Japan Private Tour and Charter: One Party, Your Own Pace

Japan by private tour means something specific: one party, one vehicle, your own dates — not a seat on a coach with forty other people and a fixed 40-minute stop. We have run private journeys in Japan since 2005, from a single day in Kyoto to two-week routes across three regions, and the work is the same at every scale: we build the route around your dates, then drive it.

Private tour and private charter — the difference

A private charter (包車) is a vehicle and driver for the day or the week. You decide the stops; the driver handles the roads, parking and timing. A private tour (包團) adds the planning: hotels, the order of the days, restaurant bookings and a guide who is with you through the day. Most travellers start with a charter and end up wanting the tour once they see how much of a day disappears into logistics.

Where we cover

All of Japan, on both routes and quiet roads:

• Hokkaido — Sapporo, Otaru, Furano and Biei, Hakodate, East Hokkaido (Kushiro, Akan, Shiretoko)
• Tohoku — Aomori, Akita and Kakunodate, Ginzan Onsen, Zao, Matsushima, Towada, Shirakami
• Kanto — Tokyo, Kamakura, Yokohama, Nikko, Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji
• Chubu and Hokuriku — Nagoya, Takayama, Shirakawa-go, Kanazawa, Tateyama, Karuizawa
• Kansai — Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Wakayama, Kinosaki Onsen
• Chugoku and Shikoku — Hiroshima and Miyajima, Okayama and Kurashiki, Tottori, Izumo, Takamatsu, Matsuyama
• Kyushu — Fukuoka, Yufuin, Beppu, Kurokawa Onsen, Aso, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Miyazaki
• Okinawa — Naha, and the outer islands by arrangement

How a route gets built

1. You tell us three things — your dates, how many nights, and who is travelling (including children or older guests). 2. We send a route outline: which city to land in, how many nights each place deserves, and the measured driving time between stops rather than a guess. 3. You adjust it, we adjust it back, and only then do we quote. Nothing is booked before the route is settled.

Two routes that work

Seven days, one region, unhurried: land in Fukuoka, three nights in Kyushu with a car and driver — Yufuin, Kurokawa Onsen, Aso — then two nights in Hiroshima and Miyajima, out from there. Ten days, three regions: Tokyo in, Fuji and Hakone by car, bullet train to Kyoto for four nights with day trips to Nara and Osaka, then west to Hiroshima. The train does the long legs; the car does the days where the stations are far apart.

What a driver actually solves in Japan

Not just distance. Rural bus timetables that run four times a day, car parks that fill by ten in the morning, ryokan that sit fifteen minutes up a road with no bus, and luggage that cannot follow you between two hotels in one day. In the cities, the driver solves the opposite problem: you see three districts in a day instead of one.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need a Japanese-speaking guide?

Not for the driving, but it changes the trip. Our drivers handle the roads and the timing; if you want restaurant recommendations, market stalls and small shops explained, book a guide for those days rather than every day.

Can we change the itinerary during the trip?

Yes. That is the point of a private vehicle. Long driving days are the only real constraint, and we tell you which legs are fixed before you start.

Are motorway tolls and parking included?

They are quoted as part of the route so you see them before you commit, rather than as a surprise at the end. Fuel, tolls and parking are all part of the vehicle cost we quote.

How much luggage can we bring?

A standard car takes two large cases and two cabin bags comfortably. Larger parties get a minibus, and ski or golf equipment needs to be declared when we plan so the right vehicle is sent.

Do you provide child seats?

Yes — tell us the ages when you ask for the route, because Japanese law requires seats for younger children and the vehicle has to be chosen accordingly.

Which airport should we fly into?

It depends on the route, not on the airline. For a Kyushu trip, Fukuoka; for Kansai and Kyoto, Kansai International; for a Tokyo-and-Fuji route, Haneda or Narita. We tell you which one gives the shortest first day.

Regional pages: Tohoku private tours · Matsushima — Zuiganji, Godaido and the bay boat, 45 minutes from Sendai.

Place pages for the Seto Inland Sea and Tohoku: Miyajima private tour (Itsukushima Shrine, the great torii and Mount Misen) · Matsushima (Zuiganji, Godaido and the bay boat) — two of the Three Views of Japan, each with its own page.

Kanto place pages: Tokyo, Kamakura (the Great Buddha, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu and the Five Mountains Zen temples) and Nikko — each with measured driving times from the city.