Private Tour
Private shore excursions in Kyushu, Japan
Overview
Available languages
Mobile ticket
Tours are our forte. My philosophy is to provide customized flexible tours around Kyushu for smaller groups unlike the big tour operators, who are only concerned amount how many people they can get and not the quality or content of their tours.
We allow our clients to stay as short or a long as they like at a particular venue in order to maximize their enjoyment. It is this type of tour that will leave you feeling fully satisfied at days end.
You will be traveling in either a Toyota Grand Hiace which seats 8 passengers, a Toyota Commuter Hiace that seats 10 passengers or a Toyota Microbus that seats a total of 15 passengers. They are all spacious with easy entry/ exit out of the vehicle and you will ride in comfort and safety.
Finally, only Port calls that have been cancelled or changed as a result of inclement weather conditions, will be accessed for a partial refund. Any other reasons will not be accepted!
Additional Info
Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Specialized infant seats are available
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation Policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
What To Expect
Situated in the remote countryside on the outskirts of Fukuoka City, is one of the most remarkable places you will find in Nanzoin Temple. I have been to hundreds of ho hum Temples all over Japan but without a doubt this Temple has been absolutely the most amazing place you could hope to visit. The Nanzoin Temple is home to the largest Reclining Buddha in Japan and possibly the world. The actual dimensions of the Statue are 41 metres long by 11 metres in height and it weighs in at 300 tons, so as you can see it ain`t small!
Without a doubt the best and most popular Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture is the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine located approx. 30 minutes from central Fukuoka City. The Shrine is dedicated to the God of Learning and as such is busy all through the year with many student visitors coming here to pray for upcoming success in their educational endeavors, especially during examination time at various periods during the year.
What‘s Included
Private transportation
Bottled water
WiFi on board
Alcoholic Beverages
Lunch
Professional driver and native English speaking guide
Air-conditioned vehicle
Gratuities
Options
Beppu large group Tour
Private Hot Spring: Enjoy a public or private Onsen experience.
Duration: 9 hours: A shore excursion that can start and finish as per the clients requirements.
Lunch and Refreshments: A Japanese or Western styled lunch is provided as well as bottled water during the day.
Toyota Hiace Commuter: A spacious vehicle that seats 12 passenger, although 10 passengers comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard
Pickup included
Sasebo huge group tour
Duration: 8 hours: A flexible and customizable tour. Client many choose the start and finishing times.
Lunch and Beverages: A sit down or on the run lunch is provided. Many Western and Japanese as well as Beverage options are available.
Toyota Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats up to 15 adults and 5 children.
Special Feature: A professional driver and native English speaking guide are standard.
Pickup included
Private Shore Excursions in Kyushu, Japan
Duration: 8 hours: A fully customizable tour that can be lengthened or shortened if desired.
Lunch: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided.
Toyota Hiace.: A luxury and comfortable vehicle that seats 9 passengers.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard
Pickup included
Sasebo large group Tour
Sake Brewery Tour: Inspect many facets of Sake Production and experience a tasting s well.
Duration: 9 hours: A shore excursion that can start and finish as per the clients requirements.
Lunch and Refreshements: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided as well as bottled water.
Toyota Hiace Commuter: A spacious vehicle that seats 12 passengers, although 10 passengers comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is provided.
Pickup included
Nagasaki group tour
Peace Park and Atomic Museum: The highlight destination is obviously the above 2 but other amazing attractions will be visited.
Duration: 9 hours: A fully customizable tour that can be lengthened or shortened if desired.
Lunch: A Japanese or Western Lunch options will be enjoyed on the day.
Toyota Hiace: A spacious and comfortable vehicle that seats 8 comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard
Pickup included
Extreme Fukuoka tour
Optional activity: A traditional Green Tea tasting experience is a complimentary inclusion for Matcha Lovers.
Duration: 8 hours: A flexible tour that is customizable. Client may choose their start and finishing times!
