Arigato Travel / Arigato Japan Food Tours

Melissa led us through Dotonbori area on the Absolute Osaka food tour on a freezing cold day and made sure to treat us with the coziest spots and foods. The takoyaki set was amazing and I never thought my favorite flavor would be salt and green onion. Great find. She also guided us through alleys and showed a statue of Fudō-Myo, one of the Buddha entities that people have been watered for decades so it’s covered in moss, a true gem! And I couldn’t finish this without mentioning the Izakaya where there only us as foreigners and the rest only salary men. Needless to say it was the most local experience. Highly recommend. Melissa was all about good vibes, thank you!

We just returned from Japan so I wanted to definitely sit down and make the time to tell the world about some of the tours and places we visited. We had an opportunity to take a morning tour of Tsukiji fish market ("Private Tsukiji Breakfast") in Tokyo with Shigeki-san of Arigato travel. This was our 2nd visit to Tsukiji and our first visit was with a tour guide as well. However, the difference was night and day. Our first tour was more of a person who just walked the stalls with us speaking Japanese when we wanted to order something. Helpful, but not in-depth by any means. Shigeki-san gave us the full treatment including a carefully thought-out plan including a coffee while we discussed our day, a quick sit-down bite to eat before we got started on the tour, bites of traditional and new tik-tok-y type of foods and recommendations on where we should come back should we want to buy anything like knives or a wasabi-grater. I'm in my 50's and I've loved Japanese culture for a while and I will even admit that I learned 3 or 4 new things on this tour. My entire family had an absolute blast picking out our foods while walking the stalls of Tsukiji, then sitting down for our "picnic" to enjoy them when we were done. Shigeki-san was an excellent host - upbeat, knowledgeable, and very friendly. We highly recommend him and this tour at Arigato Travel/Food Tours.

We did the 3 Hour tour with Laiana in Uji where we covered a few shrines and temples, lunch included, a personal matcha experience and we got to try other Japanese treats. I think highly recommend this tour when in Uji for a unique experience. Thank you Laiana for sharing your knowledge, spending half the day with us and also adjusting our itinerary as needed due to delays. We are super appreciative given we know this is not the norm. It was lovely getting to know you and we learnt a lot about history, customers and Japanese etiquette.

We had an amazing matcha tour in Uji with Laiana - it was one of the highlights of my trip. Our guide was warm, knowledgeable, and brought local history to life. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch, delicious matcha sweets and ice cream, and visited beautiful temples, museum and a peaceful shrine. A perfect blend of culture, learning, and incredible flavors — highly recommend!

We did two food tours with Arigato during our recent trip—one in Tokyo with the incredibly entertaining Daniel, and another in old-town Osaka with the wonderful Natsumi. Both were fantastic experiences! The Tokyo tour included sushi so good it literally brought a tear to my eye, and the Osaka tour was a total blast from start to finish. Highly recommend Arigato and their amazing guides!

My wife and I recently joined a food tour in Osaka, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. Our guide, Natsumi, was absolutely wonderful—helpful, knowledgeable, and personable from start to finish. Natsumi introduced us to hidden gems and local specialties we would never have tried. Each stop came with fascinating stories about the history and culture behind the dishes. What impressed us most was that she didn’t just focus on food. Natsumi also shared general advice about traveling in Japan, including tips on shopping. My wife especially appreciated her recommendations, which made our time exploring Osaka’s shops even more enjoyable. By the end of the tour, we were full—not just of incredible food, but of knowledge and appreciation for Japanese culture. We parted ways feeling enriched and grateful. If you’re visiting Osaka and want more than just a meal, but a true cultural experience, I highly recommend booking a tour with Natsumi.

We had a wonderful day in Uji with our lovely guide, Lyanna. She explained so many aspects of Japanese culture and society to us. The visit to the oldest matcha shop was a special treat. Uji is as charming as it is interesting. Thank you so much for fascinating tour, Lyanna (I hope I spelled your name correctly!).

We took the Golden Gai food tour with Daniel, and this was by far my favorite experience during our trip to Tokyo. It wasn't just Golden Gai, but a thorough tour of all of Shinjuku, to all the post-WWII black markets like Omoide Yokocho and Kabukicho. Had the most delicious food. Come hungry! Best of all, we had the greatest tour guide, Daniel, who was able to provide us the most interesting background and history of both the area and food. I plan to bring my husband next year, and I will specifically ask to see if Daniel is available! Thanks again for a wonderful experience!

