Gluten Free Tours Japan wants you to experience the beauty of travelling without the worry of trying to avoid foods with gluten or trying to communicate your food allergies or celiac disease to someone in a foreign language.
Even the most confident and experienced gluten free traveller finds Japan very challenging when it comes to gluten free food. Their experience is that finding food that they feel is safe to eat is a huge focus of their trip, it's time consuming and tiring and they also feel that they miss out on a very large part of Japan's culture, its food.
Our tours are all about making it easy for you. We want you to have fun, focus on the sights and the beautiful friendly people and forget you even have a gluten allergy or celiac disease. We will guide you to gluten friendly cafes and restaurants as you're sightseeing around Japan. We will ensure you get to eat traditional Japanese food. Your Japanese food experience will be wonderfully gluten free.
I cannot say enough good things about Gluten Free Tours Japan and Meaghan & Hiroshi. I first contacted Meaghan late last year (2016) regarding an upcoming family trip to Kyoto. My son is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Celiac nearly 7 years ago. Typically, we feel very comfortable navigating the world gluten-free, but after even a cursory amount of research about traveling GF in Japan, I have to admit that we were completely overwhelmed and daunted at the prospect. I absolutely do not believe we could have traveled to Japan without Meaghan & Hiroshi’s help.
From basic encouragement that it CAN be done to helping us locate “safe” gluten-free dining options to helping us rent the most amazing Japanese-style house to putting together flexible and kid-friendly itineraries, Gluten Free Tours Japan did it all. Beyond just calling ahead to all of our dining destinations to confirm that they could accommodate my son’s dietary restrictions, Hiroshi also took me on a virtual shopping trip to our local grocery store, helping me select “safe” products for us to cook back at our house. They even helped us order special GF products to stock our kitchen before we arrived.
Gluten Free Tours Japan gave us personalized and detailed daily itineraries, complete with helpful subway and walking maps and fun destinations for both the kids and the grown-ups. They helped us rent a pocket wi-fi, arranged for a guided tour of Kyoto with a woman who we now consider a dear friend (and who later babysat for our children one night during our vacation), and were “on-call” for us throughout our stay in Japan.
Our week in Kyoto was a complete success. Beyond my son never getting glutened, my family completely and totally fell in love with Japan. This had everything to do with Gluten Free Tours Japan and the very personalized itinerary and attention provided by Meaghan & Hiroshi. I highly recommend contacting Meaghan & Hiroshi for your next GF trip to Japan. They know the country well and they completely understand the gluten-free diet and Celiac Disease.
Honestly, the world is an amazing place and you can’t let Celiac Disease limit you. We live in Connecticut. They are in Australia. We traveled to Japan and despite all the “challenges” one might think culture, language, and geographical distance might create, the trip couldn’t have gone more smoothly and have been more perfect. With the support of Gluten Free Tours Japan, we felt confident traveling independently in a very beautiful and foreign country. We can’t wait to go back!
After booking our flights to Japan, I started planning our trip and quickly came to the conclusion that traveling in Japan with Celiac disease would be very difficult. Then I found Gluten Free Tours Japan. Meaghan and Hiroshi helped turn this into the trip of a lifetime. A couple months prior to our vacation, they helped us with our itinerary, found restaurants for us everywhere we went, even a gluten-free bakery! But their service went way beyond that. A few examples:
When we walked into a restaurant, they already knew all about my dietary restrictions because Meaghan and Hiroshi had called them to explain before we got there.
They arranged a wonderful day for us in Kyoto with a delightful couple who showed us around and also taught us the proper way to eat soba noodles. (Hint: lots of slurping.)
My husband fell ill with the flu one evening. Hiroshi directed us to the nearest emergency room and interpreted by phone between my husband and the doctor. (Luckily, it was nothing serious and we were back on our way the next morning.)
As Typhoon Lan was headed our way on the island of Shikoku, they contacted the reception office to arrange for us to leave a day early so we could get away before the storm hit. Not only did they get us a full refund for the last night, but Meaghan and Hiroshi found a us reservation for that night – a Saturday – in Kyoto. Lifesavers.
