Jeremy Owen took us to the Saitama prefeture, a region full of nature, tradition and history. We had a marvellous day, exploring the beauty of this pre-alpine territory. He was very narrative, informative , we never had a dull moment😁. Knows all about this theme, tells wonderous stories, connecting past and present. Had a great lunch in a family-owned traditional restaurant (that serves delicious pizza!). Although I was stil dealing with a foot-injury, I could do the whole tour. Jeremy even proposed to change the itinary. Afterwards, he sent us a detailed description of this trip, which was much appreciated. This day was a highlight in our Japan-experience. Will not be forgotten. Thank you, Jeremy Owen.

Really enjoyed this fascinating tour with Jeremy (especially the lunch of cheese pizzas with honey drizzled on it - yummy!). We had been to Tokyo before so wanted to venture out into the surrounding countryside and we were glad we did it! Jeremy is a wealth of information about the Japanese culture and history. Highly recommend this tour.

Had lots of fun chatting. Jeremy was funny and kind. Went to really obscure but pretty places with essentially nobody around us, which is rare around Tokyo.

I cannot say enough good things about this tour and Jeremy the tour operator. Pick-up at our hotel in Akasaka on time with good communication prior to pickup. Jeremey kept us engaged sharing his extensive knowledge and history of the area and much about his life during the ride out and back to Tokyo. Upon reaching the countryside we had a casual drive through Jeremy's town, then around the mountain roads to visit two beautiful temples 1300+ years old and a huge statue / shrine display. Unlike Kyoto with its throngs of people earlier this week on our trip, each huge, well kept, beautiful temple and the shrine had fewer than a dozen people! We had much back and forth conversations in English (he also speaks excellent Japanese) and Jeremey is very open to questions about anything on the tour, sites we visited etc... and quite willing to say I don't know about that; instead of making something up which I really value in a tour operator. I also know he will be researching information on some of our questions just to make himself a better-informed tour guide. He is always looking to improve his craft! Just stunning scenic views as you are driven up mountain roads to each location. Don’t fret about the driving as Jeremy is a pro and we felt safe the entire tour. Lunch was a really unique and cool experience of juxtapositioned cultures where we ate fantastic brick oven pizza (4 cheese with special local honey) in a very traditional Japanese setting (low tables and tono mats) with a beautiful little Japanese garden. The restaurant also had great coffee and melon spritzer drink ending with cherry blossom infused cheesecake! Let Jeremy know if you want traditional Japanese food (EDO) or have any dietary requests as he can adapt to meet your needs. We hit the jackpot with this tour with the best tour guide we ever had! Added bonus as the Sakura were all blooming! Read more about Tokyo Countryside Exploration Private Tour - tokyocountrysidetours.com I won't spoil the surprise with many photos.

This was a wonderful experience! Jeremy is kind, thoughtful and very knowledgeable. He took my friend and I to wonderful spots and customized the tour to our needs and interests. Highly recommended!

I cannot say enough goods things about this tour and Jeremy the tour operator. Pick-up at our hotel in Akasaka on time with good communication prior to pickup. Drove out to the countryside to a most beautiful area to visit two beautiful temples 1300+ years old and a huge statue display. ( I think we shared each temple with fewer than a dozen people! No crowded rush or crush of people like the main temples in Kyoto). Jeremy shared his extensive knowledge and history of the area and much about his life during the ride out and back to Tokyo. Just stunning scenic views as you are driven up mountain roads to each location. Don’t fret about the driving as Jeremy is a pro and we felt safe the entire tour. Lunch was a really unique and cool experience of juxtaposition of cultures, brick oven pizza( 4 cheese with special local honey) in a very traditional Japanese setting with a beautiful little Japanese garden and the low style tables and Tono mats. Great coffee and melon spritzer drink ending with cherry blossom infused cheesecake! We hit the jackpot with this tour as the Sakura were all blooming!

I've visited some unforgettable places and learned a lot during the tour. It was a beautiful getaway from Tokyo, with personalized service that made the experience even more special.

This is not a trip for anyone with a tendency to get car sick. This is a long drive through the winding hills in the woods of the outskirts of Tokyo. You see a few shrines and get green noodles for lunch with no beverage. The guide was in a hurry to finish the tour and take us back to Tokyo . The tour was a huge waste of time.

