MICE & Incentives · B2B Only
MICE & incentives, operated on the ground
Venue sourcing, gala production, team-building and VIP handling in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Japan's resort destinations - quoted net, delivered under your brand, from 10-pax board retreats to movements of a thousand.
Forty-five days is the floor, not the plan
We ask for a minimum of 45 days before travel to operate a larger group movement. That is the point at which coaches, licensed guides, hotel blocks and venue access can still be assembled without compromising the programme. Below it, something has to give - usually the hotel, usually in the wrong city.
But treat 45 days as the operational floor rather than the planning horizon, because availability binds much earlier than logistics do. Premium venues in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka are contracted six to twelve months out for peak season. A temple gala, a private museum evening or a 1,000-pax hotel block in cherry-blossom week is not a 45-day conversation, and any DMC telling you otherwise is either holding stock you cannot see or hoping something falls through.
The useful move is to talk to us while the programme is still a maybe. We hold provisional options at no cost while your client confirms internally. Coming at 45 days means we can run it. Coming at nine months means you choose what it is built around.
What we take on
Sourcing and contracting
Conference hotels, standalone venues, and the unique spaces that justify bringing a programme to Japan at all - temples, machiya, distilleries, private museums. Contracted in Japanese, on Japanese terms, with the cancellation ladder explained to you in advance.
Gala evenings and events
Staging, AV, simultaneous interpretation, and entertainment that is actually worth watching - taiko, geiko engagements, sumo demonstrations - rather than the generic cultural slot that delegates quietly leave early.
Delegates from A to B
Airport blocks, coach fleets from 17 to 45 seats, shinkansen group movements and staggered arrivals consolidated into one hotel check-in. The full fleet is on ground handling.
Board and executive handling
Alphard and Vellfire executive transfers, separate arrival handling, and the discretion that a chairman travelling with three hundred staff expects as a matter of course.
The calendar decides your budget
Japanese public holidays and peak leisure windows do more to a MICE budget than any negotiation will. Golden Week, Obon and New Year are obvious. Less obvious is a single national holiday landing mid-programme - Sports Day, Culture Day, Marine Day - which reads as an ordinary Monday from abroad but moves coach rates, fills the exact venues you wanted and tightens hotel inventory in the destination simultaneously.
We check programme dates against the Japanese calendar before quoting and tell you if there is a collision, while the dates are still moveable. Where they are not moveable, we price it honestly rather than quoting a shoulder-season rate and revising later. Seasonal context is set out in our weather and itinerary planner and the Lunar New Year allocation playbook.
Dietary and cultural handling at scale
A corporate group is rarely homogeneous. Halal, vegetarian, vegan and Jain requirements across three hundred delegates are a venue-selection problem in Japan, not a menu problem - dashi is in almost everything, and kitchens able to cater properly at volume are concentrated in a few cities. We establish this at quotation stage and build the programme around it.
The operational detail is in our halal operations guide and the vegetarian, vegan and Jain dining guide. Market-specific expectations around pacing and formality are on the market pages.
What to send in the brief
Delegate count and likely split, travel dates or the window you are working within, budget per head, the programme's purpose (incentive, conference, launch, board offsite), any venue or destination already promised internally, dietary profile, and whether VIPs need separate handling. A rough brief 9 months out is worth more than a precise one at 45 days.
You will have a costed net quotation within 24 hours, valid four days. Settlement terms are published in full on payment & settlement, and our contracting entity and credentials are on the services overview if procurement needs to verify us.
MICE in Japan
What group sizes can you operate in Japan?
From 10-pax board retreats to 1,000+ pax incentive movements. Tokyo and Osaka carry the deepest venue and hotel stock; resort programmes run in Okinawa, Hakone and Hokkaido.
What is the minimum lead time for a MICE programme?
Forty-five days before travel for a larger group movement. That is the operational floor - the point at which coaches, guides, hotel blocks and venue access can still be assembled reliably. It is not the same as availability: premium venues in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka are contracted 6-12 months out for peak season, so a signature venue may already be gone long before the 45-day mark.
How far ahead should we really be talking to you?
As early as the programme exists, even as a maybe. We hold provisional options at no cost while your client confirms internally, which costs you nothing and protects the venue. Coming to us at 45 days means we can operate the programme; coming at 9 months means you get first choice of what it is built around.
Do you produce gala evenings and unique-venue events?
Yes - venue sourcing, production, entertainment (taiko, geiko engagements, sumo demonstrations), AV and simultaneous interpretation, delivered under your event brand.
What languages can delegates be handled in?
English, German and Spanish for guiding and escorting, with simultaneous interpretation arranged separately for conference content. English is available nationwide; German and Spanish come from a smaller licensed pool and should be requested with the brief.
Do you work directly with the corporate client?
No. We are B2B only. The programme is delivered under your brand, we never approach your client directly, and our name does not appear on delegate-facing material unless you ask for it.