum in Hiroshima with groups of Japanese school children, Miyajima and its friendly deer and the Osaka aquarium. The airport taxis were so comfortable with kind drivers. The bullet trains were exceptional, the girls loved collecting the stamps, the kindness and hospitality of the people, the ramen and sushi…We loved it all!

We would go back in a heartbeat (even though the return journey approx. 27 hours door-to-door was quite exhausting!)

Many thanks to you both.

Your ground agents were fantastic and called me about the first typhoon even before we heard the news. We left Tokyo as the city was getting soaked by the tail end of the most recent typhoon. They also helped me book a lovely teppanyaki restaurant for our last night and a spa to use before dinner.

The only bit we didn’t really enjoy was the excursion in Hakone over the mountain to the lake – we had to queue for ages at each of the chairlift points and when we eventually got to the lake, the only option was to go on a pirate-themed cruise ship for which there was another queue. However, we really enjoyed all of the art museums and gardens in Hakone, in particular the Hakone Open Air Museum which was stunning and maybe something you should flag to other customers – great for young kids, reluctant teenagers and adults.

Team Labs Planets in Tokyo was brilliant and we also visited their Borderless exhibition in Tokyo. There is one in Osaka which we didn’t have time for.

Hotels all good but we absolutely loved the house in Kyoto. It was good staying in two different locations in Tokyo so that we could explore different areas.

Many thanks.

We had three guides – Shinjin, Ted and Tom, who were excellent and really helped us to gain an in-depth understanding of the particular area. Tom (who took us on a hike) also helped with repairs for my shoe which collapsed in the heat.

I would, without hesitation, recommend this trip. We were surprised how easy it was for us to navigate subways, busses, ferries and trains. Google translate is your friend. The Japanese are incredibly kind and willing to help. It was a privilege to visit this wonderful country.

My boys loved the Kyoto hotel breakfast (matcha ice cream and the cat robot). They both loved the Ghibli Museum, I think for anyone with a family it’s a must-see.

We were recommended a cat cafe in Tokyo. I know they exist here, but we have a cat, so we have never been to one. It was a great way to unwind after walking so much, and my youngest kept begging me to do another one, so we did one in Kyoto also.

Special shout out to the tour guide who took us on the Nakasendo trail, she was amazing, she had a wealth of knowledge and she explained so much to us about Japanese culture and history, and she even played “I Spy” with us.

Again thank you very much, it was a great trip, and we had a wonderful time.

The tour guides in Tokyo and Kyoto were particularly good; friendly, knowledgeable & really bent over backwards to help us get the most out of our visit. Mikki spent a few hours on our second day in Tokyo getting our train trips organised and it really got us prepared and confident to stick to the itinerary.

Top of the list of things we did were: TeamLabs Planets & Tokyo Skytree. We also found a pop-up Studio Ghibli exhibition which was really interesting for the boys. Surprisingly, we all enjoyed the Nakasendo trail in the rain. It’s such a beautiful route. Although a lot of the lower section of the trail towards Tsumago was closed due to landslips and we had to walk on the road for about a mile – which wasn’t great.

My favourite place was Kyoto – we had a wonderful guide for a day and really enjoyed the mix of temples and restaurants. We found an amazing basement place run by a husband/wife team that seated about 10 people and offered an incredible tasting menu which they cooked in front of you.  We didn’t go to Nara as we were enjoying Kyoto so much.  

We also left Hiroshima early on Sunday morning to give us more time in Osaka. Hiroshima was understandably quite heavy going and we were keen to end our last day in Osaka on more of a high. We did get to the Memorial Museum in Hiroshima and it was harrowing, to say the least. It would definitely be worth warning families with young children that its a very graphic/disturbing experience – although the city is worth visiting and has a vibrant food scene.

We loved the supporting documentation you provided – particularly the ‘Best of Japan’ overview which became our hand bible for the trip! 

We felt safe, well-fed, culturally enriched throughout our whole trip. Thanks for your superb organisation & we all can’t wait to return to Japan!

We loved team borderless and the sky tree. Girls were v pleased to go to Studio Ghibli (altho I was a bit underwhelmed tbh).

I think we were a bit unprepared for the weather ie v.v hot and humid esp for sightseeing. So taking a few breaks to cool down was essential especially in Kyoto. Our guide here was lovely, but keen to stick to a schedule. I think she felt she might let us down if she didn’t do everything on her mental list. In the end we asked for more breaks and it was all fine. Highlight was Nijo Castle. She recommended we go to the Inari shrine on our way back from Nara which was a great suggestion.

The Takayama leg was amazing. The ryokan, the food, bike ride through Furakawa and the lovely guide there were all spot on. Just one thought. Is it possible to have just had dinner on 1 night at the ryokan? There were so many places to try in Takayama was a shame we didn’t have a chance.

