Our team at Inside Japan Tours
The sun never sets on the InsideJapan Tours team (well, maybe on Sundays) as we have offices in Bristol (UK), Boulder, (USA), Brisbane (Australia) and Nagoya (Japan). On this page you can meet the people behind our Japan tours and holidays.
We have a wide range of backgrounds and interests, but you can be sure that the one thing that ties us all together is a love of Japan, Japanese culture and a passionate desire to share that with other people.
From the accounts department, through the travel consultant teams to the tour leaders and guides on the ground, you can rest assured that everything we do is to make sure you have the best possible experience of Japan.

- Samantha Barrow
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9734
- Location (Bristol, UK)
Before joining us at Inside Japan, Samantha spent two years as a coordinator for international relations on the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) programme in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture.
While part of JET, it was Samantha's job to work with local businesses and the tourism association to find ways of attracting inbound travellers - an experience that has set her in good stead for her role as a travel consultant, sending travellers to Japan! Her main focus was the hot spring town of Kinosaki Onsen, so if you ever need to know where to find its best ryokan inns, its tastiest food, or the mineral composition of each onsen bath - you know who to call.
Samantha originally became interested in Japanese history when she attempted to read the Tale of Genji - a one-thousand-year-old novel by Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu. Though her attempt failed, she was inspired by a traditional world of geisha and samurai to visit Japan for herself.
While living in Toyooka, Samantha loved being surrounded by the mountains, rivers, beaches and hot springs of her adopted hometown, which she considers her favourite place in Japan. Samantha also took part in a six-month tea ceremony course in Kobe for retirees (she was a special exception), where she learned the art of pouring tea with Japanese grandpas and grandmas - who became her first friends in Japan and kept her well provided with gifts and dinners.
As well as her time in Japan, Samantha has lived in France - where she worked in a hostel - and Switzerland, where she worked in a luxury hotel while doing a ski season. As an ardent foodie, she plans all her travels around eating - and has been known to arrange whole trips around visiting a certain restaurant or eating a certain delicacy!
What is your favourite Japanese food or drink?
I already have a plan of the things I'll eat when I go back to Japan: okonomiyaki and an ice-cold beer are my favourites! I also love mochi (pounded rice cake), especially when it has a hidden surprise inside. My favourite is ichigo daifuku (mochi with a whole fresh strawberry inside).

- Amy Tadehara
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 303 242 5506
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Mark Johnson
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9744
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Alison Muskett
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9746
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Halley Trujillo
- Senior Sales Team Leader, Training and Development
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Claire Brothers
- Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9752
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Katrina Cordery
- Senior Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3378
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Toby Gallagher
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9745
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Rachel Rykala
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3379
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Niko Bowinski
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 744 0204
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Benjamin Guest
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3278
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Grant Ekelund
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 465 5301
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Alice Volkmar
- Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 463 3550
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Tim Grisbrooke
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3471
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Kester Wright
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3470
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Anna Sears
- Senior Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 316 7365
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Dan Campbell
- Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Samantha Barrow
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9734
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Paul O'Brien
- Senior Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 244 3372
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Sally Edwards
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 642 1121
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Kana Van Sandt
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 465 6255
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Lachlan Woodland
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Aaron Boothe
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9749
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Julia Anukam
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3389
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Anna Tattersall
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 370 9763
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Holly Brown
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3380
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- John Todd
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 07 3703 3838
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Emily Templeman
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Leslie Wharton
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 439 7751
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Shakira Johnson
- Senior Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 720 439 7753
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Imogen Lacey
- Senior Sales Team Leader
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 244 3387
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Adeline Kuroki
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 791 5531
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Bruno Carrillo
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: AU 07 3703 3838
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Michael Trombold
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 791 5535
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Becky Barry
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 244 3473
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Natalie Collar
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 791 5532
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Sora Jang
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Steven McCready
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3476
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Abby Owers
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 244 3264
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Jon Belcher
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 642 1120
- Location (Boulder, US)
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- Naomi Norton
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 370 9756
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Sophie Dowdeswell
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 370 9766
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Charlie Orr
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 0117 244 3467
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Thomas Lewis
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 07 3703 3838
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Nicole Rhoden
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 642 1123
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Malcolm House
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Karin Tompkins
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]japantours.com
- Call: US 720 316 9308
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Ricky Sheward
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Tim Supplitt
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 463 3551
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Daniel Zehr
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 702 439 7752
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Kirsten Belinsky
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: US 720 316 9029
- Location (Boulder, USA)
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- Joshua Locke
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: 01172443468
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Babur Moghul
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Call: UK 0117 992 7063
- Location (Bristol, UK)
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- Rory Burgin
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Lachlan Miller
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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- Samantha Ng
- Travel Consultant
- Email: [email protected]
- Location (Brisbane, Australia)
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