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Nagomi Visit is finally back after three years!

2023-07-13

After three years of tough decisions, we are finally back to help you meet locals all across Japan.

Since we restarted on July 3rd, we are already receiving host requests from all over the world, and there have already been a few Nagomi Visits within the first week of starting.

We are currently running on donations from our passionate hosts and grants we received from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nippon Foundation because we had to shut down for three years due to COVID.

We hope to become a sustainable organization again with your participation. Fingers crossed!

Temporarily stopping Nagomi Visit due to Coronavirus COVID-19(新型コロナウイルス感染症の流行に伴い、一時的に活動を停止します)

2020-03-05

We have decided to stop Nagomi Visit operations temporarily due to the Coronavirus COVID-19. We will restart Nagomi Visit again when the situation gets better and people can join Nagomi Visit with peace of mind.

During this period users will no longer be able to:

  1. Send new requests
  2. Register as a new host

If you are already going on a Nagomi Visit you will be able to join as planned. We, the Nagomi Visit team are here to help you at anytime.

Here you can find the Guidelines for Cancellations due to the New Coronavirus and Infection Prevention Measures during a Nagomi Visit .


新型コロナウイルス感染症の世界的な流行に伴い、一時的にホームビジットを停止することに致しました。今後、事態が収束して多くの皆さんが安心してNAGOMI VISITでの交流を楽しめるような環境になり次第、活動を再開したい考えです。

活動停止中は、以下のことができません
  1. ゲストとして参加したい人が、新たにリクエストを送ること
  2. ホストして参加したい人が登録手続きをすること

なお、既にマッチングが確定している場合には事務局は通常通りの対応を致します。実施やキャンセルに関わるガイドライン も合わせてご確認ください。 (NAGOMI VISITの日本語HPへリンクします)

Guidelines for Cancellations due to the New Coronavirus and Infection Prevention Measures during a Nagomi Visit

2020-02-22

To Participants of Nagomi Visit

Some hosts and guests may be wondering whether their Nagomi Visit should be canceled due to the spread of the new coronavirus.

You can find the Guidelines for Cancellations due to the New Coronavirus and Infection Prevention Measures during a Nagomi Visit below.

We hope that both hosts and guests will be able to use these messages from Nagomi Visit as necessary so that each others' situations and feelings can be completely understood.

February 21st, 2020

  • English :

    Guidelines for Cancellations due to the New Coronavirus and Infection Prevention Measures during a Nagomi Visit (PDF 258KB)

  • Japanese :

    新型コロナウイルス感染症に伴うキャンセルへの考え方と、 NAGOMI VISIT 開催時の感染防止について (PDF 166KB)

  • What is it like to Nagomi Visit with a baby?

    2019-03-18

    We asked Golo, Susann and their 18-month-old daughter Ida who visited Japan for the first time from Germany and decided to go on two Nagomi Visits. One in the Tokyo metropolitan area with a family of four with kids age 3 and 8 and another family of four with kids age 2 and 3 in the suburbs of Tokyo in Saitama Prefecture.

    Each Nagomi Visit is unique and this is Golo and his family’s Nagomi experiences.

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did the other members of your family react? Were they excited? Worried?
    2. I found out about Nagomi Visit on a travel website and was immediately thrilled. My wife feels very much the same about traveling and meeting locals, so it wasn't at all difficult to convince her that we should try it out. We were both positively surprised how many answers we got following our request, and the hardest part was to actually choose but two of them.

    3. How long did it take for your daughter to warm up to the host's home and family? If so, how did they interact with the hosts?
    4. My daughter was a bit shy at that time (18 months old), so she didn't really get into contact with the kids. Instead, she played with their toys (which they gladly allowed) and kept close to Mum and Dad. She loved trying on the baby yukata our second host family provided. She also loved watching the moon from the first host family's balcony together with their daughter.

    5. Did your daughter enjoy any part of the meal the host made?
    6. When we visited Japan, temperatures peaked at about 38°C. Our daughter didn't like the heat, so she generally ate only little. It wasn't very different at the host family, but both my wife and I enjoyed the food a lot.

    7. What was the Nagomi experience like as a parent with your daughter?
    8. It was great - I couldn't have expected more.

    9. Did having your daughter help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went with just adults?
    10. Sure. As with other German parents, you automatically start talking about your kids. The first host family allowed Ida to participate in the tea ceremony, which she enjoyed a lot. And their elder daughter was so proud helping out that you could feel that Ida wanted to do the same.

