About US
Luxury Food & Culture Tours of Japan
If you’ve been searching for an authentic, fascinating, luxurious (and fun!) Japanese cuisine and culture tour, you’ve landed in the right place. Zenbu Tours, operating since 2013, is owned by food and travel writer Jane Lawson, a passionate and knowledgeable Japanophile with 40 years immersive Japan travel and research under her belt. Jane develops and hosts all our Zenbu Travel’s scheduled tours, and personally designs every self-guided itinerary.
Zenbu Tours offer exceptional, small-group culinary travel. Our fully-escorted tours are immersive, inspiring, connected and incomparable; hosted by one, sometimes two, friendly and obsessive Japanophiles who live and breath the country and its culture.
All our itineraries feature superb accommodations and dining (plus other fascinating real food experiences), private transport, rare access to homes and businesses, cultural experts, and offer deep insight into the Japanese lifestyle, psyche and culinary culture.
We’ve never run the same itinerary twice, thanks to the number of repeat customers we receive. However, if folks miss out on a particular tour and there’s considerable interest, we’ll certainly run something similar, but never a carbon copy.
Food Experiences
While you may taste your way through everything from handmade tofu and noodles to the most sublime Kaiseki and delectable sashimi, savour miso, pickles, divinely marbled wagyu, just caught seafood, ethereal tempura and addictive yakitori, as well as sample various teas, traditional sweets, regional sake and handcrafted senbei (rice crackers which are like nothing you’ve tried outside Japan) – your senses will be captivated by the much bigger culinary picture; the people, the provenance and food’s part in Japanese history and culture.
No one can eat all day of course, so our schedules are filled with ancient temples & stroll gardens, majestic markets, exemplary museums and galleries, scenic drives and quietly meandering laneways that will take your breath away. You’ll be introduced to traditional and contemporary Japanese crafts, arts, architecture, design, style, as well as intriguing chefs, farmers, fisherfolk and food craftspeople (including some fiesty obaachan/ grannies!) and listen to folklore and ghost tales whilst absorbing the kinetic energy of the past and present-day Japan.
Small Group Travel
We pride ourselves on being as flexible as possible on tour, which is only possible with small-group travel and why we limit our tours to 8 guests. On occasion, itinerary dependent, we may extend to 10 lovely travellers … depending on the region being visited and the original group agreeing to the increase.
We are caring, and we listen. Our priority is to ensure you have the most wonderful experience in Japan. The Japanese have a saying Ichigo Ichi-e which means you only get one opportunity to make a good impression or connection – and we hope your Zenbu Tour is the best guided tour you’ll encounter – whether it’s your first, second or tenth with us.
Before booking, most of our clients insist ‘we aren’t really tour people’ – and we get that – neither were we. Jane developed Zenbu Tours with her ‘ideal tour’ in mind so if you’ve not travelled with us yet, get ready to have your mindset altered! Our regulars have become like family to us, and many friendships have been formed along the way.
Join one of Zenbu Tour’s Japanese food tour experiences and get to know the real Japan and the meaning of hospitality.
We know you’ll fall in love with this incredible country, and develop a deeper relationship on return. And you will return. Japan has a habit of getting under your skin. Prepare to be delighted.
TOURS
Your Host
Jane Lawson is the author of ‘Zenbu Zen – finding food, culture and balance in Kyoto’, ‘Yoshoku’, ‘A little taste of Japan’ and ‘Tokyo Style Guide’ . She is currently beavering away on her 5th Japan title. Jane’s articles on Japanese cuisine, culture and travel can be found in many print and online publications and she regularly declares her love for Japan over the airways; and further spreads the joy of Japan by presenting at events for tourism and media on behalf of Japanese government and tourism bodies.