Deluxe Private Journeys

We had 3 incredible tour guides; Kayo, Ken and Barbara. We appreciated their flexibility to see the sites that were most important to us, and in one instance we had to forego seeing one of the planned attractions in order to go to the Arashiyama Monkey Park and Nishiki Market in Kyoto that weren't originally on our itinerary, but my son wanted to see and experience. Barbara had an Ipad with a powerpoint presentation for every attraction we visited as well as many interesting facts regarding Japan's history and really helped elevate our experience. Ken navigated us all over Tokyo and we got in over 20,000 steps with him and were able to even squeeze in some souvenir shopping at the official Dodger's Tokyo Series store in Shibuya. He clearly instructed us in the rituals at the Meiji Shrine and we learned a lot from him as well.

Dear AJT, I recently took a 30-day vacation, 2 weeks in the Philippines, a week in Japan and a week in Hawaii. All were beautiful places but what stood out to me was the Japan trip. Not just because of the History, cleanliness, or the sheer beauty of the land and architecture, it was because of my tour guides. Yoshiko Lund was my tour guide for Tokyo and Ken Hayashi was my tour guide for Kyoto and let me tell you how impressed I was with their knowledge and accommodations. Both were very informative and taught me a lot about their culture. Their recommendations were so good, from the places to eat, certain places that we had time to fit in our schedule, to the meanings of designs of the Japanese culture. It made a big impact on me on how I see the rest of the world. The respect factor has been so high that I find myself still bowing to people. Yoshiko made a great impression on with my wife and she showed her some local spices to cook with which I have enjoyed immensely, to see both girls smiling and talking made me happy to see their connections, maybe they had a common sense of fashion too because both girls happened to wear the same make and style of shirts that day. So many smiles with her. On the Kyoto part of the trip, Ken Hayashi had very professional vibe about him and the fact that he was younger than us was impressive., He still was very accommodating to both or needs and requests. Besides all the places we requested, I asked him to play some music that he likes, because I love all types of music, which he was hesitant at first but then as the music played, he became very comfortable which made me comfortable too. He has great taste in music. I had some extra requests that he handled very well, I wanted to play Pachinko and ride a Rickshaw which he made that happen. Overall, both were very professional, kind, understanding and informative. We had a trip that will be talked and reflected on for the rest of our lives. I'm also happy to be friends them on my social pages, to remind me of their happy and kind souls! The next time I go back, I will definitely request for their assistance. Thank you for one of the most memorable trips I have ever taken!!! AGAIN, special thanks to Yoshiko Lund and Ken Hayashi!!!

Awesome guides, organization, jam packed with experiences, sites, history, comforts, great food, assistance (and especially the assistance getting our son to a hospital for his foot/ankle sprain), and conveniences…we are already thinking ahead to the next tour.

Overall, very pleased with both the itinerary and service during the trip. Guides and drivers were always on time, polite and provided good information (especially Billy). As we were not very familiar with Japan, we appreciated your suggestions for what to visit. We loved visiting the temples and shrines, especially as the foliage was simply fantastic. Ken was very helpful helping us navigate the train system, particularly coordinating with the station master & wheelchair ramp. We could not have done it ourselves. Disabled Travel: - Would advise against the Courtyard Tokyo Station for travelers with disabilities - the barrier free room was WAY too small (I understand that was our accommodation, I just wanted to point this out so that other people can be aware in the future). - The hotel selected in Kyoto was lovely, the accessible room was wonderful! - We were very grateful to AJT for arranging a Doctor’s visit in Kyoto on super short notice, as that was something we had not anticipated and we could not have navigated it without AJT and Billy helping us along the way. - We were disappointed that we didn’t realize until the night before we left Japan that there was a Tokyo visitors bureau by our hotel in Tokyo, which had all sorts of useful information for visitors with disabilities. Gave Ken a copy of the Accessible Restaurants brochure, would strongly encourage AJT to research what this bureau has to offer As expected, many places have steps which make it hard to travel with a power wheelchair; plus many restaurants are small and could not accommodate our party. Having reservations for lunch and dinner were very helpful. For our trip, a simple lunch was just fine. For instance, we found a nice restaurant in the building with the tea ceremony (simple and quick). On the flip side, even though there ARE lots of restaurants at the train station, the restaurants IN the station were usually not able to accommodate us (they were too full when we were looking) - it is better to point guests needing space to the many restaurants nearby. The van with the lift worked perfectly. It was big, but with 6 guests it really wasn't too big. It was really helpful to be able to take some of the seats out so that our party member in a wheelchair could sit further forward in the van. Loved having wi-fi on the van.

The tour was amazing! Everything from the food to the ease of public transportation to the hotels that were picked. The guides were also both very kind and knowledgeable. They helped to answer any questions we had. Definitely lots of walking, so be prepared. The cool, fall weather made that part easy though! 10/10