We need a travel agent to book hotels/ryokan for our last 8 days in Japan after we take a tour to Tokyo and Kyoto. I have not been able to find much info in books or even on-line about where to stay and how to book in the Japanese Alps area. If you can help..many thanks.

Take a look at www.jnto.go.jp and/or find the Welcome Inn Reservation Center on the web.

fodors.com is not much help, but frommers.com has some info: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/japanalps/

Thank you, mrwurfl, I have looked at the Welcome Inn Reservation Center but it has few places in the Alps areaand those few were not very interesting. I have the frommers book, but your recommendation to the website showed more info. This is the first time I need a local travel agent to make recommendations and do the booking. If anybody knows someone, please share.

Bonjour Elainee,

Japan Nat. Travel Org - www.jnto.go.jp -has offices in various countries, look for the nearest from your home and call them. They should know of competent travel agents near you, or give you a list in Japan (Japan Travel Bureau is one).

Another solution is to visit the TIC (Tourist Information Center) in Narita airport, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka airport, and have them handle the reservations while you're there. It's free and they have more addresses than what you find on the Wellcome Inns site.

Thanks Florence, I did visit the Japan Tourist office in NYC (in Rockefeller Center). Not too helpful...gave me all the brochures for the areas I asked about but could not recommend a travel agent or make any recommendations about one town or another to tour. I do need a Japanese speaking travel agent. I never travel without prior hotel and train/plane reservations. I can be spontaneous about other aspects of travel but I hate to spend time on site finding a place to stay.

I'm not getting it, Elainee. The JNTO info didn't give you any ideas of places to go?

Besides the NYC Yellow Pages, here are a couple of other places to look:

www.jtbusa.com "For your travel and life"

The govt is having a yearlong campaign to attract foreign visitors to Japan called Yokoso! Japan, there are some links here: http://www.japan-welcomes-you.org/

Thanks! I followed your advice and went to the site japan-welcomes-you.org/
and found a list of NYC travel agents. I will call them and see if they will make hotel reservations without our buying a whole tour package. We will buy a rail pass and do not want to prior arrange a guide for each place.

I like your style. I’m with you 100%. You know the right way to travel. Sorry I don’t have an answer for you. I’m looking for one too

DavidBL,
This thread is over 20 years old!