GTJ Insiders

Local residents and experts in hospitality, gastronomy, art, private travel and business — those who have spent years building networks, understanding unwritten rules, and opening doors others might never gain access to.
Every insider is our personal contact in Japan — your guide to places, experiences and connections beyond the pages of any guidebook.

Akemi Koyama

A guide with the keys to Kyoto’s most exclusive spaces
Akemi Koyama is a former concierge at The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto. She knows the city as only the initiated do: hidden temples, private gardens, traditional houses and closed artisan workshops. She will open the doors that remain closed to most travellers.
Secret insider
Gastronomy
A columnist and author for leading magazines, restaurant critic and traveller. He understands the finest nuances of haute cuisine and gastronomy at large.
For our guests he curates bespoke restaurant routes and accompanies exceptional culinary experiences.

Hideki Ura

Antique specialist & founder of Wanokura Gallery
Mr Ura specialises in late Edo and Meiji period crafts, including renowned Satsuma ceramics and porcelain. He travels personally across Europe and the US, attending exhibitions and engaging with collectors to study Japan’s finest masterpieces. He brings back rare items with stories of their makers and their pride in craftsmanship, sharing this unique beauty with connoisseurs.
Margarita Nomura
Professional childcare specialist
With formal training, vast experience and an unbounded curiosity about life, Margarita connects with every child and ensures activities that not only entertain, but introduce them to Japanese culture and spark discovery.
A unique professional adored by children, she oversees our nationwide nanny network, delighting both parents and little ones.

Maxim Polkin

Sake insider
Maxim is a certified lecturer in the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) Sake programme (London/Tokyo), a speaker at international festivals and instructor at the ENOTRIA sommelier school. Since 2022 he has delved deeply into the sake world, helping our guests discover the culture behind Japan’s oldest beverage. Under his guidance you will explore sake’s history, learn to distinguish subtle flavour notes, visit traditional producers, or attend a paired sake dinner. It’s a culinary journey that reveals the drink anew, even to the most discerning.

Anna

Architect & development expert
Anna, an architect at the renowned Japanese firm Nissen, will introduce you to Japan’s architecture through professional expertise. She immerses guests in the world of architecture and development with talks and visits to outstanding sites, letting you explore and discuss each project alongside an expert.
Mr Nakagawa
Private aviation insider
This expert specialises in premium flights and logistical arrangements at every level. He will help you plan helicopter or private jet journeys, select optimal routes, provide personal support and access to exclusive infrastructure.
Your flight will be as impeccable as the rest of your journey.

Secret insider

A fourth-generation ceramics master
Following in the footsteps of his father, a celebrated Japanese ceramicist, and generations of ancestors before him, our insider has dedicated himself to ceramics since the late 1980s. His works graced the Pierre Hermé Paris dinner at The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto, as well as the exclusive dinner celebrating the pastry chef’s collaboration with Nespresso.
Watching his precise and delicate craft unfold, you will touch something ancient, and learn the subtleties and nuances of a true ceramic master’s art.

Daria Terekova

Insider photographer
Daria has lived in Japan for over 15 years and knows it as only a local can — hidden streets, ancient quarters, the finest views of sakura and secret places beyond the tourist trail. She helps you live your journey fully, without constantly reaching for your phone or camera. Daria creates a relaxed atmosphere and captures extraordinary, natural images that preserve the memory of your trip in vivid detail and emotion.

Fujiwara XXV

A twenty-fifth-generation master swordsmith
The Fujiwara family has been forging blades in Seki for nearly 800 years — almost as long as the city itself has been known as the City of Blades. Our insider, Fujiwara Kanefusa XXV, is a licensed bladesmith and one of the few craftsmen in Japan officially permitted to produce katanas using traditional methods.
Watching him work, you will witness a blade taking shape from the very beginning: iron sand smelted into steel, hammered and folded at least ten times, coated in a secret clay recipe that determines the wave pattern on the edge. This process has changed little since the age of the samurai — and every strike of the hammer carries eight centuries of accumulated mastery.
A visit to Fujiwara is not a tour. It is a living encounter with what the master himself calls the heart of the samurai.

Vladislav Volkhin

Business insider
Vladislav is an entrepreneur, consultant and expert in the Japanese market. His experience spans export and import, business negotiations, organising site visits and building partnerships of any complexity. He speaks Japanese fluently and understands intercultural business nuances. With Vladislav, you can tackle tasks that ordinarily take months of preparation — from partner vetting and introductions to meeting support and access to closed facilities. He is the ideal guide for those travelling to Japan on business.
Secret insider
Secret guide to Toyosu Fish Market
Our insider has worked with one of the world’s largest fish markets — Toyosu — for 14 years. He personally selects the finest fish for top restaurants in Europe, Dubai and Moscow. With him you will enter restricted areas of the market, unseen by ordinary visitors.
You can witness the morning auctions, learn how the perfect tuna is chosen, follow the fish from auction to delivery — and sample the freshest seafood on site.