Frequently Asked Questions

No. Tours are guided in English by a Kanazawa City certified regional guide-interpreter. At the market and in the shops we translate both ways, so you are talking to the sellers themselves rather than listening to a script.

Yes — the tours were built around families with elementary-school-age children. Pacing, walking distance, where the toilets are, and finishing before children run out of patience are all part of the plan, not an afterthought. Children under 12 are half price.

If you are travelling with a toddler or a baby, tell us their age when you enquire and we will say honestly which tour works and which does not.

Tours are private and run for 2 to 6 people. You will not be put together with another group. If your party is larger than six, contact us — we can sometimes arrange it, but not always.

Between two and a half hours and half a day, depending on the tour. Market tours start early — before the crowds — because that is when the market is worth seeing. We confirm the exact start time with you when we hold your date.

Usually yes, as long as you tell us when you book rather than on the day. Strict vegan diets and some allergies are genuinely difficult in a traditional Japanese market, where dashi (fish stock) is in almost everything. We will tell you before you pay what we can and cannot arrange — we would rather lose the booking than surprise you at the table.

It depends on the tour. We tell you exactly what is and is not included — and roughly what to budget for anything that is not — before you pay, so there is no guessing on the day.

Tours run rain or shine. Kanazawa is one of the rainiest cities in Japan, and locals simply carry an umbrella — a wet morning at the market is still a good morning at the market. We shift to taxis and covered arcades where it helps.

But it is your holiday. If you would rather not go out in the rain, tell us at least 24 hours before the start time and you get a full refund. If the weather is severe enough that we cancel for safety reasons, you are refunded in full as well.

It depends on the tour. The meeting point comes with your booking confirmation, together with a map link and a photo of the exact spot — station exits and market entrances are easy to get wrong.

Message us. Your guide waits about 20 minutes past the meeting time; after that the itinerary may need shortening. Full details are in the cancellation policy.

Enough that comfortable shoes matter, not enough to need training for. If anyone in your party has trouble walking or uses a wheelchair, tell us when you enquire — some routes we can adapt, others we honestly cannot, and we will say which.

Send us an enquiry from the top page with your dates, how many people, and the children's ages. We reply with what fits, what to avoid, and a confirmation once the date is held.

Reply to your booking confirmation email. In short: full refund up to 8 days before, and a full refund for weather-related cancellations up to 24 hours before. Changing the number of people is free up to 8 days out. The full schedule is on the cancellation policy page.

Ask us. Tell us who is coming, how many, and the children's ages, and we will tell you what suits you — including when the answer is that none of our tours do. There are excellent tea-ceremony and garden-photography tours in Kanazawa run by other people; we specialise in a different side of the city.