You can learn a lot from a country from it's food and from this point of view, this tour is a window into Japanese culture that would be hard to look through in any other way. The first part ofthe tour in the Nishiki Food Market provided an eye openning expereince to the diversity of Japanese food, not only for the beginner, but for the more experienced foodie. There was plenty of time to check out all of the stalls, and the guide for this part of the tour was extremely knowledgeable and could talk about all of the types of foods in any detail that you would like. Absolutely incredible variety, with plenty of opportunities to taste great food, including extreme food tasting for the adventuresome!

The second part of the tour involved a visit to a saki brewery followed by an introduction to sake with tastings. I wasn't sure waht to expect but was pleasantly surprised. The cooking part of the tour was expertly done and I won't tell you what we cooked and ate as i don't want to spoil it for you, but just to say, that I learned so much and had a great time. There were some in the group who were not so experienced cooks, but there was no pressure and everyone really enjoyed it. A wonderful way to spend an afternoon with insights into Japan that would be otherwise hard to come by.

You can't compare the experience of going through this wonderful market with a knowledgeable guide that can answer your every question. The cooking class was very enjoyable, and we have been using the skills we acquired there ever since we got home!

I know a bit bout cooking and would have liked a more complex menu but members of put group were novices. Still I found the tour most rewarding And picked up many handy tips. Our guide was wonderful and the chef delightful. Very enjoyable.

The tour is not value for money and is pretty much a first timers tour in Japan. The Japanese staff involved were very good however the content is very basic and on our tour, one of the key elements of the tour was unavailable with no addition or replacement.

The item missing on our tour was the sake tasting. The venue was closed on the day of our tour so we just had a quick look and kept moving. Sake tasting tour is one of the three main elements in the tour name so we were disappointed that it was possible, even though we chose from dates available on the website, not dates we requested.

The cost was 150 per person as well which is expensive considering its a walking tour with little overheads.

Of course we made the most of it and we still had a good time but as a professional tour, it dropped short.

The tour itself was great -- but it was a bit of a logistical nightmare since our guide did not wait for us in the area that was clearly specified on our instructions. We arrived a good 15 minutes early and were waiting exactly where we were told, which was down a set of stairs and out of sight from the street level. Our guide waited at the top of the stairs instead, and when the other four people in our group arrived they left without us (presumably they arrived shortly after she did, otherwise they too would have gone down the stairs to wait).

Our guide did not bother to look around before departing on the tour (if they had, we would have been very easy to spot!) and did not try to ring us. When we still didn't see our guide five minutes past our meeting time, we walked back up to the street level and to look around but by then the group had already left. Finally, 30 minutes and several expensive international roaming calls later, we tracked down our guide, who admitted that she was in error.

Again, this is not to discount the wonderful tour and activity -- which we thoroughly enjoyed. If I were to rate that alone, I'd give it 4-5 stars. Nevertheless, we were not happy about being told to arrive in a very precise location, doing exactly what we were told, and then being left behind when the guide decided to meet in a different location -- hence my low rating.