The Patchwork Ninja is a specialised trip for sewing enthisiasts. - The Patchwork Ninja Tour to Japan was a specialised tour for people with an interest in Patchwork, Quilting, Fabric Dyeing and similar Fabric crafts. Be aware that you must arrange your own flights to Japan and home. These flights to and from home are NOT included in the tour cost. This is a small group tour. Dai, the Patchwork Ninja is a dynamic active and engaging person based in Australia and Japan. This is not a tourist tour, although you will tour some tourist sites it is very much a hands on TEXTILES tour tailored for people with an interest in textiles with many included interactive hands on workshops. With Dai you will visit many fabric shops and fabric wholesalers, including a visit to his wholesaler at Nippori ( "Fabric Town" ). You will also visit some historic villages, depending on which tour you book as each tour has slightly different highlights and itinerary. I went in Spring, Late March to early Autumn at the height of cherry blossom season and the whole country goes utterly and completely MAD for cherry blossoms. I wished that when I went to the Kyoto Antique textiles market that I had a better understanding of the prices of the antique Kimonos. I bought three and now I wished I had bought a dozen. Pack very light leaving Australia and have a cabin bag inside your suitcase on the way out. So that you can bring two bags home, to pack antique Kimonos and Obis to bring home. Be aware that in Tokyo the temperature in Spring is VERY variable, 28 the day before I arrived, 14 the day I arrived and minus 2 the next day. Minus 3 at Tashikogawa Village in the mountains and 26 the day I left Osaka to fly home 3 weeks later. Also be aware that in the majority of places its shoes off at the door and the floor is freezing so slip a pair of wooly socks into your back pack. Most places provide inside slippers for when you have your shoes off and 'toilet slippers' obviously for the toilet area, but these are communally used toilet slippers so keep your own socks on !

Absolutely Awesome! - Fantastic experience for a family of 6 with a wide range of ages. Our tour guide Rika was personable, knowledgeable, and made it an awesome adventure!

Awesome time - The team giving the tour is what makes this attraction great. Very enthusiastic, entertaining and knowledgeable. We had fun while learning about the history of the Samurai and even had fun playing with ninja stars.

Not a must see but an okay gap filler - Don't do the guided tour. The groups can be quite large and you spend a lot of time waiting for people to pass around the fake swords etc. Interesting if you have an hr to kill but no need to speed too long there.

The Last Samurai. - Interesting part of Japan history ... Musashi, Bushido, Ninja, Shogun... known from childhood and now I could see and almost touch this with my hands... Recommend for everyone who visit Kyoto .

Touristy but fun - It was pretty cool, our tour guide was cute and funny, which added to the experience. The samurai suits of armor and swords were great to look at. It's kind of a tourist trap thing, but there are some historical aspects of it which are interesting.

Very interesting but a bit rushed - Very interesting, sympathetic guide but very fast. There was a lot to have a look at but no time to read. I felt a little bit rushed because the guide would go to the next station very fast and the group behind you would rush in the room.

Best for families - Great little stop for families with kids but a bit hokey for adults. The authentic samurai armor on display was most interesting to us.

Pretty poor value for money - Generally relatively unorganised. We were greeted by previous group telling us try and get your money back as it’s a rip off. It was followed by a somewhat unenthusiastic helper telling us to get changed and spending 15/20 of the experience getting changed. Followed by three activities which felt staged (last activity didn’t have enough swords so we were told to wait in the corner. The blow darts were somewhat fun but I question how hygienic they were. At the end u only got a ninja star if you posted a good review which I assume is the reason for large number of positive reviews

A scam - Tourist traps. Some very nice armor but you are obliged to do the circuit with a group much too large for the rooms, to listen to comments that you could read on the signs. And you end up with a shurikn throwing game that will only make children laugh. In short very expensive and useless