Anyway, I could go on and on. Maybe we could have stumbled through on our own, but having Meaghan and Hiroshi plan and navigate for us and be just one phone call or message away when we ran into trouble made all the difference in the world. It gave us total peace of mind and allowed us to relax and enjoy a truly amazing experience. Even if they had done only what they said they would do, it would have been great. But Meaghan and Hiroshi went way, way beyond that. They are, quite simply, wonderful. We feel like we’ve made 2 good friends (and one little one).
We're missing Japan very much. We are so grateful to Meaghan and Hiroshi for everything. On a scale of 1 to 10, they are incredible.
My wife has Coeliac and we were a bit concerned about our trip to Japan due to the lack of GF understanding here and the language barrier. We came across Gluten Free Tours Japan while researching our trip and decided we would use their services, we are extremely glad we did.
Meaghan and Hiroshi have been amazing, they recommended several excellent restaurants that suited the experience we were looking for and suited our budget. They also contact the restaurants while you are sitting at the table to ensure there is nothing lost in translation and there is no risk.
Hiroshi was also very helpful checking snacks (chips, cheese etc.) that we purchased from 7/11's to ensure they were safe to eat.
From our experience it is very difficult to navigate gluten free in Japan, we highly recommend Gluten Free Tours Japan if you want a stress free, gluten free Japan holiday.
Meaghan and her partner worked with me, the food I wanted to try, and my budget to make my trip to Japan memorable. They were also available 24/7 to answer any question I had!
If/when I return to Japan, Meaghan will be the first person I contact. If you or someone you are traveling with has celiac disease or a gluten allergy, I can't recommend this company more!
This team is awesome and have made our time in Japan 100x more enjoyable. They were able to find so many awesome and safe locations for me and my husband to eat at that are gluten free friendly. They found locations outside of ones mentioned on gluten free forums and gluten free Facebook pages, as well as locations outside the Tokyo area.
If you suffer from celiac disease or a gluten allergy and want to explore Japan to the fullest, I would definitely hire this team and include them in your trip planning!
I have recently returned from two weeks in Japan, something that was only made possible because of the wonderful services from Gluten Free Tours Japan. Meaghan started by helping me plan our itinerary around our main areas of interest and made suggestions for accommodation, transport and what we could reasonably fit into our schedule. Once the itinerary was finalised she incorporated an amazing array of restaurants and put everything on to google maps. This meant that we were never worried about where we would eat for any meal and if we decided to change our schedule at any point then Meaghan or Hiroshi would quickly find us another place nearby.
The Japanese generally don't understand what gluten is so trying to explain to someone there is impossible unless you can speak fluentJapanese. This is where Hiroshi stepped in by ringing each restaurant and speaking to them whilst we were there to make sure they understood what we could and couldn't eat He would then communicate with us through What's App and let us know what the menu options were. This is an absolutely marvellous and efficient service and meant that we had no bad experiences. Meaghan and Hiroshi have obviously done a huge amount of research to find restaurants where they actually understand about gluten and can provide delicious food that isn't contaminated. We enjoyed many types of Japanese cuisine as well as French and Spanish to name a few.
Thank you Meaghan and Hiroshi for your wonderful help and taking the stress out of our holiday. We will certainly not hesitate to use you again on our next visit.
Japan is a great country but unfortunately for us coeliacs it can be a difficult place to enjoy and embrace food. Meaghan helped me out in ensuring a ryokan had booked in Hakone provided me with gluten free meals. I had a very nice time at this ryokan and did not get sick during my stay here. I really appreciated her help as there was a major language barrier and I would have definitely suffered otherwise.
They helped us navigate the food scene in Osaka and Kyoto with considerable more ease than we could otherwise have done. Our meals ranged massively - Michelin starred kaiseki meals, stunning modern European food and cheapish ramen bought from a vending machine. They even arranged a delicious bento box for when we visited Universal Studios! Nothing was too much trouble, they were always on hand to speak to us or to the restaurant, and I would strongly recommend them for anyone who is a coeliac or gluten intolerant, yet wants to really make the most of the culinary delights that Japan has on offer without having stressful conversations with restaurant staff!
I have recently returned from two weeks in Japan, something that was only made possible because of the wonderful services from Gluten Free Tours Japan. Meaghan started by helping me plan our itinerary around our main areas of interest and made suggestions for accommodation, transport and what we could reasonably fit into our schedule. Once the itinerary was finalised she incorporated an amazing array of restaurants and put everything on to google maps. This meant that we were never worried about where we would eat for any meal and if we decided to change our schedule at any point then Meaghan or Hiroshi would quickly find us another place nearby.
