Not a very exciting or interesting tour, far to much downtime at the hotels, a huge emphasis seemed to be on shopping.
Sold by EF Educational Tours
The information on this page is based solely on product reviews written by customers of EF Educational Tours via Trustpilot.
All reviews
This itinerary had a great balance of big cities and smaller towns to truly experience the different parts of Japan. This tour is great for an introduction to Japanese culture through hands on experiences.
Best ever experience!
Great experience!
Amazing first solo international trip for my 17 year old
Very Organized
I would highly recomment this trip to anyone thinking about visiting this amazing country. There was so much to see and do. There was also plenty of time for our students to explore on their own and they loved it! Book the sushi making class as well!
Beautiful 👏🏻
My child had the best experience! She loved Japan!!!!
EF was supportive every step of the way. I am very impressed by them after completing this tour.
Absolutely wonderful time! Our tour guide Jordan was excellent!
Very knowledgeable tour guide Hiroshi. Thank you for teaching my children your culture.
My son said it was a great experience, super excited and satisfied.
Kids had a blast
The Japan portion of our trip was outstanding. The itinerary was well planned, the excursions were engaging, and our students had an incredible educational and cultural experience. Japan exceeded our expectations in every way. Unfortunately, the South Korea extension was a significant disappointment. After our visit to the DMZ, there was an excessive amount of unstructured "free time" with little guidance or planned activities. The final day of the trip was especially frustrating. Our flight was not scheduled to depart until 8:45 PM, yet we were required to check out of our hotel by noon. This left our group with many hours and no organized activities, making for a very long and uncomfortable day of waiting. In addition, we lost our tour director during the Korea portion of the trip because she had been double-booked with another group. This negatively impacted the overall experience and left the Korea extension feeling poorly managed and lacking the level of organization we had experienced in Japan. While we would highly recommend the Japan itinerary, the Korea add-on did not provide the same quality of planning, structure, or support that we expected from EF.
I had a lot of fun participating in different cultural activities as well as getting time to myself to go shopping.
It was a phenomenal trip to take to visit Japan. I'd recommend any parent wanted to take their child to visit another country this is the place to go. Also, EF tours had everything planned out, a little on the fast pace side but overall still a great experience.
It was an unforgettable experience traveling to Japan. This trip was number 1 on the list.
Our tour director was great.
This was my first EF Tour and my first time traveling internationally with a large group. Overall, it was a great experience, and I would absolutely consider another tour in the future. However, there are a few areas where I think improvements could be made. The biggest challenge was the itinerary. For a group of this size, many days felt overly packed, and the amount of “free time” was often too short. In several locations, we were expected to find lunch and explore major attractions within the same limited window. At busier destinations with long lines and crowded restaurants, this became difficult and stressful. One example was Harajuku. We only had about 45 minutes to an hour of free time there, which was not enough to truly experience the area, shop, eat, and explore. Meanwhile, some of the smaller towns and locations where teenagers and young adults had less interest seemed to have significantly more free time. I think reallocating some of that time to destinations like Harajuku would greatly improve the experience for younger travelers. The included meals were another disappointment. I expected more variety and a more authentic representation of Japanese cuisine. Instead, we were served fried chicken and rice multiple times throughout the trip, often with no alternative options. Many meals appeared to be prepared well before our arrival and were already sitting on the tables when we got there. As a result, food was frequently cold by the time we ate it. Tempura, in particular, was often soggy because it had been pre-prepared. I would appreciate an option to decline included meals in exchange for additional free time or the flexibility to dine elsewhere. The flight routing was also frustrating. Flying from Phoenix to Dallas before the long flight to Japan felt unnecessary and made the travel day significantly longer and more exhausting. On the return trip, our layover in Los Angeles was much more efficient and noticeably reduced overall travel time. A similar routing on the outbound flight would have been preferable. On a positive note, most of the hotel accommodations were excellent. The majority were comfortable, clean, and well-suited to our group. There were a few hotels that felt less accommodating for our demographic, but overall the lodging experience was very good. The highlight of the trip was our tour guide. He was phenomenal. His energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge kept the younger travelers engaged throughout the tour. He understood what interested teens and young adults, pointed out attractions they would enjoy, and provided excellent suggestions for making the most of our free time. He played a huge role in making the trip memorable and enjoyable. Overall, I had an amazing experience in Japan and am grateful for the opportunity. With a few adjustments to the itinerary, meal options, and travel logistics, I believe the experience could be even better for future travelers.