Lunch and Beverages: A sit down or on the go lunch is provided. Many Western and Japanese as well as beverage options are available.
Toyota Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats up to 15 adults and 5 children.
Special Features: A professional driver and a native English speaking guide are standard.
Pickup included
Kagoshima large group tour
Volcanic Sand Bath: A once in a lifetime experience can be had on the day.
Duration: 9 hours: A shore excursion that can start and finish as required by the customer
Lunch and Refreshments: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided as is bottled water within the vehicle.
Toyota Hiace Commuter: A spacious vehicle that seats 12 passengers, although 10 comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is provided.
Pickup included
Fukuoka group tour
Sake Brewery/ Ramen Factory: A Sake Brewery visit and a gourmet ramen lunch will add a unique experience to your tour.
Duration: 9 hours: A fully customizable tour that you can choose the starting time and return time back to the Port Terminal.
Lunch: A variety of lunch options are available according to you specific requirements.
Toyota Hiace: A spacious and comfortable vehicle that seats 8 adults in comfort.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard
Pickup included
Fukuoka large group Tour
Ramen and Sake Factory Tours: Eat Ramen for lunch and then drink Sake. A perfect combination!
Duration: 9 hours: A shore excursion that can start and finish as per the customers requirements.
Lunch and Refreshments: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided as well as bottled water during the day.
Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats 12 passengers, although 10 passengers comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard.
Pickup included
Very large tour of Beppu
Optional Activity: A traditional public Hot Spring experience is available, A private Onsen will incur extra charges.
Duration: 8 hours: A flexible and customizable tour that allows the client to choose the start and finshing times of the tour.
Lunch and Beverages: A sit down or on the go lunch is provided. Many Western and Japanese as well as beverage options are available.
Toyota Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats up to 15 adults and 5 children.
Special Features: A professional driver and native English speaking guide are standard.
Pickup included
Sasebo group Tour
Sake Brewery: A sake tasting experience is available on all Sasebo Shore Excursions.
Duration: 9 hours: A fully customizable tour that can be lengthened or shortened if desired.
Lunch: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided as is bottled water in the vehicle.
Toyota Hiace: A comfortable ride for a total of 8 passengers.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard
Pickup included
Super huge tour of Kagoshima
Optional Activities: A volcanic sand bath or whisky tasting experience are optional inclusions.
Duration: 8 hours: A flexible and customizable tour that allows the client to choose the start and finishing times.
Lunch and Beverages: A sit down or on the go lunch is provided. Many Western and Japanese as well as beverage options are available.
Toyota Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats up to 15 adults and 5 children.
Special Features: A professional driver and a native English speaking are standard.
Pickup included
Titanic tour of Nagasaki
Duration: 8 hours: A flexible and customizable tour. The client may choose the start and finishing times.
Lunch and Beverages: A sit down or on the go lunch is provided. Many Western and Japanese as well as beverage options are available.
Toyota Microbus: A spacious vehicle that seats up to 15 adults and 5 children.
Special Features: A professional driver and native English speaking guide are standard.
Pickup included
Nagasaki large group Tour
Peace Park and Atomic Museum: Many other interesting attractions will be visited on the day.
Duration: 9 hours: A shore excursion that can start and finish as per the clients requirements.
Lunch and Refreshments: A Western or Japanese styled lunch is provided as well as bottled water during the day.
Toyota Hiace Commuter: A spacious vehicle that seats 12 passengers, although only 10 passengers comfortably.
Driver and Guide: A professional driver and native English speaking guide is standard.
Pickup included
Reviews
10 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
Fantastic experience!
Huonglan T,Mar 14, 2026
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had a fantastic tour despite the rainy weather! Our guide Shannon truly went above and beyond to make sure we still had an amazing experience. His energy, knowledge, and great sense of humor kept everyone engaged and in great spirits the entire time. Even with the rain, he made the tour fun, memorable, and full of interesting stories and insights. We’re so grateful for the effort he put in to make sure our day was wonderful. Highly recommend!