Our knowledge considerate guide. Seeing the real Japan without crowds and queues. A unique experience. Highly recommended

Our last day in Japan was special touring the countryside with Jeremy, the human encyclopaedia. So very interesting, and passionate about what he does. And so very considerate, effortlessly adapting the route as we went along when he could see my husband was having major issues with mobility. Mountain scenery, a beautiful lake, temples, shrines, statues, lots of stories and a delightful lunch - all without seeing another tourist, no traffic (once out of Tokyo) and NO QUEUES!! Finally saw cherry blossoms. Autumn would be stunning. Highly recommend this experience. Leonie (Australia)

We really enjoyed our tour! Jeremy is great and taught us a lot on our day trip into the Japanese Alps. We learned about Amaterasu, the most powerful Shinto goddess of the sun, Buddha Jizo, who takes the souls of children to Buddhist heaven in his sleeves after crossing the river Sansu, and Youkai or Japanese ghosts. We ate lunch (which was delicious) at the bamboo temple dedicated to Gozu, the torturer in Buddhist hell with the head of a cow and the body of a man. The lucky god of this temple was Benten, the goddess of teaching, music, art and love, also known as Sarasweaty in Hindi. We traveled higher into the mountains to see Torii Kannon, a massive tribute to Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. We visited a pagoda that used to contain the bones of Xuanzang, a monk in the Tang period of China. He followed the footsteps of Dharma, the Indian monk who brought Zen Buddhism to China, and lost the use of his limbs because he spent 15 years meditating in front a wall, trying to think about nothing. The pagoda is now empty, because Japan felt compelled to return the bones to China. We loved seeing this side of Japan and had a wonderful time with our guide - Jeremy is extremely knowledgeable, interesting, and funny! This is an all day tour - I recommend not booking anything too closely after so you can enjoy at a relaxed pace. We learned the most on this tour and I can’t stop thinking about the soba noodles we ate! Thanks, Jeremy!

Need a little more time to take photos and enjoy the sights. A lot of driving through country side. Host very very knowledgeable person.

Seeing lots of interesting sights in the Japanese countryside like rice fields, ancient shrines, magnificent statues hidden in the mountains. Jeremy's excellent knowledge of the culture and history AND his great stories. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of city.

Our guide Owen kept us entertained the whole day with his stories about the temples and his general knowledge of Japan. We saw three temples including lunch at the bamboo temple. Most of the trip was through mountainous countryside with stunning views. Owen managed to scare my girlfriend to death with his stories of the man eating bears in the mountains! The whole trip was thoroughly entertaining thanks to Owens expertise and good humour. We would recommend this excursion as a must do in Japan.

This is a great tour. Jeremy picks you up in his comfortable van and drives you around the Japanese countryside and mountains. He shows you three main locations so far out of the way that you're practically the only tourist there, which is great, especially since the temples and shrines in Tokyo are so crowded. Jeremy studied Japanese history in college so he knows his stuff. His experience as a foreigner living in Japan is also something worth hearing about. Lunch is included in the price and you won't have to spend a single dime on anything other than what you paid for on Viator. Highly recommended.

This was a great tour and Jeremy is an amazing tour guide! He is very knowledgable about history and culture of Japan and he took me to see some beautiful scenery outside of Tokyo. I would highly recommend this tour.

It was a 5 star tour one of the best tours we did on our 6 week trip. Jeremy was prompt knowledgeable and extremely personable. At the end of the tour we felt like family. Tour delivered above what was expected Don’t hesitate to book a tour with Jeremy

My tour was on 01/31/24 with Jeremy as my guide. It was such a wonderful tour and I learnt a lot about the temples we went to, random facts about the surrounding areas, and things about Japan in general. It's so helpful having a tour guide who is fluent in both english and Japanese as he can easily translate. I definitely will book again if I go to Japan again because he has different places to go if you've been to certain temples already.

Jeremy the tour guide was very good and very enthusiastic about showing me the beautiful countryside. He made this private tour very interesting and is very knowledgeable. It was a unique tour that’s different from other “touristy “ tour. This was a more authentic tour. I highly recommend this tour

Jeremy was an amazing guy and amazing tour guide. I loved spending the day with him and learned alot about Japanese Buddhism. It's a great tour to get away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and out into the Japanese countryside. I highly recommend this tour and its definitely the best priced private tour I could out there.