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About J-NAVI

Founded as a dynamic DMC based in Berlin and Kyoto. The two founders and managing directors Oliver E. Kühne (Asia expert and art historian; right) and Martin Neumann (geographer and historian; left) together navigate the company that brings your guests closer to Asia, its cultures, natural experiences and people in a sustainable and unforgettable way. With more than 10 years of experience in different tourism industries and sectors, we have gained a lot of experience locally and internationally. Whether as tour guides, entrepreneurs, cultural managers, lecturers, consultants or PR managers:

We know what makes a contemporary and trendy travel experience!

Philosophy

Through our many years of experience in the hospitality sector and direct guest contact for other DMCs, we know what your customers (whether groups or FITs) want. Whether it is a demanding hiking trip, a relaxed culinary tour or a cultural highlight program: With us at your side, you will receive a land package that is perfectly tailored to your respective customer segment, without having to forego new trends and sustainability. LOHAS also feel comfortable with us. 

And more than that: Through our dense partner network and our company set-up in Germany, Japan and South Korea, we are not only close to your side, but also to that of your guests. Support without time difference and available around the clock! Our binational set-up enables us to offer you our special programs at competitive prices also through direct partner agreements on the otherwise difficult to access Japanese market.

This is also what we stand for with our slogan:

Authentic. Sustainable. Unforgettable.

With our travel packages, your guests will experience the countries of Asia according to their travel tastes and interest profiles. Whether as a challenging active trip or as a relaxed luxury trip to the culinary and cultural highlights. Thanks to our long working experience in the international tourism market, J-NAVI has a wide network of local partners. This makes it possible for us not only to offer sophisticated and trendy destinations, but also to offer our travel packages at competitive prices.

With our permanent location in Kyoto, we can promptly implement any customer tour requests and easily expand our contacts with local suppliers. We work to realize your dreams and wishes for a perfect trip without any ifs and buts. Authentic means for us to bring your guests together with the local people. Whether at homestays, evening dinners with Japanese families, farm visits or e.g. expert lectures: J-NAVI brings your guests together with the peoples of Asia.

We realize sustainability at different levels of our company and in our tours:

  • We save unnecessary CO2 emissions by choosing short journeys between destinations and using trains, public transport and bicycles, and only resort to buses when the route does not allow otherwise.
  • We support with 2% of our annual revenue the Reforestation projects in Saxonnia and Brandenburg.
  • We are committed to paperless communications and use recycled paper when paper must be used.
  • We avoid unnecessary business trips and flights due to our binational setup in Japan and Germany. 
  • We promote local tourism away from the centersin order to also make a sustainable contribution to the Japanese economy.
  • Many of our tours comply with the TourCert standard. 
  • We rely on small groups and see ourselves as part of the "soft tourism" movement.

We also manage our company sustainably:

  • We pay tour guides according to the recommendations of the Association of German Study Tour Guides. Through additional training and further education programs and permanent employment of tour guides, we offer long-term perspectives and prevent a "freelance precariat" in the long term.
  • J-NAVI wants to grow sustainably. Therefore, we focus our travel packages on individual and target group-oriented offers that are convincing without losing sight of competitive price structures.
  • We establish long-term local partnerships in order to also sustainably promote rural regions and local small businesses and traditional enterprises.

Helicopter flights over Tokyo? Visit farms and agra farms? Dinner with a sumo wrestler? Interview with a theater or history expert? Preparing dinner with a local family? With us all this is possible! 

Not just one temple after another! Not only well-trodden tourist paths! But authentic and unforgettable experiences! 

The focus is on enabling genuine personal experiences that leave an aha moment. Through the interaction of these factors, your guests will experience Japan in a way that has not been available on the German market before. Despite the group situation, our travel packages allow for very personal moments and individual experiences that they will remember long after the trip is over. Our goal is to leave a lasting impression that your guests will want to repeat. With our wide range of offers, it is easy for us to develop travel packages that offer enough novelty for "repeat offenders" to embark on a new Japan adventure with us at your side.

The managing directors

Oliver E. Kühne - Managing Director J-NAVI Germany

Travel design, B2B customer contact, consulting and marketing

 

As an art historian, East and Southeast Asia expert, Oliver has spent large parts of his life in various Asian countries since 2006. Since 2013 he worked as a tour guide, interpreter, hotel tester, travel designer and director of a package tour startup in tourism. In 2022 he fulfilled his dream and founded J-NAVI together with Martin Neumann to establish sustainable Asian tourism even more on the German market. Besides conducting business in Germany, he is constantly traveling in Asia to explore new destinations and travel trends. 

Martin Neumann - Managing Director J-NAVI Japan

Travel design, partner network and operations directly on site in Kyoto

Martin has been living and working in Kyoto, Japan since 2018, where he has worked as a tour guide and consultant for Japanese and international travel agencies. He also works in tourism promotion for local, sustainable and soft tourism in Shiga Province. Since 2022, the co-founder has been leading the development and operation of innovative and sustainable tours in all corners of Japan and overseeing J-Navigator's large partner network.

The team

J-Navigator GmbH (Berlin)

  • Oliver E. Kühne (Managing Director)
  • Anke Pelz (Director of Product Management - FIT and SiC) 
  • Antje Papist-Matsuo (Director of Product Development - Series) 
  • Andreas van Straalen (Senior Product Manager Liaison) 
  • Pascal Naudiet (Product Manager) 
  • Nicole Renger (Product Manager)
  • Tatjana Degen (Assistant Product Manager) 
  • Bowen Pei (Assistant Product Manager)
  • Yumiko Nakagawa-Krug (Transportation Manager)
  • Marie-Christine Dreßen (Trainee Guide Coordinator) 
  • Paul de Oliveira Sonius (Assistant Guide Coordinator)
  • Jessa Dietzel (Flight Assistant) 
  • Iryna Kharchenko (Flight Assistant) 
  • Makiko Piduch (Flight and Booking Assistant)
  • Michaela Puchalla (Accounting) 
  • Emily Haft (Support Assistant) 
  • Gina Bresch (Support Assistant)
  • Zixu Gao (IT Support) 

J-Navigator LLC (Kyoto)

  • Martin Neumann (CEO)
  • Paula Sato (Director of Operations)
  • Pascal von Beuningen (Operations Manager)
  • Satomi Matsuura (Senior Manager Hotels)
  • Anna Fuse (Assistant Manager Hotels)
  • Ai Maizuru (Hotel Coordinator)
  • Asja Gevorgyan (Operations Manager Guides)
  • Emiko Tsukuda (Operations Coordinator Guides)
  • Laura Umland (Operations Coordinator Guides)
  • Emi Noguchi (Transport Coordinator)
  • Azusa Iwahashi (Transport Coordinator)
  • Cassandra Arnemann (Operations Manager FIT)
  • Serin Kim (Operations Coordinator FIT)
  • Aya Fujita (Operations Coordinator)
  • Kanon Terada (Operations Coordinator)
  • Satomi Kawazoe (Office & Accounting)
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