    11. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your daughter? Was it more relaxing since you are in a home with similar age kids and toys? Or did it make you nervous?
    12. Both my wife and I have travelled widely (and also to Asian countries), so we weren't nervous. We were greeted in such a friendly way that any rest of nervousness would have disappeared immediately anyway. Both Nagomi Visits were really quite relaxing as we could get out of the heat and let our daughter play in safe surroundings. As I said above, it was more the toys than the kids she was interested in.

    13. Why did you decide to go on more than one Nagomi Visit and what did your family gain from meeting more than one Nagomi host?
    14. Our original plan was to do even more Nagomi Visits in all the places we visited, but given our limited time in Japan we were quite happy to settle on only two. With hindsight, though, we should have taken them in two different cities, though, as we missed out on two afternoons in Tokyo. Given that there is so much to see, this was not the best choice. Apart from that, both Nagomi Visits were great. We had a lot of fun with the first family, taking pictures of the kids during the tea ceremony or creating Japanese sweets and origami on our own. The food was excellent, too. The second family was super friendly, too, and we were immediately on the same wavelength. It is always good to meet locals, so if we ever get back to Japan, we will certainly do another Nagomi Visit.

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read Tips for going on a Nagomi Visit with young kids or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    What is it like to Nagomi Visit with teenagers?

    2019-03-17

    We asked Diana and her family from Canada, along with their son's best friend who were traveling to Japan for the first time. Their son is 15 and in high school, and his best friend is 16. They met one of our hosts in Hyogo Prefecture near Himeji and Kobe who are a family of 4 with a 6 and 1-year-old son.

    Each Nagomi Visit is unique and this is Diana and her family’s Nagomi experience.

    Nagomi Visit with teenagers

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did the other members of your family react? Were they excited? Worried?
    2. They were excited. They really liked the idea of visiting a family and experiencing “real life”

    3. How long did it take for your son and his friend to warm up to the host's home and family? If so, how did they interact with the hosts?
    4. My son and friend were 16 so they warmed up right away with the host family and played with the little boys. We brought them mini hockey sticks as gifts and showed them how to play hockey with them.

    5. Did your son and his friend enjoy any part of the meal the host made?
    6. They enjoyed all parts of the meal but it felt very special to have Tempura made fresh. I also have allergies to wheat flour and they made special tempura for me with corn starch. They really made us feel special. Even the presentation in bento boxes was beautiful

    7. What was the Nagomi experience like as a parent with your son and son's friend?
    8. As a parent it was great to see the boys playing with each other even though they didn’t speak the same language. They had a lot of fun.

    9. Did having your son and son's friend help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went with just adults?
    10. Having the boys definitely helped us interact with the little boys better. It also gave us lots to talk about, comparing school and activities of the kids.

    11. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your son? Was it more relaxing since you are in a home? Or did it make you nervous?
    12. It was nice to socialize with a family and was relaxing. We like to travel and it was so nice to experience more than just being a tourist. We were not nervous and it was one of the highlights of our trip, both before and after.

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read 10 Ways to Enjoy a Nagomi Visit or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    What is it like to Nagomi Visit as a big family with 4 kids?

    2019-03-16

    A big family of 6 from the US Nagomi Visited one of our hosts in Chiba Prefecture, part of the greater Tokyo area. With 4 kids of the ages 4, 8, 10, and 11, they wanted to meet another family with children about the same ages. The host they met has 3 kids of the ages 4, 8, and 9. Their host requested to meet a little early around 3PM instead of the usual 6PM because one of their kids is still a bit too young to stay up too late so the Nagomi fun started a little earlier.

    Nagomi Visit as a big family with 4 kids?

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did the other members of your family react? Were they excited? Worried?
    2. When I booked the nagomi visit, everyone was very excited. No one was nervous or scared. Sawako also made the visit stress free for us by meeting us at the train station and walking us back as well.

    3. How long did it take for your kids to warm up to the host's home and family? If so, how did they interact with the hosts?
    4. Our children were comfortable with the host’s home and children in a matter of minutes. They could not communicate verbally, but they had fun folding origami together and engaging in physical humor.

    5. Did your kids enjoy any part of the meal the host made?
    6. Our kids did not recognize some of the food, and thus avoided about half of the offerings. However, everybody was able to find plenty to eat. I would not want the host to attempt to serve more American style food as that would detract from the purpose of the visit, which I see is a sharing of cultures.

    7. What was the Nagomi experience like as a parent with your kids?
    8. The nagomi experience was wonderful. We will certainly do it again when we return to Japan. We also have maintained contact with the family and are friends. They are welcoming, kind, and generous. We will certainly visit with them again. As a parent, I was amazed at how well the children got along and played together.

