A Japan-based receptive operator for overseas travel agencies, tour operators and DMCs. You keep the client relationship — we design and run the journey on the ground.
Lake West Tourism is a licensed Japanese travel company. We act as the receptive, on-the-ground partner for agencies and operators abroad — building bespoke itineraries for your clients and running them with care from arrival to farewell.
We are based in Shiga, on the quieter western shore of Lake Biwa, next door to Kyoto. That gives your clients access to a less-crowded side of Kansai — and, through our founder, to cultural experiences that are hard to arrange from outside Japan, kendo and the working dojo among them. Beyond our home region, we coordinate bespoke and arranged travel nationwide.
We protect your client relationship. When we work as your receptive partner, your travellers remain yours. We quote net rates, operate under your brand where you wish, and do not market to your clients or solicit their repeat business behind you.
We work with
We also work directly with a small number of private, high-value travellers — but our priority for partners is simple: reliable delivery, clear communication, and no channel conflict.
Lake West Tourism is a Shiga Prefecture Governor-Registered Travel Agency (No. 3-306). The scope below reflects what we are licensed and equipped to deliver for trade partners.
| Bespoke itineraries Order-made group & private travel |
Custom itineraries designed to your brief — for private clients, small groups and organised parties — arranged across Japan and, where required, connecting international arrangements. Suited to cultural, practice-based and slow-travel programmes. |
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| Ground arrangements Land services |
Accommodation, transport, meals, experiences, guides and venues, coordinated to your specification — nationwide. From small local inns (ryokan / minshuku) to comfortable and premium hotels. |
| Signature experiences | Kendo practice and dojo etiquette; Tendai temples, zazen and sutra-copying; the canal towns and merchant culture of Omi; rural Japan, hot springs, and northern islands. Cultural evenings arranged as genuine local encounters, not a party product. |
| Tour conducting & itinerary management 添乗・旅程管理 |
A Japanese tour conductor can travel with the group to hold the journey together — timing, transfers, meals, and the quiet advocacy that lets your clients simply be guests. Arranged per journey. |
| Group size | From private travel (2 guests) to organised groups. Larger parties are welcome by arrangement; small-group, high-touch travel is our focus. |
| Languages | English and Japanese. |
| Home region & reach | Deepest expertise in Shiga, the western shore of Lake Biwa, and the quieter side of Kansai; bespoke and arranged travel delivered nationwide. |
Our own scheduled, self-organised package tours are, by our Type-3 registration, limited to the area around our base in Otsu. Everywhere else in Japan we deliver through order-made itineraries, ground arrangements, and tour-conducting — which is exactly how receptive partnerships work.
The classic pilgrimage walks are well covered by others. We build around what keeps clients coming back for a second and third trip to Japan: hot springs, temple culture, food, and genuinely remote places — paced for guests, not for distance. A selection of the programmes we design for partners, including flagships now in development.
Northern Alps · Hot springs
The old merchant streets of Takayama, the mountain valley of Kamikochi, and the open-air hot springs of Okuhida — an unhurried circuit built around onsen and local life rather than long-distance hiking.
Temple town · Onsen streets
Zenkoji Temple, the Hokusai museum at Obuse, and the wooden hot-spring streets of Yudanaka and Shibu — the atmospheric, onsen-town Japan that photographs beautifully and stays with guests.
Northern islands · Exclusive
A premium, small-capacity journey to the remote landscapes of Rishiri, built on a direct local relationship — the kind of access that cannot be arranged at a distance, and that few operators can offer at all. In development now; we welcome early conversations with partners who want it first.
Every journey is order-made and quoted net to the trade — these are starting points, not fixed packages. Ask us for the current build status of any programme in development, and we will tell you honestly what can be confirmed for your dates.
You tell us the client, the dates, the interests, group size, and a budget band. A short brief is enough to start.
We propose an itinerary and confirm a net rate in writing. You set your own selling price and keep the margin.
A deposit secures the dates. We contract clearly and begin arrangements on your behalf — accommodation, transport, experiences.
We run the journey on the ground, with one Japan point of contact and support throughout travel — from arrival to farewell.
Deposit percentages, cancellation terms and accepted payment methods are confirmed per contract. Our standard travel conditions and schedule of fees are linked in the footer.
A capability statement (company, product lines and terms on one page) is available to partners on request — just ask in the form below.
Tell us a little about your company and the clients you have in mind. We’ll respond with the next steps — a net quote, a sample itinerary, or our capability statement, whichever is most useful.