We are considering visiting japan this year. I Was wondering if anyone knew of a tour company geared toward younger people(20's,30's), or one that offers self guided tours(or mostly)? we would like to go to Tokyo Kyoto and possibly osaka(10 day trip).
IT seems most guided tours are geared towards 50's and 60's. We want somthing a little more active, a little more off the beaten path and a little more independant.
Not to picky about hotels, but wont share bathrooms and don't want to camp. We would like to stay in the 1000-1800 US dollar range(with-out air fare)

Thanks

topping

Am not really clear on what you are looking for: Tokyo/Kyoto is THE most well beaten path. I don't know what a "self guided tour" tour company is. What do you mean by "more active"? What are you interested in? Why Japan? Why Osaka? By "we" do you mean you and a spouse, or what? That budget of 1000-1800, is it per person, or what?

I guess that I have more questions than answers for you! The only group that I know about that might be like what you are looking for is Walk Japan (go to walkjapan.com).

Here are a couple of websites that have a good bit of info about visiting Japan:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/
Lots of info there that can help you to visit Japan on your own. The site includes some self-guided tour info in different regions (Regional Travel Plans).

For budget lodging, see here:
http://www.itcj.or.jp/

I'd recommend the old fashion walking and bus tours. Half-day in each city would be suffice. You will find a mixture of young and old tourist in those groups. My girlfriend and I took a half-day JTB sightseeing bus tour and walked the remainder of the day on our own. Some tourist information offices will have special interest maps specialized for tourists. With that said, we're in our early-mid 20s and we were beat by the end of the day. We under-estimated the face pace of the guided tour as we wrongfully anticipated it to fit the stereotype of the bus full of senior citizens. As far as lodging just grab a western style hotel through some internet portals. Keeping the budget under $2k might be tough for 10 days. Our 10 day trip ended costing us $5K including our hotel. Moreover, don't forget that JR rail pass. You'll definately need it. $250 (7-day) per person.

Actually our budget would be about 1500 per person (me(29) and my wife(31)).

mrwunrfl ,To answer the questions above.
Why Japan - we are actually considering going to Japan or Italy in october, we have been to europe many times. and I have always wanted to visit japan. Airfare is so expensive to Europe right now for the around the same price I can get tickets to japan. Why Osaka? 2 reasons 1 it is pretty close to Kyoto and I would defintelty like to vist Kyoto, 2. I live in Chicago and Fly United Air lines often. UAL has a non-stop flights to Chicago-Toyko and a Non-Stop Osaka-Chicago flight so I would not have to return to Toyko to fly home.and I hate making connections. I also heard that Osaka has a great bar scene.

As far as what we are looking for? We enjoy Urban walks and sightseeing as well as wilderness hikes, we like good LOCAL bars and resturants (I try to avoid tourist traps when it comes to food) Walkjapan looks pretty cool, but the tours are a bit long (11-12 days)for us.
I guess I was just wondering if there were any tour operators that setup your trip,and gave a little guideace with out holding your hand everywhere. ( we will not know japanese)

I just got back from Japan a week ago. I did the travel all by myself and I would recommend not going on a tour at all (unless its a day tour). I LOVED being able to do what I wanted and leave when I wanted and surprisingly Japan is so easy to get around and there are always a ton of free flyers and maps in english that they provide to you. So you could "guide" yourself. I did both Tokyo and Kyoto very easily. Just a suggestion.

dgruzew:

I'm not sure if you've been looking the right places for tickets. You should be able to find tickets from Ohare to Narita or various airports in Italy for around the same price during that time frame. I actually just booked a ticket for Amsterdam yesterday from ORD for October which was cheaper then I'm used to.

We've also been all over Europe because we have a second home out there. Japan was a good side trip from our European travels that happened to also be very affordable.

Again, I would recommend a half or day trip with JTB Tours. They have English speaking tours and the guides do have a vast knowledge of the surrounding areas. It'll only cost you $100 for the two of you to do a half-day tour. I guess you are not including your hotel fees in the budget allowance which we also didn't do. I'd personally recommend the Mansions at Roppongi which was about $2600 for 9 nites in an Exec suite for us. I believe their studio rates are about half that cost. Good luck.

BigFeat: So did you end up keeping your one hotel and traveling around to other places so you could come back to that hotel? I remember you were thinking of doing that to minimize hassles for yourselves. It sounds like it worked out for you if that is what you did.

