Our Team

Ecka

Ecka comes from the Philippines and has a degree in Software Engineering. Her love for Japan grew when she visited in 2018. As the Assistant Admin Manager, Ecka is excited to help visitors plan their next trip and see what made her fall in love with Japan in the first place!

Bertely

Bertely currently lives in the Philippines and is a member of the Admin team. Her love for traveling led her to explore the best tourist places in her country, and now, Japan is on her international travel bucket list. She is very much eager to help visitors plan their most unforgettable travel experience in Japan.

Mel Rose

Jenkie

Jenkie was born and raised in the Philippines. She is a marketing graduate and former manager of Kirelis International for 10 years. She joined Arigato Japan in 2017. Jenkie is our Head of Finance and is working hard to manage our financial and budgeting operations.

Kristine

Kristine is our Admin Manager. She is dedicated and committed to providing excellent service to clients and continues to be responsible for our goal in offering the best food and travel experience to visitors from around the world, by showing Japan’s unique culture.

Miyuki

Miyuki traces her lifelong fascination with travel, culture and world cuisine back to reading “People” by Peter Spier, and tasting food at her father’s Teppanyaki restaurant. She has lived in the U.S.A., Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, Norway, Ireland and Malta for school and work, and loves to share her knowledge of Japanese “soul food.”

Ryan

Ryan has lived and traveled to many parts of Asia and Africa. He now lives in and explores different areas of Tokyo and eats at various kinds of restaurants, such as Ramen, Yakiniku, Sushi, and Gyudon restaurants. He also enjoys hanging around Akihabara and looking at all the different DIY electronics and computer parts available in that area.

Kazuya

Kazuya is from Tokyo. He retired two years ago after working as a full-time employee at Japanese and multi-national companies for 36 years, and has become a guide to live a different life. He has lived in US and Luxembourg for several years. He is still very active at the age of 62.

Tim Keir

Tim is a Canadian who has been living in Japan for almost 5 years. He loves to cook and also works as a chef in Japan, and can speak French, English, and Japanese. He enjoys Japanese food and culture and loves experimenting with cooking Japanese style dishes and uses their unique flavors to create new foods.

Jordan

Jordan considers himself lucky to have grown up in Vancouver, Canada, where he was introduced to cultures and foods from all over the world. This sparked his wanderlust, and he began taking international trips in 2013, starting with Japan. He returned almost every year before finally making a more permanent move in 2018.

Sabreena

Sabreena is from Malaysia and has been living in Kyoto while attending college in Osaka, experiencing both Kyoto cuisine and Osaka street food. Aside from food, she loves meeting new people and connecting with them. Sabreena believes Japan is the perfect place to experience new things and would love to share her knowledge with you.

Alexandro Renee

Alex is our Training and HR coordinator. He shares his knowledge with our guides and also runs Spanish-language tours. Alex has many stories about this amazing country and is always happy to meet new friends from around the world! He is an Artist and a fan of Anime and Manga.

Megumi

Megumi was born and raised in Hiroshima, but has been living in Osaka for long time. She loves eating, drinking, traveling, karaoke, and salsa dance. Of course she really loves living in Osaka, and hopes that everyone who visits the city will come to love it there, too. She is looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing many moments together.

Lora

Lora is originally from New York, but has been living in Japan for a total of 7 years now. In addition to exploring Tokyo and trying out new restaurants and bars of all kinds, she also volunteers at a cat rescue network that is based here in Japan to help out animals in need.

Reiko

Reiko was born and has lived in Hiroshima all of her life aside from 4 years at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. Reiko knows a lot about food all over Japan, but her focus is Hiroshima. Reiko says “Hiroshima food is amazing with a rich selection of delicacies to try. I love helping guests navigate their way through the wonderful food here.”

Norma

Norma is a passionate etching and woodblock artist who came from Mexico to learn Ukiyo-e. As a foodie, Japan was the perfect place in the world to explore, because of its amazing variety of flavors and textures.

Yoshiko

Yoshiko is a mother of three, an English teacher, and loves travel, music, and food. She is proud of Japanese cuisine and loves to share her food knowledge with friends from all around the world. Feel free to ask her any questions you might have about Japanese food and traditions!

Kay

Kay is a Korean who grew up in Osaka and Tokyo, and went to college in the U.S. She has visited 12 countries and always enjoys meeting new people around the globe, exploring new cultures and trying the local food. She’s very easy going and awaits the opportunity to share tasty food and a fun time with you.

