• Absolutely amazing trip and guide Kazu was truly the best always making sure everybody was safe and sharing his knowledge.

• Kazu was always making sure everybody was accountable and safe.

• Our trip was an overall fantastic trip as it was our first trip to Japan. The experience was excellent. Our guide Kazu was amazing highly recommended.

• Where do I start? Kazu was truly an amazing leader. He gave our group 100% of his attention. And always sharing his knowledge and going over and above.

• Our guide Kazu was amazing - his love and passion for his country made our trip more memorable. Plenty of time given also for exploring on our own.

• Kazu was very attentive and always checking on us, ensuring everyone was accounted for and communication was fantastic.

• Kazu was very informative and knowledgeable. It was great getting his perspective on things and gain a better understanding of Japan.

• So glad we had Kazu as our guide - most amazing experience - highly recommend - love love loved it - Arigatō.

• Kazu went over and beyond every expectation I expected. His passion for Japan shone through - he is a very caring and considerate man and I can only hope that when we return to Japan to see more of this beautiful country, that Kazu will be there to guide us again.

• The trip was well organised, covered all the areas of Japan we wanted to experience and we had to do nothing other than follow Kazu, everything like travel arrangements, hotels, visits, local family stay, was all pre-arranged and wonderful.

• The requirements for cleanliness in Japan were well explained by Kazu and he assisted us in observing them whenever needed.

• We knew very little about Japans culture, way of life and its people and learned so much both from Kazu and from our host family stay.

• We had no worries at all, everything was taken care of as mentioned, we moved around all day at an easy pace in the outdoor world of Japan which was wonderful, the hardest problem was choosing between the wonderful list of restaurants Kazu provided!

• Learning about each visit, place, shrine or site from Kazu was outstanding and at times very calming; not having to worry about travel arrangements or finding hotels etc took away so much travel pressure we were able to just concentrate on enjoying the trip itself.

• All the inclusions (hotels, travel arrangements, some meals) were more than what we expected; as well, optional activities arranged by Kazu were always excellent.

• This has been one of the best holiday trips we have ever taken. The itinerary was more than we expected, our small group was fill with wonder and fun people, Kazu was absolutely fantastic in looking after all the details of travel, site visits and more, and our homestay with a local family will be a memory we cherish forever.

• Kazu went out of his way constantly to make sure we were all doing ok, that we knew the plan for the day, to explain the history and background of sites and locations we visited, recommend the best restaurants and cafes for meals, translate as we needed and keep us informed about travel plans and arrangements; Kazu made this tour the absolute best for us and we really appreciate the amount of effort and work he put in to make sure we had a wonderful experience.

• It was the best balance of tour guide & free time.

• Kazu made sure we were looked after no matter what activity we were doing.

• A tour guide can make or break your experience on a trip & we were very lucky to have Kazu as ours. Kazu has great knowledge of history & on all the places we visited.

• I can not speak highly enough of Kazu. He is polite, warm, extremely organised, very intuitive, caring, patient, knowledgeable, hardworking and I felt he went beyond and above for every person on the tour.

• Kazu was an amazing leader. His attention to detail and interpersonal skills are superior. Kazu was so respectful and understanding of my needs and was instrumental in me realising my dream of seeing Japan. After a serious illness, it has taken me 5 years to travel again. I am so lucky to have had a leader like Kazu, he provided the appropriate level of care, support and consideration. Kazu was the best leader I could have had. Thank you.

• Hassle free excellent activities by a superb tour guide.

• Kazu, is extremely likable and knowledgeable leader, as a result of this our trip was amazing

• The itinerary was well organised. But mainly it’s due to our wonderful guide Kazu. He was ‘ a pure gentleman’ and took such great care of us he made travelling on public transport pleasurable and his optional tours were amazing. I could tell he had researched and thought out our plan. He observed our needs and catered for all our dietary needs and preferences. Recommending excellent options if we wished to have free time with restaurants and activities. He remained available to us at all times and advised on travel following check out.

• Our guide gave us such insights to culture and etiquette and phrases to use which helped my confidence. I almost felt like a local by the end of our trip

• The support from our guide and his lovely patient kind respectful accepting and positive energy also promoted this within the group. As a group we supported each other so felt very much part of this new tour family and wit the movement and no stress travel. Feel so well mentally

• A well thought out itinerary and activities were excellent. A highly professional and inclusive guide and lovely group of people who made this a wonderful experience. I will book your tour again. Thank you an excellent way to immerse and learn of new cultures in a fun immersive way.

• The location chosen for the tour were excellent. The guide we had Kazu was absolutely fantastic. Travel between cities was so easy with our guide and he was also very knowledgeable. Always gave great recommendations for food and extra locations to check out

• This was my first trip overseas, locations were fantastic, organisation was great. Overall had an amazing time

• Enjoyed the trip itinerary group and excellent guide

• Kazu our tour leader was fantastic

• The trip was an unforgettable experience, mainly thanks to our trip leader Kazu!

• It's hard to operate a trip in Japan 100% environmentally responsible, but the use of public transport was the best way to achieve this

• Lots of walking, but had time to just take it in as well

• My knowledge of the destination improved during the trip thanks to Kazu's fantastic knowledge and willingness to share

• I cannot praise him enough. He consistently was polite patient kind calm encouraging. I really felt he went above and beyond his role. Always available to us and provided exceptional guided optional activities a wonderful teacher of the culture and etiquette and encouraging practicing language and customs. He accompanied us on optional dinners and all his choices were perfect. He was an inclusive leader and modelled respect and support within the group. I am sure this was the main contribution to having a lovely group experience and making new relationships. This was my first tour with you and honestly felt safe confident and welcomed which I attribute to Kazu A wonderful person and I will do another tour with you again due to your company’s excellent choice and standard of guide based on Kazu.

