What‘s Included

Meeting and Pickup

What To Expect

Reviews

• Never again will I book with takako tours! $460 wasted.

  Lori T,

  Sep 29, 2025

  - Viator

  1.00

  Do not book this tour if you get takako tours as the provider. We were picked up and the person said his name was Paresh (sp?) he was Pakistani living in Tokyo. He said he had to drive 4 hours to get to our hotel. I felt bad for him, but we paid for this tour. We got in the car and he drove off. We waited for him to give us information about Nagano, but there was silence. We started asking questions. His English was okay and we understood most of what he said. He took us to Matsushiro Castle first, and when he parked, I asked him if he was coming in. He said no, he'd wait in the car. So no tour or guide going into this castle. It was free admission, and we wandered around before returning to the car. We were then driven to the Monkey Park. He parked in a parking lot and told us to walk up the road, take the first right, and keep walking to get to the parking lot for the park. He remained in the car and there was no "guide or tour". At this point, I was utterly disappointed with this "tour." During our drive, we had to ask questions about the area, and he couldn't answer some of them. He also didn't let us know that the monkeys were no longer in the park. He could have offered a different site if he found out the monkeys were gone. We reached the beginning of the park, and there was a sign saying the monkeys went back to the forest. At the park, you need to hike up a path about 1.8 km, and then you get to the real entrance of the park, where you need to hike uphill another .2 km. and pay the entrance fee. Also, there are no restrooms once you leave the park parking lot. Another thing to be careful of is that the listing for this tour says that all the activity fees are included, but when you look at the itinerary, it says the fees are not included. The park visit was supposed to last 3 hours, but since there were no monkeys, we decided not to hike up to the entrance or pay for entry. We returned to the car and the driver said the next stop is Zenkoji Temple--which is right by our hotel. My husband had the itinerary and he said what about the visit Shibu Onsen. The driver said that the tour was actually over since we were supposed to stay 3 hours in the monkey park. Even though it wasn't even noon, and our tour was supposed to be TEN hours, he wanted to take us back. There were five stops on the itinerary and after two stops he wanted to take us back to Zenkoji Temple which would be the last stop. We asked him if there was anywhere we could get lunch and he said no, not really. We asked if Shibu Onsen would have any place to eat and he said he didn't think so. We insisted he drop us off at Shibu Onsen and we walked around the little town. We did find a little restaurant and had cold ramen, which was delicious. After we left Shibu Onsen our driver took us to Zenkoji Temple. He dropped us off and told us we had an hour and to meet him back at the drop-off point. We were told to call him when we got back to the dropoff point. Zenkoji Temple was fascinating, and because he gave us only an hour to visit, we didn't have a chance to see the shopping street. We got picked up at 9:30 am and dropped off at 16:30. This was not a ten hour tour. Oh, and at the end of the tour, our guide became very chatty and said to please give him a good review and mention his name, which changed to Bilal. I thought he said his name was Pareesh or Pavreesh. Our ten-hour tour was actually 7 hours and we visited only three of the five destinations which was listed on the itinerary. And, if we hadn't insisted, we would have only seen two out of the three. I would really like my money back because this tour was so disappointing. I've booked a lot of tours in Japan, and I'm surprised that Viator would use this company, given their poor performance. Remember, cancel your booking if you get takako tours. Also, there are bus tours sold at the Nagano Train stations for the Monkey Park--I'm not sure how much it costs.

• Great experience

  Yiming H,

  Jun 26, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Sarfraz was a great guide. He was extremely nice and funny, and his car was clean, comfortable, and luxurious. The snow monkey park is definitely worth visiting and he made the experience very enjoyable. Highly recommend.

• Wonderful Day Tour

  Lewis M,

  May 20, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Hamza made our experience wonderful. Loved the tour from beginning to end. We will never forget this day. Thank you Hamza for making us feel safe and as family!

• Excellent trip with Waqas

  Mary L,

  May 12, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Amazing trip. At first, I wondered if I made the right choice as a 4 hour trip outside of Tokyo, but definitely worth the adventure. Waqas made this trip extraordinary. He stays in close contact until pickup and shares his excitement about the area and other venues in Japan. Do not miss it!

• Our driver, Hamza Ali,...

  Shane R,

  May 5, 2025

  - Viator

  5.00

  Our driver, Hamza Ali, was very professional and courteous. He arrived at our hotel early and got the day started. Very comfortable vehicle that my two friends found quite relaxing. The trip was long from Tokyo, almost 4 hours. We were not able to see all of the itinerary but Hazma made sure we were able to do the two things that we wanted. There was no snow at the monkey park but there were still plenty of monkeys to see. Especially when the feeding happened hundreds of monkeys descended the mountain and came to the area around the hot springs. It was quite something to see. Overall, a great experience in a relaxing vehicle and great driver. Would definitely recommend to anyone not wanting a tour bus or rental car.