Highly, highly recommended
ColinL451,Oct 16, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon was a superb tour guide! We quickly felt that we were being guided by a friend rather than a stranger and during our day together we learned not just about the places we visited, but also a lot about Japanese culture. To maximise our time together, and to see everything in the extensive and interesting itinerary, Shannon suggested we eat on the move, so, as he drove, we were able to pick and share from the wide range of sandwiches, snacks and treats that he’d put together for us. Him having a Japanese wife, being able to speak the language and also being an Aussie, gave us lots of enjoyable tangents of conversation to explore when moving from one place to another. I’d recommend this tour and Shannon as your guide without reservation. We had a superb experience.
BEst Tour Guide Ever!!!
jayrG9705VZ,Jun 23, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon was amazing! Best Tour guide! Starting with a surprise visit to a local market to purchase food for a picnic, what a Great Experience!!! I would use Shannon again & again! Highly recommended!
Nagaski Tour
Jay R,Jun 1, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon was amazing! His creativity with our excurion kept us on our toes - very special memoires, especially shopping in a japanese market for our picnic lunch.
Shannon is the BEST !!!
evkraw,Apr 5, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon is the BEST !!! We (4 adults) did a private tour with Shannon and could not have been more satisfied. He was punctual, friendly, professional, funny, flexible and met our every need. We picked him because of his excellent reviews and he managed to surpass our expectations. Shannon is Australian but is married to a Japanese woman and has 2 children - what a wonderful combination ! He is fluent in both English and Japanese and was also able to give us both a western and Japanese perspective on Japanese culture and customs, current affairs and WWII - we were able to ask questions that we might have been uncomfortable asking a native guide. Shannon helped us experiment and experience Japanese cuisine and could anticipate what our western palate would enjoy and also have trouble with. Shannon also took photos of us throughout our tour and sent us a wonderful slide show and video when we got home. All 4 of us had the best time of our lives - THANK YOU Shannon !!!
Sasebo / Nagasaki Tour
Inspire04385563988,Mar 26, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon is very knowledgeable of the Japan history and he took us to a lot of historical and places of interest. He was able to customize the trip based on our interest and time constriction. He even sent us pictures and videos that he took during our trip. We highly recommend him, and if we go back to Japan, we will use him as a tour guide again.
Excellent guide with no language barriers
Lkohawaii,Jan 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00Shannon is very professional and a great wealth of information. He will customize your tour to your liking even while you are on the tour. A common concern from guests going on excursions in Japan is the difficulty understanding the guides with their Japanese accent. The Japanese are wonderful people and cannot help that we don't understand Japanese. So it's something we've had to caution guests about. Shannon has an Australian accent and I never had any difficulty understanding. His prices may be a bit more than the big group tours but you get what you pay for. I was so impressed by Shannon's services that I'm using him for multiple cities for our group tour coming up around Japan.
Great day with Shannon!
SheriH935,Jan 27, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had a fantastic tour with Shannon. He was super knowledgeable and custom tailored the tour to meet our needs. We would highly recommend him as a tour guide!
Private small shore excursion with fluent English speaking guide
mamebo3,Dec 28, 2024
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00We had an absolutely wonderful day with Shanon on our shore excursion. We saw so much and the tour is flexible if we decided to deviate. Shannon is from Australia but has lived in Japan for almost 20 years. His knowledge of Japanese culture, history, and tourist information is excellent. His explanations are great and does them from a Japanese point of view but so they are easily understood by western travelers.
Not another religious shrine!
MickieB45,Dec 27, 2024
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00This was probably one of the top tours we did in Japan. The variety of an unusual boat ride, lunch with our feet in a pool and a guide who was knowledgeable, funny and thoughtfulnofvthe pace forcis "seniors". I talk about the trip and show puctures of this particular tour all the time. Well paced, well priced, etc.
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Operated by Shannon Lefebvre