Hiroshima was emotional and we happened to be there on the 74th anniversary of the A bomb so saw the river flowing with lamps that evening and thousands of people lining the river banks. The day in Miyajima was slightly disappointing as the scaffolding was all over the gate (which we knew of course) but the weather forecast had closed the cable car too. There was a typhoon expected but it didn’t come. I did try to persuade D to swap Miyajima for the castle on the way to Osaka (as suggested by a friend) but in the end we stuck with our itinerary and enjoyed the deep-fried cakes in Miyajima!

Finally the hotel in Osaka was amazing just for the views and the food tour was brilliant. We had 2 guides. A young Japanese guy and a middle-aged Welsh punk rock star! They were both fantastic and gave us a real insight to Shinsekai. In hindsight wish we’d had 2 nights in Osaka but not sure what we would have ditched.

All in all a very memorable trip. We loved it. The hot-spot was a lifeline altho the downside was the greater temptation with teens to be on the phone!!! Swings and roundabout…

Really appreciate all your great advice. Have passed on Stubborn Mule to a friend planning to go to Japan next year!

The trains are great and super easy to use – especially if you are used to London tubes.  It seems a bit intimidating but once you get to grips with it they are very straightforward and there are often English speaking information desks or helpers at some of the larger stations.

The main thing I would have changed/added was on arrival in Tokyo – arriving in Japan at 10.00am neither of us having slept on the plane we got to our hotel exhausted.  We were told that we couldn’t check in until 3.00pm.  Not ideal with kids. We went off and managed to do a few things around the city but were completely ready for meltdown at any moment.  For next time I think an early check in is required, even at an extra cost.

Everything in Japan ran like clockwork, as you would expect there.  All transfers and tours were super reliable.

We were disappointed that we couldn’t go to the Studio Ghibli Museum. Apparently it gets very booked up and we should have done this months in advance. It was in one of our information packs early on saying this was an option, so future travellers may need to be warned of this.

The snow monkey day was amazing and hugely recommended.  We were told by our guide that due to the summer weather we may not see any monkeys but they were everywhere and this is a great thing for families and children to do.  Such beautiful countryside as well.

The day tour of Tokyo was ideal as we saw so much in one day.

The Mori Digital Art Museum was astonishing.  Never seen anything like it.  Hard to explain but everyone would love it.  It felt like a luxury being collected and taken there in a car having dealt with public transport up until then.  Especially as the driver had white gloves and offered us water :). When we arrived at the museum there was hardly anyone there and then it got packed later in the day (as it was the Japanese school holidays) so worth noting that its best to go here as early in the day as possible.  Some of the digital rooms are far for effective and awe-inspiring if there are not many other people while you are viewing.

The dinner with the Maiko (Geisha) was amazing and there were Japanese craft shops there for us to look around first.  She did a show for us while we had dinner and then chatted to us for ages answering questions and playing games. Such an unforgettable experience.  The Maiko was so lovely and beautiful.

Future travellers might be interested to know that there are shops at most of the places on the itinerary so for example at temples and the Geisha dinner and at Miyajima there is plenty to buy so not much time is needed for extra shopping in Japan.

The notes said we had a day tour of Kyoto, but then said we had the afternoon free.  So we were kind of expecting a half-day tour.  The full day would have been fine in cooler weather but it was sooooo hot that in fact we gave up half way through.  The tour was lovely but after going around the Kyoto Imperial Palace at midday in the full heat we couldn’t do any more and excused ourselves. Would be fine for anyone at other times of year.

Hiroshima was very interesting and we learnt a lot.  The museum is very interesting but quite graphic and might not be suitable for younger children… Fine for us though and important to see the horrors.

Nara was one of my favourite.  The temple there was amazing and the deer so cute.

Loved Naoshima too.  Great for older children, especially if it had been cooler weather.  Quite hard to get to but worth recommended if people like art.

In Kyoto when we checked out of our hotel we had to pay tax.  It wasn’t a big deal as it was a small amount.  When I questioned this I was told that it is only something that Kyoto do (not the rest of the country) and is some sort of tourist tax.  Again you might want to warn your customers of this.

All in all we had an amazing life changing trip.  Loved everything and my son is already talking about going back again.

We loved Takayama and it was a great respite from the crazy cities; we hadn’t realised quite how mad Tokyo would be, so it was lovely to get to somewhere a bit quieter.

Hiroshima was just as thought-provoking / distressing / amazing as you had warned us. We are really glad that we took the children but they were quite shell-shocked to realise the extent of the disaster. But it was well worth visiting.

And Kyoto was amazing! I could have stayed for weeks here but the children probably thought that we had long enough. They had got a little temple / palaced out by the end of it, but J and I loved every minute. The kids loved seeing the geishas though.

All in all an amazing trip, thank you.