Nippon Travel Agency

A friend told me about this travel agency and it couldn’t have worked out better! I told them what I was interested in over the phone and provided all the information they needed in an email. About one week later I drove over and picked up my rail passes. They were incredibly helpful and very kind to my children.
I would definitely come here again!

In prepping for my 3 week backpacking trip through Japan, I came here in hopes of purchasing a 14 day rail pass. I had called 3 other places to shop around for the best price and I was quoted an excellent price from Nippon.
Finding the place was a bit difficult for me. My directions said to make a left onto Bair Island road so I was looking for an actual road. It didn’t dawn on me that the «road» was a sign into that building’s parking lot. After parking in one of their many open spots, I entered the darkly lit ground floor (the ambiance reminded me of entering a seedy motel lobby… not that I’ve been in one…), read the directory and found NTA America Travel, rather than Nippon Travel Agency. Noticing that the other suites were professional offices such as CPA offices, I figured the 3^rd floor was where I needed to be.
Stepping off the elevator, I felt rather claustrophobic. I had stepped into a hallway with closed doors, the yellow lighting illuminating the placards on the wall, notifying customers what was behind each door. Once I found my destination, I didn’t know if I should knock or just open the door. I did the latter and was brought into a room with about 3 conference rooms facing the parking lot and 6 desks (that were arranged in a rectangle in the center of the room) each with very old PCs. The place was decorated with everything JAL and related to Japan with maps, brochures and hanging red lanterns.
I was looking for Mito-​san and once I told one of the ladies that, she happily screamed out «blah, blah, blah, Mito-​san!» It was rather cute and made me realize I’m not going to understand anything at all in Japan! Once Mito-​san came out of a corner office, I told her what I was seeking and she led me to one of the conference rooms where she gave me the appropriate form to fill out and notified me that unfortunately the price had gone up do the exchange rate. She was patient, informative, helpful and very hospitable as well since she offered me some water or tea. She had also done her homework and had helped my brother and I with finding a hotel in Kyoto during it’s high season for the price and location that we wanted. *SCORE!*
All in all, a good visit. I now know that if I need anything before I head off, Nippon Travel is the place to stop off!