Great rural ebike tour Highlight of our trip!I wanted to experience rural Japan culture during our recent family trip. Understanding other cultures is a large part of why I travel, and just seeing the popular sights doesn't capture that on it's own for me. So I went searching on the internet and found Bawako Backroads and I'm so glad i did!Things like this can be challenging since I have a very high energy 11 year old and a moody 13 year old, but Tako & our guide Ryo did splendidly. My wife eats on the keto diet and they were accommodating for that during the cooking session too, which is a feat.We customized a full day tour of the countryside to include an ebike ride, a visit to a local farm, cooking a meal, and visiting a temple. During each one our guide would talk about various aspects of Japanese culture - in a way that actually engaged our picky girls - and even had a binder with illustrations prepared. So cool. Tako is also a great communicator and very organized when customizing the tour and having a clear itinerary.Ryo was a wonderful guide - very knowledgeable and so kind. She even invited us into her home!They also suprised us by having a birthday cake made for my daughter since it was her birthday on the day of our tour - all without asking - and we got to meet the main chef at the bakery!If you are looking to experience rural Japan, do not hesitate and reach out to Bawako now.

A highlight of our trip! This tour of Kinomoto was fantastic and a true highlight of our family trip to Japan. We especially enjoyed learning about brewing soy sauce at Tomita Shuzo (and we savor the delicious bottle that we brought home with us) plus seeing all the frogs and doing the pitch dark maze at Kinomoto Jizoin. Most of our trip was otherwise in large cities so it was rewarding to gain new perspective visiting this small town and interacting with local artisans. Our guide was excellent and provided insight and access we never would have discovered on our own. I highly recommend this experience!

"Beautiful Adventure" This tour is fantastic and a lot of fun. The guides are all very friendly and knowledgable about the area. If you're interested in having a more personal tour or having a more local experience in Japan this is a must do. Don't be afraid to ask your guide if you want to stop somewhere along the tour to take pictures or pop in a shop quickly

Breath-taking sights A friend and I decided to go on the tour, not knowing what to expect from it. Turns out it was one of the highlights of our trip! The guide showed us things that we would have never seen otherwise, we were given homemade traditional snacks and beverages, we were lucky enough to see wild monkeys... We couldn't have asked for more! Definitely recommended.

Fabulous Day getting truely local In Feb 2020 we arranged a private tour initery and went to Kinomoto as part of our schedule. Thanks Biwako Backroads for a wonderful day. The pace of our schedule was perfect for us (50s), our guides knowledgeable and charming. This was one of our most interesting days in Japan, as we really felt we we experiencing local areas, sites and business that we would never have found on our own, and got to do it all with guides who spoke english and Japanese. We really felt we were able to have more interesting conversations as a result.

Awesome experience! highly recommend My friends and I went on the Half-Day Bike Tour around Maibara, Japan. The weather was perfect and the mountain bikes were high quality so it was easy to ride around. The tour was laid back and super fun with funny conversations. Our guide, Matsui-san, shared interesting information about the local area stopping here and there throughout the ride. Unmatched authentic Japan experience that we wouldn’t have had if we hadn’t chosen to do this bike tour. If you or your friends like nature, culture, and exploring more rural areas this will definitely be up your alley. We highly recommend to any couple, family, of group of friends! It was the highlight of my japan trip!!

Must do The tour was great! It was well designed, had a lot of different views, and was full of interesting information about the culture, history and local traditions. The bikes were of great quality and the guide was very friendly (and speaks good english too!). I strongly recommend that you do the tour if you are in the Maibara area.