About Us
Founder : Yoshio Ogata
Yoshi (this is how they call him) is the founder of Gem Japan Tours and the chief guide/leader of the company. He is a native Japanese, who has been passionate about traveling since his early days. In his early 20's, when he was a college student, he traveled extensively throughout Europe, backpacking, from Scandinavia in the north to Milos Island, Greece in the south, for one and a half long years. The experience propelled him toward a life dedicated to tourism.
After graduating from a college in Japan, he became interested in studying differing cultures of the world, which culminated in graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Iowa, the USA.
Overcoming tremendous language barrier, he stuck it out and was awarded with a master's degree in anthropology from the university.
He returned to Tokyo in the following year, and started working as a translator in various fields that ran from horse racing to indoor bicycle racing to biochemistry. He was gradually gravitated to inbound tourism, that is, taking foreign visitors on a tour of Japan, commenting on Japanese culture, history and so forth. He found out what his true passion was. He set out to work as a guide-interpreter for Japanese and foreign travel companies, and soaked up skills and knowledge necessary to run various types of tours.
He's long been a dedicated jogger. Small-bodied, small-boned, he found that long distance running is one of the few sports he can do well in.
Gem Japan Tours
Gem Japan Tours is a small tour operator and
is
fully licensed, accredited Japanese tour company, based in Tokyo.
We pride ourselves in small high quality tour operations.
We specialize in inbound-tour business, showing overseas visitors around Japan. The company is registered with Tokyo Metropolitan Governor's Office (Registration Number: 2 - 6383).
We comply with the Travel Agency Law of Japan.
Gem Japan Tours was founded by Yoshio Ogata in January, 2011, aiming to introduce overseas guests to places they can get a taste of real Japan, and are not part of tour packages that seem identical or created by some standard.
We believe that off-the-beaten path in Japan resonates strongly with overseas guests, allowing visitors to explore lesser known cultural sites of Japan and at the same time to savor the authentic flavors of Japan.
Our staff are all native Japanese and holders of National Guide - Interpreter License. We make the most of being native Japanese in offering to our clients native knowledge of Japan, which has been cultivated over the years by actually living and experiencing every event as Japanese. We also maintain a vast and extensive network of contacts throughout the country, which makes it easier for us to get information useful for our tours, such as selecting ryokans, hotels, transports, cultural visits, etc.
We have been constantly on the road to thoroughly research towns and villages, and even esoteric Buddhist temples located at mountain top. Currently, we have two travel routes, which are the cream of the crop for us after we strived quite some time to present customers with what we believe are the best.
We create our own tours built on our past experiences as registered national tour guide. We hold firm to a credo that "honesty", "sincerity", and "humility" are among other things the greatest assets in tour businesses. And we are proud to say that those properties are what our culture stands for.
Group Size
Our tours are small in group size, ranging from two to six participants.
This is because we would like to provide personalized care to each member of the group to have every need attended to and to develop a cordial and amicable relationship among the group members.
The small group size is best suited for families and friends who are considering visiting Japan among themselves.
Custom, Private and Family Tours
We are more than happy to create tours tailored to your curiosity and needs.
Financial Protection
The money paid by clients to Gem Japan Tours is 100 % protected against the unlikely event of financial insolvency of Gem Japan Tours. Gem Japan Tours has deposited with Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau the amount of money stipulated under the terms of the Travel Agency Law of Japan.
This compensation bond provides security for your financial protection and peace of mind.
