Fully private, pace-controlled itineraries for independent clients who want Japan built around them, not a group schedule.
What's Included
A dedicated English (or other language) guide for the full trip, not booked per-activity.
Room categories and property selection matched to what actually matters to the client, not just star rating.
Chauffeured vehicles between cities and for full-day touring, sized to the group.
Days built around the client's energy and interests, changeable on the ground if plans shift.
Kaiseki restaurants, exclusive experiences and venues that don't take walk-ins or direct bookings.
Who This Is For
Luxury FIT clients tend to be well-travelled, time-poor, and specific about what they want — a second or third trip to Japan rather than a first, a honeymoon, or a milestone celebration. They respond to genuine local knowledge and flexibility far more than to a fixed itinerary template.
How We Deliver This
We build the itinerary around a detailed client brief rather than a package template, hold rooms at a shortlist of properties before confirming so the agent has real options to present, and stay reachable throughout the trip for the inevitable last-minute change of plan.
How It Works
Interests, pace, past Japan trips, must-haves and any access requests. We reply with a draft day-by-day itinerary and property shortlist within 24 hours.
Every component — accommodation, guiding, transport, experiences — itemised at net rate so you see exactly what it costs. Quotations are valid for 4 days from issue.
A USD 100 contract fee secures the booking and is fully credited against your final invoice. Cancellation and deposit terms are stated at confirmation.
The specific guide and exact room type at each property are confirmed and briefed on the client's interests ahead of arrival, not assigned generically.
30% deposit within 3 working days of confirmation, balance due 45 days before departure. Settle in JPY, USD, NZD or via Wise.
A named point of contact and 24/7 emergency line for the duration of the trip — pacing can be adjusted on the ground, not just planned in advance.
Who Books This
Clients on a second or third Japan trip usually want depth over breadth — fewer cities, more time in each, and specific-interest access (a particular craftsperson, a specific neighbourhood, a niche culinary experience) rather than the standard first-timer circuit. These itineraries lean heavily on genuine local knowledge rather than a template, which is exactly where a fixed package tour falls short.
Anniversary, honeymoon and milestone-birthday clients want the trip to feel considered rather than assembled — a specific ryokan room with a private onsen, a reservation-only restaurant, pacing that leaves room for spontaneity rather than a packed schedule. Getting the small details right matters more here than on almost any other itinerary type.
Families travelling across generations need pacing and activity choices that work for both a grandparent and a teenager on the same day, private transport sized to the group, and accommodation with the right room configuration — connecting rooms, or two rooms near each other rather than across a large property.
Clients travelling for a specific interest — art, craft, culinary, architecture — need an itinerary built around access rather than sightseeing: a private studio visit, a specific chef's counter, a curator-led gallery tour. This is guiding-led planning, not accommodation-led planning, and needs a genuinely different brief from the start.
Building the Itinerary
A Luxury FIT itinerary starts from the client brief, not a template — interests, energy level, previous Japan trips, and any specific access requests shape which cities and how many nights in each, before a single hotel or guide is booked. Pacing matters more here than on any other trip type: a first-timer wanting to see as much as possible needs a genuinely different day structure to a repeat visitor wanting two slow days in one neighbourhood.
Once the shape of the trip is agreed, we shortlist two or three property options per city rather than book the first available room, so the agent has real choices to present rather than a single take-it-or-leave-it option. Guide matching follows the same principle — a guide with an art-history specialism for a gallery-focused day is a different person to a guide fluent in the food scene for a culinary-led day, and we match rather than default to whoever's available.
The itinerary stays editable once travel begins. A named contact who built the trip remains reachable throughout, so a client who wants to extend a stop or swap an activity on day four isn't stuck with a fixed plan that can't flex.
Access & Relationships
Reservation-only restaurants, small studios and workshops, and properties that don't take direct bookings are the recurring theme across almost every Luxury FIT brief — the value isn't sourcing information a client could find themselves, it's securing a booking that a cold enquiry wouldn't get. This depends on standing relationships built over years, not a one-off phone call, which is why the same short list of guides, restaurants and properties tends to recur across our Luxury FIT files rather than a constantly rotating directory.
Where a specific access request can't be fulfilled — a fully booked restaurant, a studio not taking visitors that week — we say so directly and offer a genuine alternative, rather than substitute something lesser without flagging it. Trust on this category of request is built by being straight about what's realistically available, not by overpromising.
Commercials
Unlike a package tour, a Luxury FIT itinerary has no fixed price to look up — accommodation, private guiding (usually a full-day rate rather than per-activity), private transport, and any reservation-only experiences are each priced and broken out on their own line. This means the same overall budget can be allocated very differently between two clients: one who wants to spend more on accommodation and less on guided touring, and another who wants the reverse.
Guiding is typically priced per day rather than per activity, which usually works out more cost-effective than booking separate guided experiences, and it means the same guide accompanies the client throughout rather than a different one at each stop. Rates are quoted net and non-commissionable — the same principle behind every service we quote — and a USD 100 contract fee secures the booking, credited against the final invoice. Cancellation runs on a sliding scale: 20% of total cost at 45 days or more before travel, 50% at 22–44 days, 100% at 21 days or fewer.
Why Us
A generic template itinerary can be assembled from public information; a genuinely good Luxury FIT itinerary depends on things that don't show up in a search — which specific room at a property actually has the view worth paying for, which guide's specialism matches a client's actual interest rather than a generic city tour, which reservation-only restaurant will actually take a booking on short notice. That depth comes from a direct, ongoing relationship with properties and guides, not from a rate sheet.
We also plan the itinerary as one file rather than a set of separate bookings — accommodation, guiding and transport are checked against each other before anything is confirmed, so a change to one day's plan doesn't quietly break the next. And because the same point of contact who built the itinerary stays reachable throughout the trip, a change of plan on day four doesn't mean starting over with someone new.
Trade Terms
Fully Independent Traveller — a private itinerary built for one party rather than a fixed-departure group tour with a set schedule and other travellers.
A dedicated guide retained for the full trip or a full day, rather than booked separately for each individual activity or site.
Restaurants, workshops or venues that don't accept walk-ins or direct public bookings — access depends on an existing relationship or introduction.
The rate we quote you with no commission folded in. What you charge on top is up to you — your client never sees our number.
FAQ
Net and non-commissionable. You see exactly what the itinerary costs and set your own margin on top.
Per component — accommodation, private guiding, private transport and experiences are each quoted individually and itemised, not bundled into a single package price.
Yes — pacing and day plans can be adjusted through the same point of contact who built the itinerary, within the availability of guides and properties on any given day.
Yes, on request — language, specialism (art, history, culinary) and guide personality are all things we match to the client brief.
As early as possible for cherry blossom, autumn foliage and any itinerary depending on reservation-only restaurants or exclusive-access experiences, since these close out first.
45 days or more before travel: 20% of total cost. 22 to 44 days: 50%. 21 days or fewer: 100%. Full terms are on our Partner Policy page.
Work With Us
Tell us what you need and we will respond within 24 hours.