Superb itinerary and the best Guide

Very good holiday. Well organised, guides helpful and friendly and we travelled with a lovely group of people. We covered most important sights in the guidebook and we were lucky to see 2 troupes of snow monkeys.
The food experience was good and we tried a good cross section of Japanese cuisine and I learnt a lot. The breakfasts were western or Japanese from the buffet and the other meals included Italian and other more western food. I think the food was done really well and we visited some excellent restaurants.
We experienced sushi making and Washi paper making as well as a tea ceremony.
You need to be fit and active for this trip as many early starts and lots of walking on uneven ground, up hills and steps. There was a boat trip in Tokyo bay with karaoke (plenty of booze to reduce your inhibitions if you chose to drink it)
We experienced the Shinkassen on the leg to Hiroshima. Everywhere we went was worth the visit.
My only real issues were being dropped at the airport on the way home one and a half hours before the terminal building opened so waited in the cold. Also the change over for the connecting flight at Tokyo meant that it was only with serious queue jumping and the tolerance of fellow passengers we were able to catch our connecting flight due to poor connectivity between Tokyo airport's terminals.
I would recommend this trip

It was very good and really helpful.
As a solo traveller I was very happy with the information I received from Julia

Wonderful jam packed tour. Key sites. From mountain to ocean to city. Wonderful guides that really cared about us making the most of the experience. Wide range of local dishes. Some very nice hotels with onsens so we were in comfort. I would highly recommend this for anyone wanting to get the broadest experience. The tea ceremony and paper making were excellent too.

This was the first time that we took a group tour. Japan Uncovered met our expectations in every way with the locations and sights visited. It was convenient having all our meals included in the tour and we enjoyed the variety of meals that we received. Though we thought we might have some very early starts or late finishes to our day, we had just one earlier start of 07:30. Our guide, Kiki, was terrific. She was always ready to answer questions and helped to ensure our group enjoyed the tour and maximize how we spent our free time. The group size was 28 but it never felt large.

Amazing trip with lots to see and do. To fit so much in requires quite a lot of bus and train trips but we got to see many sides of Japan from large famous cities to smaller towns and activities. Hiroshima was very moving. Paper making was great fun too. Mount Fuji showed itself on both days we were in the area. You get time to shop in Tokyo and on the way. Go up every tall building you can. We did 2 in Osaka and the very high Skytree in Tokyo. We had a 3 night stopover in Hong Kong which was great as well. As on option if ending in Tokyo maybe stay a few more nights as there was a lot more to see than we could manage in 3 nights. The group we were with had a great time together. Highly recommended.

Great adventure, excellent guide. Hood hotels and plenty of food.

I spoke to Matt to book a Japan tour next year, he answerred all my questions and left me confident that I had made the right choice. It was a pleasant and reassuring experience. Thank you!

A very busy trip. Lots to see and do along the way.
You need to be fit and active to complete the site seeing due to the number of steep stairs encountered as you get to the top of the ancient castles.
Plenty of Japanese food, raw fish, individual BBQs, Ramen etc.
Well coordinated by the travel company as getting a group to the correct rail wasn't aways easy at busy stations.
Meet some good fellow travellers (mostly from Oz !)
Could have done with some extra days at the end to unwind and see more of Sapporo ( our train was delayed due to wind and rain- the only bad weather we had during our 21 day trip !)
Loved Japan can't wait to return soon !

The question about recommending this holiday is really difficult to answer. We enjoyed it and Wendy Woo are a great holiday company, which we've used before. But there were too many visits to temples and shrines for our liking, too many early starts and too much Japanese food, which wasn't always very tasty. I appreciate that you should embrace the culture, but the culinary balance wasn't quite right for us (and a few others in our group). The itinerary clearly showed what we'd be doing each day, and it was certainly a full on holiday packed with things to see and do. If you're going to Japan I suppose it's best to see as much of it as possible as it's such a long journey, but it was a bit exhausting (mainly because of the early starts, 0800 most mornings). The tour guides were very good, and there's plenty of other interesting things on the schedule. We loved the Japanese culture, cleanliness and overall feel about Japan.

Hoishi took great care of us for 23 days, 24 hours a day with nothing to much trouble, I will remember her and Japan for a long time, the Japanese are so proud of their country and have much respect for everyone which cemented the greatest holiday.
We had a trip of a lifetime visiting great places and making memories which will last a lifetime

Thank you Hoishi and Wendy woo

We attended a roadshow and committed to our first tour with Wendy Wu. Been wanting to go to Japan for a long time. The staff were friendly and the presentation was informative and interesting.

Ancient Empires of China & Japan
This a fairly fast paced tour but a good way to see the best of the two countries in a short time.
Hotels were generally good but located out of town so not much nearby. All hotels had WiFi and kettles, and most had fridges. The schedule was pretty full so there was little free time to wander round alone for shopping, drinks etc - especially in China. However there was usually a small general store nearby for snacks and sundries.
Guides in both countries (Ian in China and Nao in Japan) were knowledgeable and spoke good English. There were optional activities in China at each place we stopped - they were all excellent but you need to budget for them (about £30 each person per event). The advice in Wendy Wu regarding AliPay and eSims are worth reading. I used a Holafly eSim - great in China but not such good coverage in Japan. I was able to use my social apps normally in China via the eSim.
In China, as part of the tour, the local guides will take you to "approved" stores attached to varoius cultural activities such as silk making; teracotta army, jade factory etc etc. Be prepared for a hard sell (I guess the local guides get a cut); the prices are very negotiable and if you want to buy something there you should aim to pay 40-50% (or less if you are a good haggler) of the initial asking price
Alipay is universally accepted and is the easiest way to pay, although Mastercard was accepted in larger premises. Cash was also widely accepted.
Food was ok - nothing too extreme although the veggies suffered a bit from lack of choice, especially in Japan. Fortunately they ate fish, otherwise it would have been an austere diet for them.
Be prepared for some long days with plenty of walking and a bit of stair climbing. And a lot of eating - the tour caters for 3 meals a day !

First class advice and information over the phond .