Japan cycling holiday, small group

Planet

Exploring Japan by bike is one of the most environmentally-friendly ways to travel, and the fact that we travel from Kyoto and into Tokyo by train means that your holiday is a low impact option, as well as enabling you to experience beautiful rural Japan at its best. By limiting our point-to-point cycling adventure to the cultural heart of the main island we avoid the need to travel extensively and to fly within the country.

We use the Shinkansen bullet train to Tokyo, a high speed train service that links many towns and cities in Japan. Several measures have been implemented to reduce noise pollution and noise has been reduced to less than 70 decibels in residential areas. The network has also introduced weight saving cars and the construction of noise barriers.

Outside of the large cities we stay in a number of locally-owned guesthouses and also at ryokan which are traditional-style inns where you sleep on a futon mattress in a room with tatami mat floors and paper screen walls and gain an insight into traditional Japanese lifestyles. This also helps spread the income generated by our visit amongst the wider community as employees are from the area and food is grown locally. We include a number of evening meals with the aim to showcase local cuisine and we eat most of our meals at a variety of local, independently-run restaurants or in the accommodation where they also value locally-produced food.

We strive to reduce plastic wastage by encouraging our clients and local partners to refill their water bottles from larger dispensers and to drink the tap water where it is treated and perfectly potable. We also provide our clients with reusable hemp eco-bags, thus avoiding the need for plastic bags from local supermarkets and shops.

As a company we support Cool Earth. Protecting rainforest is one of the most effective actions to tackle climate breakdown. Cool Earth work with indigenous communities empowering them to conserve their forest; keeping CO2 locked in.

People

Japan is a popular tourist destination and by exploring the Noto Peninsula we are helping to spread the financial benefit of our visit into lesser-known areas of the country that haven’t benefitted from the influx of overseas tourism that has surged in areas like Tokyo and Kyoto. This is especially important in rural areas such as the Noto Peninsula that have suffered from growing urbanisation and the migration of younger generations into the big cities. Supporting the local businesses helps to support the local community.

Our Japanese-speaking tour leaders have all spent time living and working in Japan and been fully trained by us, including a strong focus on responsible tourism practices so they can ensure that our tours run in accordance with our code of practice. As well as providing a fascinating insight into local culture, they are able to provide guidance concerning local customs and culture so as to ensure that local sensibilities are respected and also advise re: local water conservation and recycling initiatives. We also directly employ Japanese local staff to help support all aspects of the adventure with drivers, guides and an assistant biking guide.

In addition to the above, we are continually looking for ways to improve and are proud to be ‘Responsible in everything we do’. Education is key and so all staff, Tour leaders and partnering suppliers are trained in responsible and sustainable tourism. At our Head Office, we continually strive towards a sustainable and planet-friendly working environment, including having solar panels installed and a company commitment to reducing our plastic usage. As well as this, we have valuable and longstanding partnerships with UK charities Toilet Twinning and Send a Cow, plus many smaller initiatives and projects around the world. We’re members of UK travel industry bodies Tourism Concern and AITO because we believe it’s important to share our knowledge and experience, as well as learn from other operators.