The Japanese generally don't understand what gluten is so trying to explain to someone there is impossible unless you can speak fluentJapanese. This is where Hiroshi stepped in by ringing each restaurant and speaking to them whilst we were there to make sure they understood what we could and couldn't eat He would then communicate with us through What's App and let us know what the menu options were. This is an absolutely marvellous and efficient service and meant that we had no bad experiences. Meaghan and Hiroshi have obviously done a huge amount of research to find restaurants where they actually understand about gluten and can provide delicious food that isn't contaminated. We enjoyed many types of Japanese cuisine as well as French and Spanish to name a few.
Thank you Meaghan and Hiroshi for your wonderful help and taking the stress out of our holiday. We will certainly not hesitate to use you again on our next visit.
Gluten free Tours Japan have made my “follow the food” dream possible in Japan!
Well it was much more than just possible – it was fun, interesting, tasty and completely Gluten free!
they managed to tailor a list of restaurants representing different cultural sides of Japan, most of them I would never dream or dare to go in because of language barrier.
creating specially for us an authentic experience and have been available on line all through the visit, flexible to assist in any of our questions and navigation challenges, even assisting with changes following the change of our flights and the Typhoon,
It more was more and above expected.
As a celiac, eating outside of your own kitchen is always a risk, and doubts are a part of our menu….. Meaghan and Hiroshi have given me the comfort and certainty to just enjoy the experience without the stress, and basically made this trip a true holiday.
THANK YOU !!!
I can't recommend this valuable service enough ! My husband and I spent 10 days in Japan during October and everything was so easy and seamless. The pre - planning of what areas of Japan we wanted to visit & accomation options were all layed out so easily for us. While we were in Japan Meaghan and Hiroshi were always available to us for questions and even when our plans changed they were extremely helpful and attentive and always had great restaurant recommendations that fitted our needs....and always so flexible, professional and going above and beyond.
Don't miss out on Japan! Such a gorgeous culture, beautiful country and probally some of the most delicious food you Wil ever try!
If you are gluten free, going to Japan, and are not fluent in Japanese this service is an absolute must! I repeat, it is absolutely worth your time and money!! I went to Tokyo, and while there are a small smattering of places that supposedly understand gluten free, by and large most places don’t and even the few places that do GF can still be a hassle at times due to the language barrier and are usually from where you are.
Gluten Free Tours speaks Japanese and really understands what gluten free is (probably better than most GF eaters!) If you come to Japan, you want the most hassle free yet authentic experience possible when it comes to food and that’s exactly what you get when you use their service. I did the culinary assistance service, which is essentially like having an on-call assistant to help you do gluten free throughout the day. You touch base with them on WhatsApp and they make restaurant recommendations according to your itinerary or close to where you are if unplanned. They can make reservations while informing the restaurant of what you can have ahead of time or can just tell you what you can order and give you informative text for the wait staff. They can also speak to your tour guides. You have very responsive, on call help for something that is usually pretty stressful to do for a gluten free person even in their own home country!
On your own it can be very difficult to ask for specific modifications to food in Japan without speaking Japanese. I would not wing it. Case in point, I tried it on my own at a place where the staff seemed to speak English fairly well and the restaurant was no less located in Tokyo Narita International Airport, which one would presume would make it more catering to foreigners. However, appearances were deceiving as my order was still made wrong despite going over the modification details twice with the wait staff. The staff refused to remake the meal when I asked despite getting it wrong, but once they talked with Gluten Free tours. Boom! Magic! They remade it and apologized and I was able to eat a delicious meal before my long flight home! It’s amazing the kind of difference that fluent Japanese makes in this territory. This is the kind of experience you get. I was able to go to local places, like a Japanese BBQ with my friend who is not gluten free and was totally fine. This would have never been possible without Gluten Free Tours. I cannot recommend them highly enough!
Our trip to Japan was really amazing despite the two offseason typhoons that struck during our stay. What made it that way was thanks to Gluten Free Japan Tours.
I was worried that my Husband would not get to experience traditional food, which is essential to any trip in really taking part in the culture, after all the negative comments people had about gluten free in Japan. Meaghan and her husband really looked out for us during our trip and tried to find great places to pick from, where possible, so that we could have a great experience without giving up and just eating plain meals.