    9. Did having your kids help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went with just adults?
    10. Watching the kids interact was fun, but I’m not sure if the children’s presence enhanced my ability to appreciate the visit or not.

      Nagomi Visit as a big family with 4 kids?

    11. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your kids. Was it more relaxing since you are in a home with similar age kids and toys? Or did it make you nervous?
    12. The activity was very different than any other activity we did on our trip, but was perhaps the most special. We enjoy meeting people, and we admire Japanese culture. So, being able to spend time with a Japanese family was an amazing opportunity for our family. I think our children would have also enjoyed spending a half day in a Japanese school.

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read Tips for going on a Nagomi Visit with young kids or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    What is it like to Nagomi Visit with your partner?

    2019-03-15

    We asked Hauke and Alexandra who visited Japan for the first time from Germany and visited one of our hosts in Tokyo, a family of three with one daughter.

    Each Nagomi Visit is unique and this is Hauke and Alexandra’s Nagomi experience.

    Nagomi Visit with your partner Nagomi Visit with your partner

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did your partner react? Were they excited as much as you? Worried?
    2. We decided together to book a Nagomi Visit (we saw it on a German TV show about traveling in Japan) and we were both very excited. We liked the idea immediately and were convinced from the concept.

    3. How long did it take for you and your partner to warm up to the host and their home?
    4. Seconds. :-) We had a really warm welcome at the train station and a nice ride to their home. When we arrived and during the great dinner, the conversation went on very easily because we had a lot of things in common, for example similar interests in culture, movies and sports.

    5. Did you learn anything seeing and experiencing life from inside a Japanese home?
    6. Yes, we admired their smart solutions for storage and the estatic interior design. And to drink sometimes a sake before having a good meal. We also talked about the actual political situation in Japan and in Germany, and we learned a lot.

    7. Did having someone with you help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went by yourself?
    8. It was just me and my wife, and we got a long very well. One family-member of our host lived in Germany for some time in his youth, that made it very easy to get connected.

      Nagomi Visit with your partner Nagomi Visit with your partner

    9. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your partner. Was it more relaxing since you are in a home with someone? Or did it make you nervous?
    10. It was very relaxing in their home and we got a very good impression of the Japanese home-culture. It was a unique experience, to meet people in their home and not just doing touristic activities like sightseeing. It's important to us, trying to meet locals while we are traveling, to get an impression of their life and culture.

    11. Was there anything you thought differently about Japan after going on the Nagomi Visit?
    12. We tried to do our traveling unprejudiced. After the Nagomi Visit we feel confirmed, that it is important to meet people. We noticed, that we've got a lot in common, despite the cultural differences. One thing, what was surprising for us was, that more Japanese people are having problems to digest alcohol than we expected. ;-)

    13. Do you have any advice for future Nagomi Visitors?
    14. Yes, try to find a date at weekends. It seems to be easier because we tried to find Nagomi Visits in Kanazawa and Kyoto during the week, but there were no offers. In Tokyo we had one offer during the week but more for the weekend.

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read 10 Ways to Enjoy a Nagomi Visit or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    Worried you are not outgoing enough for a Nagomi Visit?

    2019-03-14

    We asked Cheryll and Felix who visited Japan for the first time for their honeymoon and visited one of our hosts, a couple in Nara.

    Worried you are not outgoing enough for a Nagomi Visit

    Each Nagomi Visit is unique and this is Cheryll and Felix’s Nagomi experience.

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did your partner react? Were they excited as much as you? Worried?
    2. I read about Nagomi Visit in an Instagram-Post and was immediately hooked, but when I told Felix about it, he was a bit sceptical. We are both not too outgoing, so visiting people you've never met, and whose language you don't speak, "just like that" probably felt a bit weird. But I was pretty excited about that idea, so he agreed - and in the end we are more than happy about our day with Naru and Kaori.

    3. How long did it take for you and your partner to warm up to the host and their home?
    4. Not long at all! Naru and Kaori met us as the train-station, well prepared with a map and additional info-material (they're quite experienced Nagomi Hosts). They are a lovely couple and I wrote some emails with Naru beforehand, so I felt no need to be nervous. We went for a stroll right away, and learned so much about Nara and Japan in general. Naru even brought his camera and shot some photos (I'll attach some).

