The questions
we get most.

People who want a curated, high-taste Japan without spending fifty hours planning it, who are happy walking and taking trains, and who would rather go deep in a few places than tick off many. It isn't for anyone expecting door-to-door cars, a fifty-person coach, or a minute-by-minute schedule. The honest checklist is on the Chapter Japan page.

A five-minute form: who you are, why Japan, what a great trip looks like to you. We read every one ourselves, usually within a couple of days, then a short WhatsApp conversation and a fifteen-minute call. We're building a group of twelve people who'll enjoy a table together — curious, easy company, comfortable handing the planning to someone who has done it properly. There is no perfect traveller.

No. Nothing is due until you're selected, you've said yes, and you choose to secure a seat.

It's the norm, not the exception — a good share of every group comes alone, and selecting the group is what makes that comfortable. You'll twin-share with another guest of the same gender by default, or add a single-room supplement and have your own room throughout.

Yes — people who apply together travel on one booking, with one price and one payment schedule, which keeps things simple if plans change. Tell us in the application. For children, write to us first; the itinerary walks a lot and some days run late.

Never more than twelve. Every departure needs at least six to run, and if we don't reach that we may cancel — but never later than 30 days before travel, so you always know a month out. If we cancel for numbers you receive 100% of everything you've paid, deposit included, with processing charges absorbed by us. Visa fees paid directly to VFS or the embassy sit outside that.

Eleven nights — 4★-standard hotels in Tokyo and Osaka plus the onsen ryokan at Kawaguchiko — shinkansen and rail, a ¥20,000 Suica, an unlimited eSIM, breakfast every day, the welcome lunch box, the kaiseki dinner, the Dōtonbori crawl, luggage forwarding, every headline experience ticketed, visa fees and processing, a hardbound itinerary, and the founders alongside you. The full list, and what's not in, is on the Chapter Japan page.

No, on purpose — fares move weekly, and locking them into a headline price means padding it or repricing you later. Tell us your preference and we book at the live fare on the same itinerary as the group: premium economy from around ₹1.2L, business from around ₹2.05L, ex-Bengaluru. Or book your own and meet us there.

₹15,000 secures your seat and locks your price. You have 48 hours from paying it to change your mind for a full refund, no questions asked. After that it's non-refundable — but it isn't an extra charge: it's adjusted in full against your trip cost. Your Visa Guide is sent the same day.

Two payments after the deposit: 50% of the trip cost 75 days before departure (the deposit counts towards it), and the balance 46 days before. Book inside those windows and the amounts already due are payable at booking. The full schedule is in Section 3 of the Terms.

Yes — GST and 2% TCS, as applicable under Government of India rules, shown to you before you pay. Prices on the site are per person, twin sharing, exclusive of both. Applicants who aren't Indian residents pay statutory charges as applicable to them.

Yes, if you'd rather not twin-share. Tell us on the call and we'll confirm the figure for your dates before you commit to anything.

The charge is a percentage of your full trip cost, counted from the day we receive your notice in writing, and it rises as departure nears — because with twelve seats and a minimum of six, a late cancellation puts the trip at risk for everyone else. 90 or more days out: only the deposit. 60–89 days: 25%. 45–59 days: 50%. 30–44 days: 75%. Inside 30 days: 100%. Anything you've paid above the charge is refunded, less 3% (portal) or 5% (EMI) processing. Full detail in Section 5 of the Terms.

Once, if you ask 60 or more days before your original departure, there's space on the new one, and we're able to fill the seat you're leaving. You pay any rate difference plus costs on the original departure we can't recover. If we can't fill your seat, the ordinary cancellation charge applies.

Where the suppliers allow it, yes — subject to eligibility, name-change fees and any fare differences. Airlines generally don't permit name changes on issued tickets, so flights are usually the sticking point.

If it's refused, or hasn't arrived by departure, after a complete and on-time application — tell us straight away. If we can fill your seat before departure, you get everything back, deposit included, less any costs we genuinely can't recover, or you move to a later departure at no charge. If we can't fill it, the cancellation charge for that date applies. Because we file the whole group's visas the week the window opens, refusals surface early and seats are usually refillable.

For numbers — never later than 30 days out — you get 100% of everything paid, deposit included, processing charges on us. For a genuine force majeure event (earthquake, typhoon, pandemic, airline grounding) suppliers generally don't refund us either, so we pass on whatever we recover, add no charge of our own, and work out the best option with you: a later departure, a credit, or a partial refund. It's all in Section 12.

Indian passport holders need a tourist visa for Japan, and we handle it — fees and processing are included. Your Visa Guide arrives the day your deposit lands, we tell you exactly what to submit, and we check every document before it goes in. Other passports: write to us and we'll confirm what applies. Issuance is entirely at the discretion of the Japanese authorities; we guide, but nobody can guarantee an outcome.

Japanese applications can only be filed within 90 days of travel, so we collect everyone's documents in advance and submit the whole group together the week the window opens. Your Visa Guide gives you the document deadline — meeting it is the one part that's on you. A late document set means a late application.

Tell us immediately. It's treated exactly like your own refusal: if we can fill the seats, you get everything back less what we can't recover, or a later departure; if we can't, the cancellation charge for that date applies. Booking as one family is what makes this simple.

Yes — comprehensive cover including medical emergencies is mandatory for every traveller, and it's arranged by you, not included in the package. We'll tell you what the policy needs to cover, and you share the details with us before departure.

A hardbound, personalised itinerary posted to you — one per family or travelling group — with every day, every address, every train and the restaurants we'd send you to each night. Alongside it: your visa confirmation, the airport-to-hotel guide, a packing note for November weather, and a group chat with the people you're travelling with.

Moderately. It's a walking trip rather than a trekking one — eight to twelve thousand steps on a full day, stations with stairs, temple grounds on slopes. Nothing technical, no climbing, and the two fork days exist partly so you can rest. Japan is properly experienced on foot and by train, so that's how the days are built. Tell us in your application about anything you'd like planned around.

Yes — the people who built the itinerary travel alongside the group from start to finish, as fellow travellers who know every train and every restaurant on it. Where licensed guiding is needed, an appropriately qualified professional provides it.

You follow the written airport-to-hotel guide we send you — the right train, the right exit, the walk from the station. Airport transfers aren't part of the package, and that first fare is yours. Your Suica is waiting at check-in.

A Suica card pre-loaded with ¥20,000 is at your hotel on arrival and covers your metros, buses, trams and the Miyajima ferry for the whole trip. The bullet-train legs are covered by a rail pass. A Japan eSIM with unlimited data is set up before you leave the airport.

Breakfast every morning, the Day 1 welcome lunch box, the kaiseki dinner at the ryokan, and the Dōtonbori street-food crawl. The other lunches and dinners are yours to choose — from a shortlist we've eaten our way through, printed in your itinerary for every day.

On Day 5 it's forwarded from Tokyo to Osaka while you travel to Fuji with an overnight bag, so you never haul a suitcase through a station without lifts. You unpack properly three times: Tokyo, the ryokan, Osaka.

Always — two fork days are yours entirely, most evenings are free, and nobody counts you onto a coach. Anything included that you choose to skip isn't refunded, and optional upgrades are booked by us and paid by you.

4★-standard hotels a short walk from a main station in Tokyo and Osaka, and an onsen ryokan on the lake at Kawaguchiko. We name them on your call rather than here, because we hold rooms at more than one and confirm the best available for the group.