Comparison
Your Wished Guide vs Viator — Japan tour guides, compared
Viator (a Tripadvisor company) is the biggest global tour aggregator — over 300,000 experiences worldwide. They excel at scale and inventory. Your Wished Guide focuses specifically on licensed Japan guides, with language-matched search and a lower platform fee. This page compares the two on the criteria that matter when you're booking in Japan.
Criterion
Your Wished Guide
Viator
Platform fee to the traveler
9% (5% for Elite-tier guides)
Up to 30% commission baked into the listed price
Viator Supplier portal Guide verification
Yes — JNTA national-licensed only
Operators and activity providers, not individually license-verified by default
Viator operator requirements Language-matched guide search
First-class filter — 10 languages, applied at search time
Language shown per-listing; no top-level filter on category pages
Traveler can chat with the guide before paying
Yes, pre-booking + post-booking
Questions via platform form; direct chat typically post-purchase
Cancellation policy
Sliding: 100% refund 7+ days out, 50% at 3-6d, 25% at 1-2d, 0% same-day
24-hour free cancellation on most experiences; operator-specific after
Viator help center Guide payout share
91% of booking (95% for Elite-tier guides)
Approximately 70-80% after Viator commission and payment fees
Viator Supplier Agreement (public portal) Why this matters when you book in Japan
- National licensing is legally required. Japan's Act on Licensed Guide Interpreters sets a legal threshold for who can lead paid tours for foreign visitors. Booking an unlicensed guide can void your travel insurance and create liability exposure. We only list JNTA-licensed guides — every one.
- Lower platform fee = more in the guide's pocket. The % a platform takes comes out of either your price or the guide's payout. Our 9% is roughly a third of the typical OTA commission — which is why serious Japan guides list with us directly.
- You talk to the actual guide before you pay. Japan trips are custom. Dietary restrictions, accessibility, interests — all easier to coordinate by chat with the guide than through a platform ticketing system.
Decide yourself
Browse Japan-licensed guides.
Filter by city, language, and style. Chat with any of them before you book.