Chie

Chie was born and grew up in Kobe and has lived in Osaka for 15 years. Traveling and food are her passions. After living abroad and realizing that she had taken it for granted, she gradually came to appreciate and love her own country, its culture and its food. She is keen on discovering more about Japan through her new friends from Arigato Japan.

Ariadna

Ariadna is from Barcelona and her love for Japanese culture and language led her to travel around Japan several times before moving to Kyoto. Although she sometimes misses paella, it leaves her mind while she's enjoying Sukiyaki, Takoyaki, Okonomiyaki... and basically everything that contains the word 'yaki.'

Gabi

Gabi has been living in Japan since 2017. As a Nikkei, she always wanted to live here to learn more about her heritage. She was able to combine that wish with her academic life, so now Gabi can be found both on the streets of Osaka and on Osaka University campus where she is taking a PhD course.

Roberto

Roberto came to Japan from Mexico after becoming a professional chef in the UK with the sole purpose of learning Japanese cuisine. The city which feels most like home to him is Osaka where he lives now. Roberto is a professional chef and always happy to share his love and knowledge of Japanese cuisine.

Mario

Mario initially came to Japan to pursue his graduate studies after doing trade promotion for Japan in the DC area, and is now a certified beer sommelier in Japan. Curiosity and a passion for food and beer fuel his passion as a tour guide as he looks forward to re-discovering Japan through the eyes of visitors.

Cole

Cole is from London and is now currently based in Kyoto. He first lived in Japan in the 90s and spent much of that time in the city of Nagasaki where he developed a taste for the local noodle dishes as well as an affinity for the extreme Kyushu dialect of Japanese.

Ayumi

Ayumi was born and raised in Tokyo. She used to work on a cruise ship for 7 years as an acupuncturist and had chance to see the world. Ayumi loves going to a local restaurant and trying new foods while traveling. Ask her the best ways of eating any famous ingredient!

Akari

Akari was originally from Nara and is now living in Osaka. She has also previously lived overseas in Australia and Canada. Akari loves eating out and finding great restaurants. She is a friendly person and is really looking forward to exploring Osaka with you and sharing her love of great Japanese food!

Yappy

Yappy moved to Tokyo from Osaka 20 years ago, and has worked in the entertainment industry since then. As a bartender and DJ, he has the chance to use both his Osaka dialect and his English. From 2015-2017, he had an Airbnb listing where he hosted more than 400 guests. This unforgettable experience made him want to continue sharing his love of Japan.

Russ

Russ is musician from Wales who first visited Japan in 2010 with his band after discovering a record he released in 1980 was selling for 7000yen. He has since undertaken 8 tours of Japan and regularly plays solo gigs in Dotonbori and Shinsekai. Russ has a Higher National Diploma in Fashion and Textiles and an MA in Garden History.

Kazuo

Kazuo was born and grew up in Kyoto, and is now living in Fushimi where he teaches English at a secondary school and takes care of a lot of exchange students from abroad. He has also lived in London before to study linguistics at the University of London. Kazuo now enjoys talking about Japanese food and culture.

H

‘H’ was born and raised in Kyoto, and has worked at several companies engaging in overseas marketing & sales before his retirement. His job brought him to many countries around the world, and he has made many friends overseas and ate a lot of food in different countries. He would like to help you try the food Japan has to offer.

Abiyan

Abiyan is from Indonesian but has been living in Japan for the past 6 years. When he has free time you are most likely to see him playing his guitar along the Kamogawa river. Abiyan speaks Bahasa Indonesia, English, Javanese and, Japanese. He enjoys Japanese culture and loves meeting new people. He is looking forward to get meeting people from all over the world and sharing his love of Japan with them!

Yuko

Yuko was born in Yokohama and raised in Tokyo. Until recently, she lived in Hawaii with her two children for 7 years. She brought the Aloha spirit back to Japan with her. Yuko is happy to share Japanese food and cultural facts so guests can bring wonderful memories back home.

Tokiko

Tokiko was born and raised in Osaka. She lived in Switzerland for more than 15 years and enjoyed mingling with the locals by giving Ikebana, Japanese traditional dance, and Kimono lessons. Tokiko is looking forward to helping you learn about the Japanese food that people eat daily.

Mariko

Mariko was born and raised in Kobe, and moved to San Francisco to study and worked there as a global sales-coordinator with an agricultural company. She became inspired by food because people there were highly conscious of its quality, and enjoyed many types of international food due to the diversity of the city.