Yes, bigFeat..I was looking forward to your trip report...Saw the interim posts from Japan about your meals, but how did the rest of your trip go??

The open jaw ticket is a good idea and will save you some back-tracking and your budget is reasonable. I can't help you with the bar scene. Also can't help you find a tour operator since I enjoy researching and planning my own trips.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-503.pdf
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-305.pdf
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/RI/chu...no/nagano.html

There is an alternative to a guided tour. I particularly don't like guided tours in Japan because they wear outfits and take you on buses and....well, it's just sort of goofy and touristy. Hope I haven't offended anyone.
But there is a network of guides available and best of all they are FREE....aside from transportation and food cost. Mostly it is housewives who are not professional tour guides, but know their way around and can translate. To me the biggest problem in Japan has always been the language barrier. Nothing like going to Europe where you can always at least make out the signs. There is no way to figure out what's going on in Japan unless you speak the language or have someone with you who does (my opinion only).
Write to [email protected] and tell him you need a guide. It is tough during school holidays because, as I mentioned, they are mostly Moms who speak English but otherwise it is a great program.
Also be sure to check out Travel and Leisure site, go to the Travel and Leisure Family section and check out an article from a few months ago called "Japan Is Cool" geared toward teens. I realize your kids are a little older but I think most things are good across the board.

Oops, it is not for your kids, it is for you. I still think you would like the Travel and Leisure article and I still think one of the guides, especially one with much older kids, might be great for you.
I never saw a package tour to Japan that I liked.

Thanks For the tips. I definetly don't want any bus tour with outfits. Actually going on our own is fine except for the language. Thanks tons for the edogoodwill tip sounds very usefull!!

One other thing. Going out at night in japan (tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka) is it diffcult because most bar/resturuant patrons are all speaking japanese? When we travel to Europe we always run into brits, americans, and Europeans(that speak english - or a lnaguage we know a little). In japan will we feel isolated? I imagine each city is differnet but what are peoples experiances?

I don't think you'll feel isolated at all. In the big cities and heavily touristed areas, there are many, many foreigners, either being tourists just like you, or living and working in Japan, just like me (but I'm not in a big city).

You may find, if you go somewhere less frequented by foreigners, people might stare at you or use the word "gaijin" (means outside person, literally, but is used to refer to foreigners, shortened from gaikokujin, which means outside country person). Once in a public bath, a young little girl couldn't get over me, but it was kind of cute. In the big cities, though, no one ever gives us a second glance.

What should I expect to spend per day in Tokyo and Kyoto?

I have always been told that japan is super expensive - but I am getting pretty good prices on hotels in toyko right now(much better than NYC) am I missing somthing. how about resturants, bars, museums etc. how much should I expect to spend eating well but not real fancy.(mid to budget priced sit down resturants)

We just got back from a 9 day tour of Japan where we took a half day tour of Tokyo and Kyoto and Nara, and a full day of Mt Fuji and Hakone with Sunrise Tours http://www.jtb.co.jp/sunrisetour There were many ages on all tours from all over the world (only 4 people over 50 on all of ours), and the guides give you not just info on the temples or whatever you're seeing, but an invaluable insight into the Japanese culture and beliefs. They spoke extremely good english, and answered many questions about whatever you wanted to know.

We then did our own walking tours with Lonely Planet books (the Tokyo and Kyoto ones include touring nearby eg Mt Fuji), and found this a good mix because the Sunrise tours gets you to several places quickly, and when you got around yourself, public transport takes a lot of time between places, but you can spend more time there. We saw a shinto wedding in the large Heian shrine in Kyoto, and after we had walked around the gardens at leisure, saw the couple (she was now in an extra colourful kimino)after. (The tour had left ages before and missed the wedding.)

You can eat cheaply - under 1000JPY - in noodle bars etc or just get a sandwich or french baguette with ham and cheese and lettuce (400JPY) from the ground floor of dept. stores, or coffee shops often in train stations.

Dinners are also reasonable - we asked our hotel concierge to recommend a cheaper restaurant eg tempura than their own restaurant, and were directed to the top floor of dept stores where dinner cost 3600JPY up for a pretty good and filling dinner. Cheaper ones were available anywhere once you had figured out what those plastic dishes in the window were supposed to be.

The smaller restaurants and bars have many japanese who speak english (especially after a few drinks), and there are quite a few europeans and americans etc there, just like when visiting europe.
Have a great trip!