4 Japan Birdwatching Tours to Build a Day Around

1.Sapporo Winter : Asahiyama Zoo (Penguin Fun & Snowmobile)

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 28 reviews · 9 hours - 1 day · from $58Our pick

Join a nine-hour winter tour from Sapporo with a heated bus, a professional English or Chinese-speaking guide, Asahiyama Zoo admission, Furano’s Ningle Terrace, Shikisai-no-oka, and the Ken and Mary Tree. Snowmobile rides cost extra, and guides such as Hong and Sunny have earned especially warm praise.

“Hong is a great tour guide. clear and considerate. polite and mindful. keeps us up to date about travel plans.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Wild Bird Sanctuary Forest Guided Tour in Nagano

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 17 reviews · from $16Best value

Join Picchio’s naturalist guides, including Ogucchan and Mr. Bug, for a two-hour walk through Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary. Expect Japanese birds, squirrels, frogs, insects, and clear lessons about forest ecology. Tours use Japanese and basic English, with binoculars available for 300 yen.

“Our tour guide おぐっちゃん was amazing! She was so knowledgeable and made the experience so fun & informative. The views were excellent and it made me feel more connected to nature. I want to try the night tour next time. Highly recommend if you’re visiting Karuizawa!! 10/10”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Penguin Fun & Snowmobile : Sapporo Winter (Asahiyama Zoo)

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 14 reviews · 9 hours - 1 day · from $58

Travel from Sapporo to Asahiyama Zoo, Ningle Terrace, Shikisai-no-oka, and the Ken and Mary Tree in a heated bus. Guides such as Mr Lin, Mr Hong, and Xiao Hong provide multilingual help. Add a snowmobile ride for ¥15,000 to ¥20,000, or enjoy the snow for free.

“Our tour guide Mr Lin was very attentive and took care of all on board. As the group was mainly from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, he spoke in Mandarin mostly. He also shared a lot of history, culture and practices in Japan, and recommended good food we could try. Mr Lin also shared tips on where we could take good photos and videos of the penguin walk at the zoo. It was a pity that there was traffic control at Ningle Terrace so we were not able to visit. We were brought to Takushinkan instead. Also due to heavy snow, it took longer to return to Sapporo after the…”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.Kyoto Lazy Bird Walking Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 14 reviews · from $111

Spend about 5 hours and 45 minutes with a private guide visiting Kyoto’s Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Golden Pavilion, and Fushimi Inari Shrine. The 12:45 pm start suits jet-lagged visitors, while guides such as Mitsue, Noriko, and Saori add local context and help manage Kyoto’s trains and walking routes.

“The friendliness and knowledge of our guide Cheia, she was a wonderful guide and really enjoyed her company.”

Check availability →Read our full review