Kumie

Kumie is from Osaka and has lived in Tokyo since 2014. She studied food science and nutrition, working as a food researcher. Living in both urban and rural areas all over Japan, Kumie has strong knowledge of regional specialities and local culture. She loves sharing that viewpoint.

Ramona Falivene

Ramona is Italian and LOVES food. She ran restaurants before moving to Japan with her husband. Her aim is to instill in our guests her passion for Japanese cuisine, and helping them to understand the many interesting aspects of life in Tokyo. Ramona also helps on our Training team!

Timothy

Timothy, from Austin, Texas has been living in Japan since 2000. He came to study design and language. He likes visiting lesser known parts of Tokyo, exploring the country, taking photos, of animals and Tokyo nightlife. He knows some of the most fun and traditional parts of the city.

Sarah

Sarah was born and raised in France. She started learning Japanese at age 15 and visited Japan for the first time at 18 to experience high school student life here, becoming hooked ever since. Sarah got to work and live in the Japanese countryside, in Tokyo, and is now living in the Kansai area. She hopes to make you love Japan and its quirks.

James

James is from Australia, but has been living overseas for 15 years. He loves traveling and learning about new cultures, and has a background in photography and architecture. James fell in love with Japan as a teenager and his interest in Japan has since only deepened now that he lives in Tokyo. He believes Japanese cuisine is the best in the world.

Thomás

Thomás is a Brazilian who came to Japan to pursue his Master's and Ph.D. in computational neuroscience. But even while enjoying these abstract subjects, his passions extend to many areas. Go with Thomás and he will certainly love to share with you his love for Japan as well as his appreciation of all things, big to small.

Carlotta

Carlotta is from Rome, Italy, and as such she is proudly in love with food. She is very passionate about Japanese history and culture, passion that was nurtured during her travels to Japan. Trips that were always “too short”, as she feels Tokyo especially is a never-ending story. Most recently she lived in Tokyo for a year, but she moved to the UK to complete her master’s degree right afterwards. As an Intern in Culinary Editing, she is now excited to help people to discover the most niche and delicious food joints that Japan has to offer.

Jason

Jason is our Social Media Intern from the US. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate International Studies degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin and aspires to be a tour guide after graduation! While pursuing this degree, he also is studying the Japanese language because he loves Japanese food and culture and wants to share that love with others and make friends cross-culturally!

Sarah

Sarah is from Trinidad and recently gained a BSc in Biology and Biochemistry. An anime lover from a young age, this led to her passion and love for Japan. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and creating new content for Instagram to share her Asian Nerd fever. Other hobbies include drawing, learning languages, watching Asian dramas, catching up on anime and manga. One of her main goals is to become fluent in Japanese one day in hopes to travel to Japan.

Stephen

Stephen is from Toronto, Canada and he previously lived and worked in Nagoya, Japan as an English teacher. Stephen loves all things Japanese, especially the cuisine. An avid sports fan, Stephen very much enjoys watching baseball and basketball. In his spare time, Stephen enjoys hiking and spending time in nature. He has a passion for drawing and painting, and his work is heavily influenced by Japanese art.

Anita

Anita is a recent university graduate from California. In school, she studied Business, Japanese and Tourism and Hospitality. Being half Japanese, she has had an interest in Japanese culture, both modern and traditional, since a young age. In her free time she enjoys exercising, listening to music, and playing video games.

Miles

Miles is from Maryland in the US. Spurred by video games and music produced in Japan, he started studying Japanese at 11 and continued on to earn his bachelor’s in Linguistics. In his free time, he can be found reading, and, yes, still playing video games in Japanese. He is excited to share his love of Japan’s language and culture with others! 

Francesca

Francesca is a cheerful Italian who spent the last twelve years in beautiful England. She fell in love with the Japanese culture—and all that Japan has to offer—thanks to video games, and she is self-studying the language so she can fully enjoy—and soon understand—the J-rock music she loves and the J-dramas she is very fond of. As the newest addition to the Arigato Travel interns team, she’s eager to help, learn, and make the most of this experience so that she can fulfill her ultimate goal of moving to Japan.

Rachel

Rachel was born and raised in Australia, and moved to Japan several years ago. She loves Japanese culture and food (especially anything matcha-flavoured). In her free time, she enjoys reading and watching Disney films. During her internship with Arigato Japan, she is excited to introduce the beauty and uniqueness of Japan to people around the world.