• Kazu was honestly the best guide we could've had, he made everyday travel simple, how knowledge of all the locations and extras was amazing. He was very approachable and organised, could not have hoped for a better guide.

• Kazu was great He was so helpful as I felt challenged with changes in food type and assured me greatly in meeting my dietary needs. I was so grateful for his patience and his advice. He is a lovely person and so polite and it was apparent he had spent time planning and organising all the activities including optional activities and dinners. The tour was excellent and he facilitated all our preferences and interests.

• Kazu was very considerate and conscious of our individual needs and concerns. Always providing optional things to do and communicated with social media very efficiently. We loved his caring manner. Excellent job!!!

• Kazu was amazing! I hope to stay in contact with him and have told him when he comes to Australia he can come do a homestay with us! He is truely an amazing person who made the trip as excellent as it was. Kazu truely deserves to be recognised for how amazing he is as a trip leader and I encourage you to recognise Kazu in someway for how incredible he is

I'm a big fan of Nihonshu.

Nihonshu is widely known as Japan's national drink.

Why do I love it so much?There are three reasons for that.

First of all, Nihonshu tastes surprisingly different from bottle to bottle.

Nihonshu is divided into more than 10 categories depending on its making process and raw materials.

Also, there are about 1,400 酒蔵 -sakagura-, Nihonshu brewries in Japan and each one of them brew Nihonshu with their own styles.

So, there are tons of 日本酒 out there.

It's a lot of fun to try as many bottles of 日本酒 as possible and find your favorite kinds of日本酒.

Second, Nihonshu goes very well with food.

It is said that Nihonshu is food-friendly beverage.

It pairs amazingly well with not only Japanese food but also any kinds of food.

Once you start having Nihonshu and food together, you can't leave the table.

Lastly, Nihonshu is enjoyable at a wide range of temperatures.

Nihonshu changes its face depending on what temperatures you drink at.

Generally, premium Nihonshu like Daiginjo and Ginjo is served chilled, not warmed.

But it doesn't mean you can't warm high grade Nihonshu. Each Nihonshu has its best temperatures and you'll never know until you try it.

Those are the reasons why I love Nihonshu.

If you have never had Nihonshu before, I highly recommend try it out!  

In my free time, I like to play freestyle basketball.

Have you ever heard of it?

Freestyle basketball is different from normal basketball. It's like doing performance on the stage with basketball.

Ballers compete with each other by showing their ball-handking skills and creative tricks. 

Literally, you can do anything as long as you include a ball in your performance.Some are skilled at dribbling.

Some are crazy about spinning. And some use multiple balls.

Some even put dancing moves and acrobatic moves in their routines. 

In freestyle basketball, it's free and there's no rule.

That's why I love this sport. 

English was my favorite subject back in my school days.

I was so much into American culture back then like NBA, English songs, movies and TV dramas.

These interests naturally grew my passion towards English and encouraged me to study harder than any other subject.

Since then, I have been learning English and I’m positive I’ll continue working on it for the rest of my life.

What makes me so passionate about English? There’s one thing that comes to mind immediately when I think about this question, which is..... 

“English opens up lots of possibilities.”

Before restarting English and taking it seriously at the age of thirty, what I thought I could do was very limited. 

It was so dark and I felt like my life was going nowhere.

However, things completely changed after gaining English skills.

English gave me an opportunity to work at sakagura, Nihonshu brewery.

English motivated me to teach English and having had the teaching experience challenged myself to become a Japanese teacher as well.

And most importantly, English inspired me to do something that helps out people abroad have a better understanding of Nihonshu. 

Looking back on it, I could have never imagined doing any of those without English.

English has given me a lot of inspiration and will keep doing so for the rest of my life as long as I keep working on it.

This is why I like English and put my passion towards it.

At the very beginning of 2019, I met a woman who was working a freelance teacher and tour guide.

It was the first time getting to know someone like her, which was really inspiring to me.

As I got to know her, I came to think this way,

"I want to do something by myself too just like her.

It didn't take long until I decided to combine my passion, sake and English, and create my own sake tour and workshop designed for people visiting Japan.

However, I thought I felt like I was still not ready becasue my knowledgable about sake was not good enough to make that happen.

In order to have a better understanding of the beverage, I joined events, attended seminars and participated experience programs.

This is how I earned myself several sake certificates and it gave me confidence to finally start doing my own sake tour and workshop.

Four years later, as international travel gradually returned and Japan reopened after the pandemic, I was finally able to resume sake tours.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to welcome guests from a wide range of countries and lead various experiences, including sake brewery tours and sake hopping tours.

Meeting people from different backgrounds and sharing Japan's rich sake culture with them has been one of the most rewarding parts of my journey as a guide.

While sake has always remained at the heart of what I do, my interests as a guide have gradually expanded beyond sake-related experiences.

I have taken on a wider variety of tours, including bus tours in Kyoto and Osaka, private walking tours, and eventually multi-day tours across different regions of Japan.

Through these experiences, I have developed a deeper appreciation not only for Japan and its culture, but also for my hometown of Himeji, where I was born and raised.

Looking ahead, I hope to serve as a bridge between Japan and the rest of the world, both as a tour guide and as a community organizer.

Through my customized tours, I want to help travelers discover Japan in their own unique way, while continuing to create opportunities for people from different backgrounds to connect through Himeji International Exchange.

Ultimately, I hope to contribute to making my hometown of Himeji a warmer, more welcoming, and internationally connected community, while building meaningful connections with people from around the world through my work as a guide.