For our FAQ page covering travel under the guidelines set by the Japanese government in 2022, please see here.
Oku Japan offers self-guided walking tours for independent travellers, small-group guided walking tours and small-group guided cultural tours. We are happy to organise private departures of our trips - please complete our enquiry page to share your requirements with us.
We ask for a 20% deposit on booking and the final balance 2 months before your tour starts.
We accept payment by:
Oku Japan does not charge any additional fee for card payments.
You are free to use your preferred airline or flight agent - we do not offer flights ourselves. We will happily advise on the best options for your particular trip.
Our small-group guided tours have a maximum of 12 or 13 participants which keeps them small, friendly and personal.
Our groups tend to be international, with guests from all over the world including North America, Australia and Europe. We have a variety of ages on our trips.
Oku Japan is a member of ABTOT, the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers in the UK. All our tours are 100% bonded against financial failure, so your money is protected.
Yes, we will do our best to accommodate last minute bookings for our scheduled trips subject to the availability of accommodation.
Please read our booking conditions page for charges which will apply if you need to cancel your trip with us.
On our small-group guided tours, we ask solo travellers to pay a single supplement, which guarantees you a room to yourself at the western-style hotels on the tour. At the Japanese inns on the tour, tatami-mat rooms are culturally less intimate spaces than western bedrooms and Japanese guests travelling with acquaintances are accustomed to sharing. We follow this Japanese custom and will ask you to share a tatami-mat room with another group member of the same gender. We will never ask you to share with someone of the opposite gender or someone outside our group. If you are a solo traveller willing to share a room throughout the small-group guided tour with another solo traveller of the same gender, please let us know. We will happily refund the single supplement if we can find you a room-mate before the tour starts.
On our self-guided tours, we ask solo travellers to pay a single supplement to ensure you have sole occupancy of a room throughout your tour.
In cities we use mid-range Western-style hotels, all with private bathrooms. In the countryside we use Japanese inns called Ryokan or Minshuku, with futons laid-out on tatami-mat floors for sleeping. At Japanese inns bathrooms and toilet facilities are normally ‘along the corridor’.
For more information about the accommodation we use, please see here.
We are always happy to book pre-tour or post-tour nights for you. We also offer an exciting range of extensions and experiences so you can create your own ideal itinerary.