The next installment in Shana stand in series. A food tour!! Earlier this month, I took a trip to Japan with my adult nonbinary child, Meredith. We spent a week in country, with that time split between Tokyo (4 days) and Kyoto (3 days). While we were in Tokyo, we took what was billed as a Kawaii Food Tour of the ultra-cool Harajuku neighborhood. Our tour was led by Michie, one of Arigato Travel's senior guides. Our trip to Japan was a lifelong dream, and this tour was definitely a highlight of the trip! Meredith and I are foodies with adventurous palettes and a love for all things kawaii, and this tour more than delivered. The tour began and ended with dessert stops (see pics) but by no means was this just a nonstop sweets fest. I was surprised and delighted to find that a proper lunch was also on the itinerary: savory and quite healthy Osaka pancakes! I wish I could remember the name of the restaurant where we lunched because it was itself a very cute place, with walls adorned with unique murals. Michie mentioned the owners are either themselves artists or maybe just art aficionados who invite local artists to redo the walls on a monthly basis. How cool is that? Harajuku is just amazing! Additionally, we took a stop to a fun local sticker shop called B Side Labels, which we immediately fell in love with. We each got a sticker souvenir as part of the tour!  I want to be sure to take a moment to praise Michie as a guide and a professional. She was charming, knowledgeable, and kept the tour moving at a swift but manageable pace. Meredith and I were not the only people on the tour. With us were an Australian grandmother and her young granddaughter, so Michie had 4 people of quite varying ages to entertain and guide, and she handled it all very, very well. And in the rain, to boot!  If you are ever in Tokyo I highly recommend this tour! Arigato Food Tours, of Arigato Travel Japan.

Arigato Japan Food Tours is HIGHLY Recommended! The fun, casual atmosphere provided by Yuko S. was fantastic! If you want to see a good combination between the "touristy" thing and the "secret good stuff", you should absolutely do at least one of these tours! Side note: There are also tours that are Accessible, so those in wheelchairs can also participate! (Be sure to contact Arigato first to see which ones)

Cannot recommend this service enough. My wife and I used Arigato Travel for a food tour in Osaka. Our guide's name was Akiko and she made the entire time so much fun. Being local to Osaka, she knew all the history and inside information about the city and it made it muc more enjoyable having someone with so mucn pride for their city giving us a tour of the sites and the foods. The variety of food that was offered throughout the food tour was awesome and very different from each other and by the end, we definitely ate until we were ready to drop. It was such a friendly and awesome day and we would do it again! Thank you Akiko!!

Our family literally just left Yuki after an amazing time together and I wanted to say how awesome she is and what a wonderful tour this was throughout Shibuya. We LOVED her and couldn't have been happier with what we ate, saw and talked about. She is excellent and what a wonderful person!!

We did the walking food tour. It started in Shibuya. Our guide was Tim, Tim was awesome. Tim was from Canada, but has lived in Japan for 6+ years. The best part of the tour was Tim's knowledge of Japanese culture. Tim explained a ton of the small details, that helped us the rest of the trip. The tour was fun, there were 8 of us and Tim made 9. We had sushi at one stop. We made a Japanese savory pancake at another stop, Kobe beef skewer was another stop followed by octopus balls. They were pieces of octopus in a batter, they had a crunchy exterior and gooey in the center. Those were my favorite. We ended with a pastry that had different fillings. I had the white bean, it was good. The tour was just the right amount of food and walking. We had a great time.

As a well seasoned world traveler, I have experienced hundreds of tours, but none can compare with Arigato Japan Food Tours. The opportunity to experience Japanese culture and the history behind their delicacies from a local guide, added incredible depth to our trip. We took several of their tours along our journey throughout Japan, and these tours were truly one of the most superior highlights of our vacation! Arigato caters to everyone, including those of us with gourmet pallets, such as my own. I cannot recommend this company enough. I have huge respect for Arigato Japan's local tour guides, who consistently went far above and beyond to share their personal love and excitement for food, Japanese culture, and interesting historical facts! We learned so much, and we ate a ton of deliciousness! Restaurant owners personally catered to us, which added an even higher level of entertainment, and our guides were also very flexible if we saw some interesting street food along the way that we wanted to dip into! Japan has the most delicious and interesting food options ever! I HIGHLY recommend Arigato Japan for your food tours in several different Japanese cities. I love the cultural depth they added to our Japan vacation, which we would not have experienced otherwise. Also, a truly heartfelt thank you to Anne Kyle, CEO of Arigato Food Tours, Japan. Your tour guides spoke very highly of your passion and dedication to ensure that each of your customers experience a tour of a lifetime, which we did!

