Japan?

Although we had a good experience with our Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) African Safari in 2021, our OAT Viêt Nam trip in 2024 was much less so. From the inconsistent and incorrect information given by the OAT headquarters office in Boston, which caused us to overpay for required visas and bring far too much U.S. dollars on the trip, to the guide, who was unqualified and very underwhelming, that Asia trip means we aren’t planning on taking a third trip with OAT.

Following on with what Cyn said, the better question isn't what one has experienced with a tour company in general, but specifically, what the experience was with a tour company on a Japan tour.

Our experience is similar to Cyn's, in that our excellent and highly recommended tour of one country with Odysseys Unlimited was not even closely similar to a very disappointing tour with them of Egypt. Our tour of Japan surpassed all our expectatipns, but it was with a small Canadian company that doesnt sell to the US.

I’ve done six tours with OAT and really like them. No one is perfect, and I agree that their home office didn’t handle Vietnam visas ideally, but I think they’re very good. I haven’t done their Japan tour but it’s a popular one, no visas required, and you can read reviews online. I’ve also done two tours with Road Scholar, also good, but I think OAT gives a bit better value. Again, those weren’t Japan. Japan is very easy to do on one’s own. I’ve been there quite often, although not for some years, but my trips were either visiting friends who lived there or stopovers for a few days on business trips elsewhere in the region.

I can recommend the Odysseys Unlimited tour of Japan. Similar to RS tours but one step up.

Try Inside Japan. We didn’t take one of their tours, but they did help us plan an independent trip to Japan last year. We can highly recommend them.

I have used Inspiring Vacations. I had a good tour and it provided good value. I liked them so much that I have signed up for another Japan tour (different itinerary) in the future.

We enjoyed our Odysseys Unlimited "Insider's Japan" tour that we took in November 2025. The leaf color was fabulous everywhere we went!

We haven’t taken a tour with them yet but are looking hard at Adventures with Sarah. (Sarah Murdoch is a former long-time Rick Steves guide). I follow her on Substack. She does an annual call (like Zoom) where she gives an overview of all their itineraries for the upcoming season. They are a small boutique travel group with a similar approach to RS, except they also venture into exotic locations. Many of their itineraries are food focused.

I would look at Gate 1. They have several Japan tours with a couple being Discovery which are their small group tours, 22people or fewer. Nice hotels.