There are two very large travel companies in Japan, JTB and HIS.
JTB stands for Japan Travel Bureau . Sounds official, doesn’t it? It was originally called the Japan Tourist Bureau, and established by the Japanese government.
It is currently the largest travel agency in Japan and quite easy to find around larger train stations, shopping malls, and areas with a lot of visitors.
H.I.S. is the other large player in the Japan travel industry. H.I.S. also owns No.1 Travel which markets its services toward non-Japanese (non-Japanese speaking) clientele.
There are other smaller travel agencies, and still more that specialize in school tours and other types of niche travel.
When you go to a typical travel agency in Japan, more often than not there will be racks and racks of travel pamphlets. It may help to take a look at these and study them if you are interested in a package tour.
If you don’t look at the pamphlets beforehand, you may not be prepared for when you finally sit down with an agent and the first thing he or she does after hearing your destination is walk over and pull a few pamphlets down to look through.
The pamphlets may have some good deals for you if you are in need of lodgings with your plane ticket. If you are only looking for a plane ticket, the pamphlets won’t help you.
If you are just looking for an airline ticket, you may want to do a little research on the internet before going to the agent. The agent may sometimes be able to find a good deal, but in the beginning you will be directed toward some more expensive airline tickets with the logic being that the schedules are more convenient.
Airline flights from non-Japanese, non-USA airlines may not immediately enter the discussion. However most agencies will be happy to check prices at airlines in other countries in Asia or the world.
The No. 1 Travel division of H.I.S. is often an exception to this rule, sometimes checking the cheapest price on any airline from the beginning. If you are traveling with a family you may want to be a bit careful using No. 1 Travel, as I believe they mostly deal with non-Japanese travelers without families. (Full disclosure here, I once used No. 1 Travel to travel with my family and the agent forgot to request kids’ meals despite my request. We also had one child under age two without a seat, and an infant meal also went unrequested.)
When going to a travel agency in Japan it definitely helps to have checked the internet for the cheapest airline. I also may help to keep in mind that prices of flights in Japan will fluctuate greatly during the year. The highest prices tend to be around the Obon Festival in early August, and during the school vacations in general. The cheapest prices will be for flights that happen while colleges and other schools are all in session. The cheapest flight I’ve ever gotten was in February.
Lastly, it is important to ask the agency for a disclosure of all fees. They are currently required to quote the title including the fuel surcharge and all taxes, but sadly many travel agents still tend to keep this information from customers until they are ready to buy. Be sure to ask what the total charge will be up front and use that to compare flight prices, as the fuel surcharge will also vary greatly from agent to agent.