Japan Travel Consulting

If you’d like a Japan expert to help plan your Japan trip or answer your questions about Japan, contact Japan Travel Consulting (JTC). JTC is a team of Japan travel experts who can assist you by email, Skype, phone or FaceTime.

About Japan Travel Consulting (JTC)

Japan Travel Consulting (JTC) is a team of Japan travel journalists, long-term Japan residents and travel consultants. JTC is operated by Chris Rowthorn, a 20-year resident of Kyoto and author of 19 Japan guidebooks for Lonely Planet, as well as the co-founder of the Inside Kyoto, Truly Tokyo and Inside Osaka websites. The JTC team consists of four Lonely Planet Japan authors, the leading foreign expert on Japan hiking, and a Kyoto-based photographer and guide.

How It Works

We offer voice (Skype/Facetime), email and full trip planning services.

Voice consulting is great for high-level planning. We help you choose your destinations within Japan, your mode of travel, the places you’ll stay and your activities. We don’t produce a full, detailed itinerary, but we send you a list of links and place names following the conversation.

Email consulting is like voice consulting, but it’s via email. It’s a good choice if you don’t have time to speak. Like voice consulting, it’s great for high-level planning. We help you choose your destinations within Japan, your mode of travel, the places you’ll stay and your activities. We don’t produce a full, detailed itinerary, but we send you a list of links and place names following the conversation.

Full trip planning usually starts with a voice consultation. Then, we work with you by email to produce a full itinerary, with accommodation recommendations, daily itineraries, transport information and, in some cases, restaurant recommendations. This usually comes in the form of a Word document or a PDF, and it might include Google maps, where necessary.

Rates

All types of consulting are US$190 per hour.

Please Note:

JTC is not a travel agent. JTC does not sell or book travel, hotels or transport. Rather, JTC gives you the information you need to book the best hotels, ryokan, transport options and guides etc at the best rates.

How To Book A Consultation

Please fill in the form below with as much detail as possible about your requirements. You'll then be matched up with a travel expert to provide you with the planning you need.

Payment

Payment is via PayPal (you do not need a PayPal account to make a payment).

Payment is in advance for voice and email consulting.

For full trip planning, we require a deposit of ¥15,000 (about US$133 or €113) to start the consultation and this covers your first hour of consulting. Thereafter we bill for every two hours we spend. Payment is as you go and full details of how we spend our time are provided. There will be no surprises. We can provide an estimate before we start. As a guideline, a typical 1-week trip in Japan takes about 7 hours to plan (but this can vary widely).

Please note we are only able to respond to genuine enquiries seeking to hire our travel experts.

Where Are These Places Located?

See these places on the Inside Osaka Google map:

• Open the Osaka map
• You will see the list of places on the left hand side. (Click the 3-line icon in the top left corner if not). Scroll down or use the map search (the magnifying glass icon) to find the place you want.
• Click the name of the place in the list. Its location pin will be highlighted on the map.
• Map pins are color coded - BLUE: Hotels / Ryokan / Guesthouses | VIOLET: Ryokan | PINK: Places to Eat | GREEN: Shops | YELLOW: Things to See and Do
• If you're using the map on your phone, open the map and then search for the name of the place. The map will then zoom in on its location.

Osaka District Map

• Shin-Osaka Area
• Kita Area
• Central Osaka Area
• Minami Area
• Tennoji Area
• Osaka Castle Area
• Osaka Bay Area