How would you plan your trip to Japan? It is easy to just do a quick search on Google, of all the hotspots or raved about places of interest in the vicinity and visit them. But it is so much harder to find the relevant tidbits of information – about the local, off-beat but truly authentic experiences that are worth having. Imagine instead of only going to Tokyo Tower or finding the best sushi places in town, you find the hidden gems like…well, keep reading ;)

It would be a great shame if you just go through international travel blogs and miss out on authentic experiences when there is a local service in Japan that exists just to help you out.

Deeper Japan is a luxury travel company that offers specially curated authentic experiences for its clients, allowing you to immerse in Japan's exquisite cultural roots and traditions.

They provide cultural workshops, masterclasses, exclusive experiences as well as excursions and the most divine homestays that otherwise are inaccessible or elusive to visitors like you who might be new to Japan and/or do not know Japanese.

They are ready to do all the hard work for you so just relax and watch the magic happen.

For many of us, when we think of Japan, images of sushi, ramen, Jpop or anime pop into our minds. Going much beyond that, Deeper Japan gently but effectively nudges us to broaden our horizons by offering amazingly memorable experiences – like for example, Katana-making with one of Japan's last remaining swordsmiths.

Their repertoire is undeniably diverse, ranging from martial arts workshops like karate and sumo wrestling to delicate handicrafts-making like kintsugi workshops (Japanese art of repairing broken pottery) and even something as exquisite as private dining with a geisha.

The company offers its services in 5 different cities in Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Rikuzentakata, Kanazawa and Hokkaido and has crafted different sets of experiences for each of them. What is even better, is that they are also currently planning to expand internationally beyond Japan.

You might be wondering - what is the vision and motivation behind Deeper Japan? Why not just leave the Japanese experiences to the Japanese? The founder and CEO of Deeper Japan, Hikaru Ishikawa, delightedly answers this by sharing memories from his younger days. Hikaru used to live in Austria and came back to Japan for university.

Perhaps you have lived abroad too, perhaps that made it harder for you to know about your culture? As a Japanese boy in Austria, he was evidently the minority and thus was asked questions like ‘where are you from?’ and ‘what is Japan like?’.

His Austrian peers, of course, had known of the world-renowned Japanese brands or products like Toyota or Nintendo, which made him proud but he soon realized that he did not actually know much about his own culture.

When he brought his friends to Tokyo, he wanted to introduce them to activities that were not of the stereotypical or mainstream nature.

Understandably, he realized that the language barrier between locals and visitors was one of the major obstacles that makes such experiences inaccessible.

Wanting to connect inquisitive as well as cultural and quality-sensitive visitors to truly authentic Japanese experiences, he dug deep and crafted what we now see on Deeper Japan’s website. The packages offered are equipped with

personal interpreters who are well-versed in a range of languages such as English, Spanish and French
provision of transport from the airport to the relevant locations
the flexibility to cater tailor-made packages
option of in-hotel services.

The barriers that otherwise would have hindered you, are not there anymore.

What sets Deeper Japan apart from a typical tour experience or our normal idea of packaged experience is Hikaru's genuine love, pride, and honour for his culture and roots.

Every experience is carefully constructed to ensure that you would be able to see Japan the way a local would, and hopefully appreciate it.

This is his way of preserving his culture and the authenticity that is spared from external influences. Having said that, Hikaru does not wish to impose the Japanese values onto others but rather just to expose them to its raw existence in the most exquisite way.

He believes in the equality of the host and guest where neither of their identity or background is superior to the other, thus rejecting any power asymmetries.

The only quality valued and cherished in this transaction is cross-cultural immersion.

When we inquired Hikaru if Japan is going to open up to travellers anytime soon, he reassured us that there is hope for it to be open by next year. So, if you are planning to fly to Japan in the future, Deeper Japan is imperative.

While securing a charter jet to Japan through APERTUS, do request for the APERTUS team to connect you to the Deeper Japan team. Do also let them know any personal requests for the itinerary so that Deeper Japan can craft more of a bespoke one just for you.