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), Broomfield, (USA), Brisbane (Australia) and Nagoya (Japan). On this page you can meet the people behind our Japan holidays and tours.

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.

Tomoko Ishikawa
Senior Finance Assistant
Email: [email protected]
Call: JP 052 968 1135
Location (Nagoya, Japan)

Though her roots lie in Niigata, Tomoko has lived all over Japan - including Toyama, Kanazawa, and her current home: Nagoya.

Tomoko has plenty of experience in the travel industry - both from within and without. Before joining the InsideJapan team in 2013, Tomoko spent two years working at a hotel in Kanazawa and three at a hotel in Nagoya. Prior to that, she studied for a degree in English and Chinese, giving her a broad insight into two very disparate languages and cultures - an advantage that has thus far served her well in her work with foreign visitors to Japan.

It was as part of her college lacrosse team that Tomoko first became interested in the tourism industry. While competing in the International Friendship Lacrosse Game in Nagoya, she made sightseeing plans and gave guided tours of Nagoya to American players - showing them Nagoya Castle, the port aquarium, taking them to izakaya and giving them a crash course in Japanese karaoke! This experience made a big impression on Tomoko, and seeing her American friends getting such enjoyment from Japanese food and culture is what encouraged her to enter the travel industry.

Tomoko's favourite travel experiences to date have been visiting Korea's Jeju Island, where she loved trying Korean foods, getting a proper Korean body scrub and hiking at Halla Mountain; and spending four months in Alberta, Canada, as a student. At a freezing -27 degrees, this was the first time Tomoko experienced real cold!

Today Tomoko continues helping foreign visitors to discover Japan through her work at InsideJapan Tours. In her spare time she loves watching movies, playing football and lacrosse - as well as having an interest in kimono, calligraphy and Cath Kidston!

What would you say to persuade someone to visit Japan?

"Japan has such a unique culture, and absolutely delicious food. I highly recommend staying at traditional Japanese inns (ryokan and minshuku), and eating out at an izakaya - the Japanese version of a pub. You're guaranteed to have a wonderful experience that you can't get anywhere else in the world.

"On top of all of this, it is only by going to Japan that you can experience true omotenashi - Japan's famous hospitality."

Relive a favourite moment in Japan...

Living in Kanazawa

"I lived in Kanazawa for two years, and it's my favourite place in Japan. The food is delicious, especially the fresh fish and traditional sweets, and there are so many cultural things to see and do - from the famous landscape garden Kenrokuen to traditional kaga yuzen kimono and preserved samurai residences. My favourite thing to do in Kanazawa is to visit the "Ninja Temple" - it's so much fun!"