WOW! What an amazing experience. I went on the All Star Food Tour. The food quality was top notch. The atmosphere of each stop along the way was great. The staff was extremely knowledgeable on the history of Japan and how that is intertwined with the culture and food. Satoshi was my tour guide. He was amazing! He shared so much information with us about the culture and food. My original contact with Arigato Japan Food Tour was with Lauren Shannon. She was quick to respond with tour information and made the entire experience easy! Mahalo Lauren! I will be taking another tour on my next trip to Tokyo. Well done Arigato.

I enjoyed my food tour with Arigato Japan Food Tours when I visited Tokyo. The staff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable. I enjoyed how much I learned about the history of Japan itself not only just the food. When I return I will be taking another tour! Mahalo to Lauren!!

Truly the best food tour I have ever been on! I have no complaints. From the start everything ran smooth. The guide was exciting, polite, and informative. Not only did I learn about the restaurants we stopped at but also the food, culture, and traditions of Japan. I left the tour completely stuffed with new knowledge and food. I now recommend this tour to all of my friends heading to Japan.

I had a great time on the All star Food Tour. Our guide was very informative and had a great personality. The food was delicious at each spot. I will be booking another trip when I come back in the spring. Well done arigato!!!!!

I came here with a friend to learn how to make sushi! It was something I've always wanted to do and it was an incredible experience. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and it was very very enjoyable. We made different kinds of sushi and decorated it and had a blast. It was the best decision ever to try it out- I'll remember it forever (:

We took the Walking Food Tour of Shibuya at Night and our guide was Aiko. Aiko met us on time and even provided us with hand warmers since it was a cold day. She was the best guide we've had in Tokyo. Not only did she took us to places to taste authentic Japanese food, she took time to explain Japanese culture and along the way, she even showed us around places with interesting facts and relevance to Japanese history and culture. The places where she took us to taste these food served one of the best that you'd be able to try in Japan from the sushi to the Kobe skewers to the dessert. You'll get more than your money's worth with Arigato Tours and especially with Aiko as your guide. She was quite courteous and friendly and spoke impeccable English. Aiko even went out of her way after the tour to guide and assist us to the subway station into our next destination.

My husband and I did the Shibuya Walking Food yesterday. Our host Asami and Asha were fantastic. We not only had great local food testing we also learn a lot about the Japanese table etiquette. Great tour, highly recommended. Thanks you, Asami and Asha!

On our first day in Tokyo we went on a walking food tour booked by our tour company. The tour was 3 hours of walking through a cluster of restaurants and souvenir shops. Our guide had no knowledge of local customs or the history of the area. We had a cheap lunch and some ice cream afterwards. Terrible tour, avoid at all times. Worst experience in Tokyo

Asami was a wonderful guide who took us to several interesting and "out of the way" places to sample a variety of food and drinks on the Retro Shibuya Food Tour. She was extremely accommodating and a great communicator as she spent over 10 years in the U.S. I would highly recommend this tour.

Japan has awesome food, there is no doubt about it. I have been there several times before but this is the first time my husband went and so we took a food tour. In fact, we took three! One in Tokyo, one in Kyoto and another in Osaka. THESE ARE SO WORTH IT! Not only do you learn about the many food places but you learn about the culture as well. This education is invaluable. There are so many tiny places tucked away in alleys in Japan that you would never think to go in. However, with a knowledgable guide like you get with Arigato Food Tours, you get to discover them. They teach you how to order; Japanese history; why areas have certain types of food as opposed to other areas and more! They even navigate markets with you! I ate things I never would have tried on my own. As my skillful guide said, "Close your eyes and take a bite. You won't regret it!" We certainly didn't. I lived in Japan for almost a year and never got to know as much as I did from these tours!

We took two food tours with this company while in Japan. The Uji matcha tour near Kyoto and the kawaii tour in Tokyo. I highly recommend this option for families as a great way to learn a bit about the food,culture, and customs of Japan, and enjoy a new city. Our tour guides were fabulous and the ease of booking the tour makes this a definite hit with our family of four.