Tours

Better for visitors & locals alike – Sustainably Focused Tours

Hiroshima has been my home since 1996, and I co-founded the international visitor and resident online magazine GetHiroshima in 1999. I then worked for many years at university teaching business, tourism and sustainability issues. Now, I also work as a sustainably focused inbound travel consultant, tour guide trainer, writer & content creator of the Seek Sustainable Japan show. And since COVID, I have been also offering international visitors guided tours in Hiroshima as a tour guide.

I really enjoy showing visitors around Hiroshima and learning from them – they bring interesting perspectives from around the world, and see things in Japan with fresh eyes.

But I want to offer tours beyond the most typical. I want to give visitors a deeper, more meaningful experience in the Hiroshima area. Each tour I give is a little different each time as they are catered to the individual or private groups I guide.

I love to tell the important historical stories, but it’s fascinating to also connect it to modern stories of people, products, services and businesses in Hiroshima now.

How can we keep the traditional Japanese designs, culture and ideas alive, but also add modern relevance, to find a better balance between the needs of people and planet with profits.

It’s wonderful to share insights and stories with visitors looking to make the most of their visit to Hiroshima city, Miyajima island, Kure, Onomichi, Kintaikyo and many of the great destinations in this area of Japan.

Hiring a good local guide connects visitors to a place on a more meaningful and memorable level. Good guides also allow visitors to engage with friendly locals and by highlighting more sustainable practices – can help both locals and visitors alike.

Visitors, if possible, please bring a refillable water bottle (find free fill ups with MyMizu), a little towel to dry your hands, and your own chopsticks (or utensil set), as well as your own shopping bag. These little sustainable travel habits in Japan can help reduce waste while enhancing your visit as a responsible traveler.

These are the most popular tours, but happy to customize:

  • Full-day (8H) Hiroshima’s top-2 UNESCO sites Miyajima island and Hiroshima city center
  • Half-day (4H) Hiroshima city highlight tour
  • 6-8 hr Hiroshima city deep A-bomb focus tour
  • 6-8 hr Miyajima slow & deep-focus highlights tour
  • 6hr Sustainable Miyajima Tour – book with JTB
  • 8hr Onomichi to Setoda cycle tour
  • 4hr Onomichi history & entrepreneurship tour

Other off-the-beaten-track tours include the naval town of KURE, the port town of ONOMICHI and cycle tours along the SHIMANAMI route, TAKEHARA & SAIJO sake tours, and KINTAIKYO bridge area. Please ask me about creating a specialty tour to suit your group’s interests.  

Please get in touch for bookings at inboundambassador (on gmail) or via one of my social media links. If I am already busy, I have a wonderful network of great local Hiroshima guides who I can recommend.

I also do Hiroshima tour bookings for these great Japan travel planning businesses:

Context Travel | Tours By Locals | Inside Japan Tours

Boutique Japan | Espirit Travel | Be Here Asia

Okuni Japan | The Real Japan | TokioTours

Had a great day with Joy, lovely personality, naturally was very informative and conducted our tour at a leisurelypace. She gave us a very good insight into the past but also modern Japan
jjwalsh Seek Sustainable Japan

November 2024 Guest

ToursByLocals Review
Joy was our Tour Guide for Hiroshima and Miyajima. She met us at the train station and the service was great. We were a party of 7 ranging 11 to 70. She was knowledgeable, kind, courteous and friendly. The weather was not the best, but we pushed through it. We enjoyed our days with her and highly recommend her services.
We spent a wonderful day with Joy touring Hiroshima and Miyajima Island. It was a very full day where we had an opportunity to explore some of the lesser known parts of the island and obtained a meaningful perspective of Hiroshima and its history. I went with my two teenage children and my wife – the entire time Joy kept us engaged, entertained and well fed. I would highly recommend Joy to anyone looking for a memorable and fun day in Hiroshima!
Joy was an absolute joy (no pun intended) to have as our tour guide. Her background of over 28 yrs living in Japan, coupled with her North American roots made her a great bridge for foreign visitors to Japan. She was knowledgeable and entertaining as she enlightened us on Hiroshima’s devastation of war, culture, history and religion. Overall a fantastic tour.

Tour reviews of Joy guiding on Tours By Locals

Seek Sustainable Japan with JJ