Nakasendo Guidebook On Sale Now!
Nakasendo Guidebook On Sale Now!
Featuring maps, photos, hiking guides, travel advice, history, nature, and much, much more! “Hiking the Nakasendo” is the complete and perfect companion for planning your trip and walking upon the ancient road!
Our Tours
Nakasendo Hiking Tours
Ina Valley Tours
Kiso Valley Tours
Festival Tours
Hakone Tours
Who We Are
Welcome to Really Rural Japan. We are a locally-based, eco-tour operator in the Kiso Valley and Ina Valley of southern Nagano. I am the founder Mike, I specialize in hiking, nature, history, and rural life in the mountains of central Japan. I am also currently the only foreign master craftsman of wara-zaiku, a traditional Japanese craft that makes items out of rice straw. I love the Japanese countryside and want to share with you this beautiful place that I am lucky enough to call home.
Why Choose Us?
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Local Guides
We live local and operate local. Most other operators that run tours here have their HQ somewhere else overseas and bring in their guides from elsewhere too. Local guides are more knowledgeable and more passionate. The money that they earn recirculates in the local economy. More work for local guides means more jobs and more rural migration which helps to boost the declining population.
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Private Tours
We are strong believers in micro-tourism. That is why almost all of our tours are exclusive and private, with a maximum group size of 6. That must be expensive, right? Well, when compared to companies using guides from outside the area, local guides have cheaper transportation costs and won’t need accommodation, so it actually usually works out a whole lot cheaper.
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Customizable
Because we specialize in private tours, everything we do is extremely flexible and can be designed to match your interests, needs, dates, fitness levels, etc. You won’t be rushing or waiting around for other members of a larger group. You’ll spend precisely as much time on each thing as you want. And if there is any time to spare, we’ll use our local knowledge to show you some of the areas lesser known secrets.
