What I've learned through the years is that Japan museums for kids come down to two categories: places built to be touched, climbed on and shouted at, and places where you're quietly steering a...
Luxury Kyoto Trip: A Boutique Travel Agency’s Guide to Doing It Right
As a Japan-based boutique travel agency, we spend a lot of time with guests who've done the five-star circuit elsewhere first. Luxury in places like Dubai or Paris tends to mean scale: bigger...
10 Best Craft Workshops in Japan to Try on Your Trip
My first attempt at one of the craft workshops in Japan left me with a slightly wonky finished object, but an odd sense of pride I hadn't expected from an hour in a small shop. Nobody warns you...
Types of Performances in Japan: A Guide on What They Are and How to Book
When most travellers think of Japanese performing arts, they picture a silent, dimly lit theater in Kyoto watching a Noh play they barely understand, or a ticket to a high-speed Kabuki show in...
Kyoto vs Osaka: Which City Should First-Time Visitors Choose?
Kyoto vs Osaka is a classic dilemma for anyone planning their first trip to Japan. The two cities sit a fifteen-minute Shinkansen ride apart, close enough that people assume the choice barely...
Lake Biwa Things to Do and Relaxing 2-Day Itinerary
The first time I saw Lake Biwa properly, from the window of a Biwako Line train pulling into Otsu, I was surprised by how big it actually is. You hear "Japan's largest lake" and your brain still...
Best Indoor Play Areas in Tokyo (Perfect for Kids on Hot and Rainy Days!)
Tokyo in summer does something to a family holiday that nobody warns you about. The humidity sits on your chest before nine in the morning, and by midday even the most enthusiastic six-year-old is...
Sake Experiences You Should Try to Taste and Understand Japan’s National Drink
For years, sake for me was just the stuff arriving in a small ceramic flask at the end of an izakaya dinner. It was something I drank because it was there rather than because I understood it. Living...
Tourist Traps in Japan: What to See, What to Skip, and Where to Go Instead
We at Flip have spent years building itineraries for people visiting Japan, and we keep watching the same pattern play out. Someone lands in Tokyo with a list of spots pulled from some old blog...
Travelling Kyoto with Kids: An Honest Family Travel Guide
Kyoto tends to get filed under "serious" travel, the place you go for history and culture rather than fun, and I think that reputation puts a lot of parents off before they have even looked...
20+ Best Things to Do in Japan with Kids
When parents start researching things to do in Japan with kids for their trip, they usually end up frustrated, staring at a list of temples and shrines that look stunning in photographs but are...
Step-by-Step Guide to Planning a Nature-Focused Japan Trip (Tried and Tested by an Agency)
Most people planning a trip to Japan build their route around cities. Tokyo, then Kyoto, maybe Osaka, with a day trip to Nara squeezed in for the deer. It works, and it is a fine trip, I will not...
Home Cooking Classes in Japan: Types, What to Expect, and Where to Book
Japan has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other country outside of France, and it is easy to spend an entire trip eating extraordinarily well without ever touching a kitchen. But as a...
Travelling Japan with Kids? Here are the Best Destinations for Your Family
When my son was born, I quickly realised that I might have to write travel off the calendar for a few years. Planning and managing a trip is hard enough. Adding kids to the equation is, to say the...
Top Japan Cultural Experiences for First-Timers (According to Local Guides!)
One of the reasons Japan is such a popular tourist destination is the sheer number of unique and memorable experiences you can have in the country. But what we have seen as a boutique travel agency...