Unseen Japan. Seen.
Skip the crowds. See the Japan most tourists miss.
Unseen Japan Tours plans authentic, expert-guided trips for travelers who want more than the standard tourist circuit: custom itineraries, private day tours, regional excursions, and the kind of access non-Japanese speakers normally can't get on their own.
Plan your tour today →As featured on The World by PRX
For almost a decade, outlets like Fortune, NPR, and Time have cited UJ's in-depth coverage of a changing and evolving Japan. We build on that same deep knowledge to introduce our tour clients to a side of the country they've never seen. Our custom tours, led by our Japanese-fluent writing staff, are built around your interests and designed to get you far away from the madding crowd.
Walk Japan's cities and towns with a fluent Japanese-speaking guide. From authentic tea ceremony in Kagurazaka to contemporary crafts in Kanazawa, skip the standard Golden Route and see neighborhoods, temples, and food spots most visitors miss.
A full trip planned around what you actually want to see: culture, food, nature, history, religion, nightlife. Enjoy beautiful natural shrines and nature hikes in Yamanashi, Kyoto's off-track craft beer scene, or a sake brewery in Niigata Prefecture. We can guide you in person or hand you a self-paced plan.
Relaxing onsens in Nagano, impressive shrines in Shimane, and regional cuisine like Izumo soba. We plan day trips from the major cities and longer excursions into Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kyushu, and rural prefectures.
Sake, anime history, geisha culture, Edo-period sites, the wild nightlife scene in Tokyo's Kabukicho, religion, the music scene in Shimokitazawa. Tell us your interest, we'll build the trip.
With Unseen Japan Tours, you're in charge. Every itinerary is handcrafted around your interests, pace, and budget. You experience the Japan you came for, not the one a packaged tour company decided to sell you.
A few of the writers and guides who personally lead trips and build itineraries. This isn't the full roster - we work with a wider network across Japan to match guides to your itinerary and interests.
Tours Manager. BA in East Asian Languages, Master's in Global Studies, with seven years (and counting) in Japan. Noah leads our tours, manages our YouTube, and writes deep-dive features on culture, history, and politics. He provides a depth to his tours that most tour guides can't match.
Japanese-American from Detroit, Michigan, now based out of Osaka. A certified miko shrine maiden, kimono teacher, and sole proprietor of her own kimono business, she focuses on Nikkei issues and traditional Japanese culture.
Founder. A software engineer turned journalist and tour guide. Jay founded Unseen Japan to cover the parts of Japan that English-language media tends to miss.
From first contact to the moment we meet you at the airport, here's how a trip with us comes together.
Let us know when you're coming and what you want to get out of your trip.
We hop on a call to brainstorm and review all possible options.
You review your itinerary. Tell us what works and what doesn't and we make the changes. We'll also help you make adjustments before arrival as your plans shift.
Once approved, we book your accommodations and experiences for you. You come to Japan and your adventure begins. We can even meet you at the airport if needed.
Being on a day tour with Unseen Japan is nothing like a typical tour. You'll be brought into secluded places that the locals frequent but the tourists miss. Plus, you'll get tons of new knowledge from the tour guide about Japan that you probably can't find by browsing.
I highly recommend Unseen Japan for anyone planning a trip to Japan, especially those who are intellectually curious and who want a deeper dive into the history, culture and religions of Japan.
My time with Unseen Japan Tours was incredible! It was really amazing to have knowledgeable, first-hand recommendations for my trip. I would gladly employ their services again!
Planning a trip to Japan, we didn't want to be locked into a tour group. Noah put together an itinerary that we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo he guided us personally on a walking tour and was incredibly informative on all aspects of culture, history, and food.
Rin went above and beyond for our family and helped accommodate every single thing we could possibly want. She helped us have the most memorable, fun trip we could ever imagine! You have a gem on your hands!!
Whenever curiosity struck one of us with a random question or topic to discuss, whether it be regarding Japanese culture, politics, or history — Noah knew the answer. I was impressed with our experience and would wholeheartedly recommend Unseen Japan Tours to others!
My wife Sharon and I recently completed a 9 day tour with Noah Oskow. We had an absolutely phenomenal time and saw many aspects of this fascinating country thanks to Noah and Unseen Japan. We highly recommend them!
Unseen Japan had the best experience and the best price — and I was right! They were so helpful when it came to the planning stages, and Noah was a phenomenal tour guide — highly knowledgeable and personable. It felt like having a friend show you around.
We got more knowledge from one day with you in Tokyo than the rest of our time in Tokyo combined. Our only regret from our trip was not booking you to show us around for more days. It was like having an old friend show you around the city!
Thankfully we found Unseen Japan, and Noah Oskow. He walked with us, literally and figuratively; through the history, the stories, and the folklore of ancient Japan. I highly recommend Unseen Japan and look forward to using them again!
Pricing depends on the length of your trip, group size, and what you want to include. Private day tours, multi-day itineraries, and itinerary-only planning are all priced differently. Tell us roughly what you want to do and we'll send a quote in the same conversation.
It's completely different. We don't run packaged group tours. Every trip is built one-to-one around what you want to see, and you travel privately with a fluent Japanese-speaking guide. If you'd rather explore on your own, we can also just build the itinerary.
Yes to both. Our travelers range from solo first-time visitors to multi-generational families. Pace, walking distance, and content are adapted to your group. We're also diverse and LGBTQ-friendly.
That's most of what we do. Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka are common starting points, but we regularly plan trips that include Hokkaido, Tohoku, Kyushu, Okinawa, and rural prefectures like Nagano, Niigata, and Shimane.
Reach out anyway. A lot of our clients start with "I want to see Japan but don't know where to begin." We'll ask about your interests and propose options - culture, food, nature, religion, history, nightlife - and you pick from there.
We can. You are responsible for flights to and from Japan, but we help book accommodations (often at discount rates we have access to) and arrange your shinkansen and local transport in country.
Contact us to discuss your unique Japan travel needs. Give us your approximate dates and party size, and we'll quote you our current rates for itinerary creation and guiding.
You and your group are responsible for airfare to and from Japan. We can find and help you book accommodations, often at discount rates, and assist you with navigating local transportation once you are in Japan.
