Our team at Inside Japan Tours

The sun never sets on the InsideJapan Tours team (well, maybe on Sundays) as we have offices in Bristol (UK), Broomfield, (USA), Brisbane (Australia) and Nagoya (Japan). On this page you can meet the people behind our Japan holidays and tours.

We have a wide range of backgrounds and interests, but you can be sure that the one thing that ties us all together is a love of Japan, Japanese culture and a passionate desire to share that with other people.

From the accounts department, through the travel consultant teams to the tour leaders and guides on the ground, you can rest assured that everything we do is to make sure you have the best possible experience of Japan.

Vivienne Boyack
Interim Head of Sales
Email: [email protected]
Call: UK 0117 370 9754
Location (Bristol, UK)

A keen canoeist with a secret talent for Hula dancing and a fondness for chicken sashimi, Vivienne has lived and breathed Japan since 2010 and is our resident Kyushu expert.

Vivienne joined IJT in November 2012, fresh from a two year stint teaching English to Japanese primary and secondary pupils at the southern tip of Japan. Vivienne headed to Japan straight after university knowing very little about the country or its culture but soon fell in love with the place, its people and its food.

With a degree in French and History, Vivienne was well equipped to start picking up Japanese when she arrived in Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture on Japan's Kyushu Island. Having lived there for two years, made friends with plenty of friendly old ladies, learned how to Hula dance and taught in no fewer than nine different schools, Vivienne doesn't hesitate to recommend her old stomping ground to others. With a volcano erupting nearly every day (don't worry, it's safe!), delicious food (especially black pork, tonkotsu ramen noodles and shochu sweet potato spirit), brilliant hot springs, sand baths and laid-back people - Kagoshima remains one of her favourite places in Japan.

After returning to the UK in 2012, Vivienne spent two years working at our Bristol office before returning to Japan - this time to enjoy city life for five months at our base in Nagoya. Though she loved the efficient public transport, "konbini" convenience stores and Japanese food, she was glad when it was time to return to Bristol pubs and Marmite in December 2014!

What is your advice to those thinking of visiting Japan?

"Japan is so full of contrasts that whatever you are interested in, you are guaranteed to find something to love about it. One day you can be in the bright lights of Osaka's Nanba Dotonbori entertainment district, the next you can be exploring atmospheric temples on sacred Mount Koya. There's so much diversity.

"If you've already decided to pay a visit to Japan, my top tip is to make sure that you visit a local izakaya (Japanese eating establishment comparable to a British pub). It can be daunting to walk into a little place where you can't see much inside, can't read the menu and don't know whether the staff speak English. But the little izakaya are the best fun if you are brave enough! This is the place to get chatting to local people in their best English and try some of the local food. Eat everything!"

Relive a favourite moment in Japan...

A local sports festival in Kyushu

"When I first arrived in Japan, I was invited to take part in a local sports festival in my village in Kagoshima Prefecture. I really couldn't speak any Japanese at this point, but I was happy to be invited to participate.

"There were all kinds of events - from more serious things like sprints and relays to silly stuff like three-legged and blindfold races. I was a bit nervous about getting involved, but it was a lot of fun. The language barrier did not matter at all, and I could still have a laugh with everyone nonetheless.

"After the sports events we had a great drinking party with all the local families. This is one of my best memories and was a fantastic introduction to Japan."