Thank you for making this honeymoon possible for us
Then i found Gluten Free Tours Japan, who not only solve all your problems related to where and what to eat gluten fee in Japan, but they can also support you in the organization of the trip itself, suggesting the best itineraries and things to do according to your interests!
I was blessed for 15 days of my trip in Japan to receive the extremely knowledgeable and professional service offered by Gluten Free Tours Japan, who actually went far beyond what i was expecting from them and made my holiday in Japan an experience to treasure and truly unforgettable, in the good sense of course.
If you are a celiac, Gluten Free Tours Japan is the best service you can get to prevent your allergy to affect the enjoyment of your holiday.
I cannot recommend Gluten Free Tours Japan and the excellent service Meaghan and Hiroshi provided during my 3 week trip in Japan highly enough. I contacted Meaghan last minute as the reality of how challenging eating in Japan was going to be sunk in, despite speaking conversational Japanese and being able to read basic kanji.
Of the many countries I've travelled to, Japan is one of the most challenging. Not only is soy sauce in almost everything there are many hidden sources of gluten everywhere and the risk of cross contamination is high. There is a lot of misleading information out there and as a coeliac (and for anyone else avoiding wheat or gluten), eating in Japan is an absolute minefield. I would go so far as to say that any coeliac and even those who are gluten intolerant visiting Japan should seek the support of Gluten Free Tours Japan to ensure you can spend your time and energy enjoying your trip and not stressing about finding safe food.
Meaghan is thorough, incredibly helpful and flexible in tailoring support to meet your needs and budget, and is very responsive with communication.
Please support this wonderful tour company. Japan is beautiful with a rich culture and wonderful food. Don't miss out on what it has to offer for fear of getting sick.
Thank you Meaghan and Hiroshi. Your help was invaluable and your flexibility appreciated.
Before embarking on our family trip, we had no idea how difficult it would be to ensure that our food was gluten free. We soon learned that EVERYTHING contains gluten over there, either blatantly (in soy sauce, for example) or in hidden forms. With all the ingredients written in Japanese, we would have been totally in the dark. This trip could have turned into a nightmare for me and other family members.
Fortunately, in my research, I had come across this company, and with all the positive reviews, it seemed like a no-brainer to work with them. What a lucky break that was.
We contacted Meaghan very close to our departure date, and she graciously accepted us as clients, despite having a full load of other trips she was working on at the moment. Not only did she work around the clock to help us plan our daily schedule with a list of nearby "safe" places to eat, she was also on call and available to us at all times while we were there. Hiroshi, the superstar who was on location in Japan, was able to pull out reservations at amazing restaurants, at the last minute. Not only was the food we ate wonderful, not once did anyone get a tummy ache.
I give them top marks, and will definitely reach out to them again before we return to Japan.
I was very concerned about eating safely in Japan after a colleague who, while not a celiac, is gluten intolerant and had a terrible time in Tokyo using language translation cards. As a result he avoided restaurants after numerous attempts and came back home, eight pounds lighter. Hiroshi and Meaghan completely de-stressed my busy work week there, so I didn’t have to worry about where to eat each day. After our first couple of meals organized by GFTJ we loved their service and felt totally safe, allowing us to enjoy Tokyo like others. We were also able to enjoy sushi and other Japanese cuisines that I have not been able to access where I live since 2002, when I was diagnosed. Finally, they are lovely people and we wanted to reach through our iPhone and plop them down at our table to visit, share a meal, have drinks and laughs. 10 out of 10 for GFTJ.
My experience with Gluten Free Tours Japan did not disappoint!! It was the best decision I made knowing I wanted to explore Japan.
Meaghan and Hiroshi were so attentive and aware of my dietary needs, as too ensuring our choice of some restaurants were not too far from our accommodation knowing we were travelling with a 3 year old.
The restaurants allowed me to try traditional Japanese cuisine, from Shabu Shabu, Yakiniku, an array of sushi and experience an Zashiki seating arrangement in a Samurai restaurant.
Buying snacks throughout was made easy with taking photos of ingredients; Hiroshi was so timely in returning “It’s Safe” or “It’s not safe”, I did not go hungry.
I will happily recommend others with a gluten allergy to use Gluten Free Tours Japan.
Well done! 10/10 from a very satisfied customer.