    5. Did you learn anything seeing and experiencing life from inside a Japanese home?
    6. We learned most by talking to Naru and Kaori, who patiently answered thousand of questions, but of course, we saw some interesting differences to German/European apartments. Food-wise, we were pretty lucky - Kaori is well versed about japanese tea-ceremonies and we got an impressive demonstration in their tea-room. Also, we had an amazingly rich dinner* and saw how she made Okonomiyaki, I guess that counts as learning :)

      *I'm a bit sad that we forgot to take a picture BEFORE we finished eating -.-'

      Worried you are not outgoing enough for a Nagomi Visit

    7. Did having someone with you help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went by yourself?
    8. Definitely! Before dinner, we went to the Park in Nara, visited shrines and temples and Naru and Kaori explained so much to us. We would've never learn so much about Nara and Japanese Culture if we went by ourselves - and probably would've missed out some beautiful places Naru showed us as well.

    9. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your partner? Was it more relaxing since you are in a home with someone? Or did it make you nervous?
    10. The only other activity we booked was a day at the Sumo-Tournament in Tokyo, so it is hard to compare to our experience with Nagomi Visit. But being at Naru and Kaori's place didn't make us nervous at all, we got to know them a little on our little tour through Nara and after that (it was a pretty hot day), we were pretty happy to arrive at their apartment for tea, dinner and a little break.

    11. Was there anything you thought differently about Japan after going on the Nagomi Visit?
    12. Maybe not so much differently, but there are some things we thought more about, after spending the day with our hosts - for example the japanese working morale, the day to day life and so on.

    13. Do you have any advice for future Nagomi Visitors?
    14. Just go for it and don't be afraid! Of course, there's no guarantee that every host is as great as ours were ;) - but spending time with locals is an amazing, enriching experience that you shouldn't miss.

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read 10 Ways to Enjoy a Nagomi Visit or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    What is it like to meet multiple Nagomi Visit hosts?

    2019-03-13

    We asked Valentina and Sirio who visited Japan for the first time from Italy and met two of our hosts, one in Tokyo and another in Osaka.

    What is it like to meet multiple Nagomi Visit hosts What is it like to meet multiple Nagomi Visit hosts

    Each Nagomi Visit is unique and this is Valentina and Sirio’s Nagomi experience.

    1. When you decided to book a Nagomi Visit how did your partner react? Were they excited as much as you? Worried?
    2. My partner Sirio was enthusiastic and happy to share these experience because we are curious and interested to know different people and cultures during our trips. We was very excited, probably a little worried at first, but then not.

    3. How long did it take for you and your partner to warm up to the host and their home?
    4. No much time in both visit. During the first in Tokyo, the family was numerous and funny, it was very simple to start conversation. Also, in Osaka, the Miss who hosted us was very interesting person and we have talk about everything

    5. Did you learn anything seeing and experiencing life from inside a Japanese home?
    6. Yes, it was a very important experience to know new things about Japanese culture, daily life, food, religion, society and life organization

    7. Did having someone with you help foster conversation or help you notice things you may have not if you went by yourself?
    8. To be in two people, probably, is better because there is more variety in the conversation and is possible talk with different members of the family at the same time

    9. Was participating in a Nagomi Visit different from other travel activities with your partner. Was it more relaxing since you are in a home with someone? Or did it make you nervous?
    10. Absolutely happy and at ease

    11. Was there anything you thought differently about Japan after going on the Nagomi Visit?
    12. Yes, the Japan is a country that you can imagine but is not never like reality. We improved our skills about language, culture, food, lifestyle and society

    13. Why did you decide to go on more than one Nagomi Visit and what did you gain from meeting more than one Nagomi host?
    14. When I decided to participate to Nagomi Visit I could try to go to one host in every stop of our journey and where it was possible we took advantage of it because I think is one of most important opportunity to know and meet people of different country like Japan

    15. Do you have any advice for future Nagomi Visitors?
    16. Yes, it is important choose as many as possible opportunities like this to share your travel experience in Japan with other people

      Ready to go on a Nagomi Visit? Start booking here. Need tips or advice? Read What did you learn from visiting more than one host? or ask the Nagomi Visit Team!

    The meaning of Nagomi Visit explained by Time Out Tokyo

    2018-03-21

    Time Out Tokyo was kind enough to feature Nagomi Visit. What was most exciting about the article was that it explained our name Nagomi Visit.

    The meaning of Nagomi Visit explained by Time Out Tokyo

    It had been awhile since an article covered the meaning behind our name. The article provided an opportunity to reflect on our name which holds a lot of meaning about our mission as an organization.

    "The name shows this too: 'Nagomi' is an alternative reading of the kanji 和, which refers to all things Japanese, yet can also mean 'bring together'. Make a verb (nagomu or nagomi) out of it, and it refers to the feelings you have when spending time with good friends – precisely the feeling which Nagomi Visit hopes to evoke."

    We also appreciate them taking the time to highlight the fact that we are a nonprofit and our reasons for choosing to be one.

    Arigato, Time Out Tokyo.