Kyoto's Magic Unveiled: Your Private Unforgettable Photoshoot

We had a wonderful experience with Satoshi! He made the experience enjoyable and comfortable, even for our two small children. Not only did he take beautiful photos, he explained the history and culture of the area. I would absolutely recommend him!

Our photographer was prompt and knowledgeable and made taking photos easy. We got many photos in historical locations around Kyoto. Rent some kimonos and go get photos taken! It’s a great souvenir to commemorate your trip!

Our objective for this trip was to learn about the country, people, culture, history and local customs. In this day of unknowns, we were very luck to found JOURNEY JAPAN, a tour planning company, based out of Kobe, Japan. The entire trip was well planned and executed by them. Any time, we didn't feel rushed. They didn't provide a local guide, which was not needed because our drivers were willingly updating us. We visited Tokyo, Mt. Fuji, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe and Hiroshima in early September 2025. We were delightfully surprised to enjoy Shinkassen train rides 3 times. All of hotels were like Hilton (Odaiba, Tokyo), Marriott Courtyard (Osaka) and top local brands in Shizuoka and Kyoto. Except for Tokyo, all of our hotels were near to the railway stations. They managed our tickets for the attractions and ferries. They provided all of our sumptuous and wide variety dinners in local Indian restaurants. We opted not to eat lunch every day because the hotels provided a variety of vegetarian options. Please note that Japan is a very clean country and you will NOT find any trash lying around. We all could learn from this example. During our travel, we visited many local convenience store and delighted to see the cleanliness, efficiency and product offerings. You must try Japanese snacks, they a delight. We could not visit Mt. Fuji due to a Typhoon with a torrential rain. Luckily, the storm went in to the sea. However, we were able to see it from the distance as the weather cleared. Anywhere, we went and if we needed to ask question, the middle and high school students were more than gracious to assist us. Japan is NOT a tip based country. However, our van drivers were with us for more than 10 hours a day and we appropriately compensated them. We observed that people are of slim figure type because they eat small portions and walk a lot. A large number of people ride bicycle to all types of chores. Just about near all of the railway stations, they have large number of bicycle parking lots. From this trip. I personally have learned a lot and if life permits in future, I would love to visit the western side of the island.

Kimi was the photographer who took our pictures. We have two younger kids and she was so patient and kind. We would definitely recommend her, she knew the best places to take our pictures. We had a great experience.

Unfortunately, we had a similar experience as a previous reviewer. Satoshi sent a message 1.5 hours before the shoot saying that he needed to cancel because he wasn’t feeling well. I understand that these things happen, but he should really have a backup plan/assistant photographer in place for these types of situations.

Highly recommend Satoshi! What a charming and personable guy. Really delighted to spend a few hours with him learning a bit about Japan. His photography skills are excellent - really happy with the photos. So happy that I decided to have a photography session because Satoshi guided us to some beautiful spots and helped manage the crowds. Lovely experience.

Kimi was fantastic. She brought into beautiful locations for a stunning family picture session. She sent us gorgeous edited pictures we will cherish forever. Hanging out with her was a pleasure. She directed the boys to make great poses.

Amazing experience, Satochi made an incredible job with the pictures and made us feel very confident and relaxed. Thank you so much and thank you for capturing our perfect moment! (Proposal 💍)

Very disappointed with my bad experience. Satoshi reached out to me after booking to confirm everything. A few months later, I reached out via WhatsApp the day before just to make sure of the time and meet up spot. I get told that the photographer is sick, and to reschedule. Said I would not be able to reschedule due to it being our last day in Kyoto. There was no communication whatsoever. I send multiple messages and call twice, no answer. My husband and I still made our way to the meetup spot and no one shows up. I finally then get a response that the session is cancelled. I ended up getting a refund but it was a waste of time for me to do my makeup, go shopping for my outfit and go to the meet up spot for nothing. Extreme lack of communication and a waste of our time. If there was an issue, the tour operator should’ve reached out to me first beforehand, not me making effort to reach out first and no response.. I wouldn’t recommend booking if you don’t want to waste your time and effort

So happy we did this, our pictures are amazing! The photographer took his time with us, and we went to several locations. We got hundreds of pictures. Highly recommend!