The Road Less Traveled: Meet the Woman Revitalizing Rural Japan by Preserving its Vanishing Arts
- Kirsten Gardner
- Mar 18
- 6 min read
To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, we're profiling some of the incredible women entrepreneurs in hospitality and tourism who we have the pleasure of collaborating with regularly. All profiles in this series are written by Tami Fairweather.
Travel to Japan has been booming, with foreign arrivals hitting an all-time high in 2024. “Our culture is the primary draw,” says Nanami Granger, the Tokyo-born founder and CEO of Eighty Days Japan. While people flock to well–known destinations like Tokyo and Kyoto, these spots are increasingly overcrowded. Meanwhile, in rural Japan, the generations-old cultural traditions visitors come to experience are at risk of disappearing due to a declining population and lack of successors to carry them on.
Nanami witnessed the succession crisis firsthand while traveling through her country for a year-long government social business project in 2015. The experience spurred her vision to connect international visitors with rural artisans and shops as a solution, helping ensure their survival. In 2016, she established her destination management company, focusing on one-of-a-kind, tailor-made itineraries for travel advisors and tour operators enabling visitors to experience the lesser-known areas of Japan.
“What people remember most is often somewhere they’ve never heard of before,” she explains. Travelers often share that while“Tokyo was great, and Kyoto was wonderful,” the most impactful experiences tend to come from personal interactions with individuals in small towns. “There are a lot more things to see when you trust what your travel planner advises,” she adds.
“We like to include hidden, off-the-beaten-path locations in our itineraries that are undeniably appealing, yet hard to picture,” she explains. This quest for the unknown inspired the name of her company. Like the famous 1872 novel Around the World in Eighty Days, unexpected adventures unfold throughout the journey.
Most of the artisans Nanami collaborates with had never hosted tours before she approached them. “I’ve had to talk them into it,” she shares. Such as the knifemaker from a craftsman village in Fukui who produces cutlery for some of the world’s top chefs. Initially, he was hesitant, insisting that visits be limited to an hour. “But as I started sending people his way, he discovered he truly enjoyed it, and now he’ll go on for hours if they let him,” she laughs.
These cultural exchanges benefit both the artisans and the travelers. They provide a glimpse into the everyday lives of the craftspeople, which is often completely new and special for the visitors. “Guests share their experiences with friends and stimulate the economy through purchases, while also helping the artists realize that their work is unique, special, and something to take pride in,” Nanami emphasizes.
Nanami never intended to run a tour company–“or a company at all,” she laughs. After graduating from university, she began her career at a brokerage firm, eventually moving into management consulting in both America and Japan. Just before founding Eighty Days, she served as an executive at an artificial intelligence startup.
Her experience working in the U.S. helps her navigate the subtle cultural differences that clients encounter. “In Japan, the host and guest are considered social equals,” she explains. “There’s an expectation of mutual respect, which can be misinterpreted by Western guests as a lack of warmth.” To manage expectations and facilitate a deeper cultural experience, she prepares her onsite guides and trip planners, such as Outlier Journeys, to explain these differences in advance.
Kagura mask-making in the Miyazaki prefecture. | Photo courtesy: Eighty Days Japan
Nanami points out that many chefs, artisans, and shopkeepers are not accustomed to explaining their work or answering questions. Tea ceremonies serve as a perfect example, where part of the beauty of the tradition lies in “learning by feeling, without words.” To bridge this communication gap, she collaborates closely with the experience providers, encouraging them to teach, explain, and take questions through the Eighty Days guides who act as translators.
At the height of the pandemic, she focused on keeping her four-year-old company afloat. When her three employees at the time requested a meeting, she feared they were going to quit. To her surprise, they offered to reduce their salaries to help the company survive. “They said they believed in our mission and philosophy and loved the way we worked together. It really motivated me to keep going,” she recalled. Today, she has almost 70 employees facilitating experiences across all 47 prefectures of Japan, and those three employees are still with her.
Japan’s culture of mutual respect supports her tourism development work with rural artisans, regardless of her gender. However, when handing out her business card, she often notices a sense of surprise when the recipient learns that she is the owner and founder of the company, as this role is still relatively rare for women in Japan. She points out that it’s less unusual overseas. “I really appreciate how the travel industry has many women entrepreneurs,” she says.
The company’s sustainability practices extend to animal welfare, reducing plastic and paper waste, minimizing its carbon footprint, and funding natural energy resources, social causes, and community projects. While growth is not the primary goal, Nanami hopes to see more Japanese residents participating in her tours to lesser-known parts of the country. She also aims to promote rural artisan’s products beyond just offering tours.
“I love seeing people happy when they come to Japan,” she shares. Using her creativity and knowledge to design itineraries based on a traveler’s interests is what truly motivates her. “Travel is all about human interaction, and it’s why I’m still doing this job.”
A NOTE ABOUT JAPAN TRAVEL DESIGN
Here at Outlier, we love working with Nanami and her team precisely because we're able to connect our travelers with Japanese people, artisans and cultural traditions that they would never find on their own, in destinations that often aren't featured on the most popular Japan itineraries that you see online. The appeal and gravitational pull of such a unique country and culture is undeniable, but we find that the most special and memorable moments occur far from the (maddening, huge) tourist crowds.
In 2024, Japan was our most-requested destination. We designed over a dozen custom trips ranging from 10 days to 4 weeks, covering everywhere from Beppu, Kyushu to the Seto Insland Sea to the Sawara Grand Festival in the Chiba Prefecture to Akan-Mashu National Park in Hokkaido. 2025 will likely be similar. Traveler demand for the destination remains high, leading to a scarcity of high quality guides and high hotel costs over peak travel dates. If you'd like to work with us to plan your Japan trip, keep the following in mind:
Give yourself adequate lead time - connecting with us to plan 9-7 months before your dates of travel is ideal, 12 or more if you want to visit during sakura season.
Speaking of sakura season, the timing of peak cherry blossoms and vivid fall colors is impossible to predict, especially with climate change. Giving yourself adequate time in a few varying climate regions gives you the best chance of enjoying these seasonal splendors, but we can never guarantee that you'll catch these occurrences on your trip.
Budget accordingly. While each traveler is unique, the majority of the trips that we design feature a lead guide to accompany our travelers on most days, acting as a translator, cultural interpreter and fixer, and helping to bridge the gap between our guests and the local people they connect with along the way. Guides, unique "inside access" experiences and Western-style luxury hotels are the primary driving costs of a trip, while casual meals and transportation are relatively inexpensive in Japan. If you want a fully-guided trip, concierge-level assistance with dining reservations and event or exhibit tickets, and your taste in hotels leans more high end, prepare to spend upwards of $1,000 per traveler, per day as a starting cost. The idea of luxury and quality is very personal and we don't think that something is great just because it is expensive. We're happy to work with a variety of tastes and preferences to design a customized trip around your point of view, but for our niche and style, we're unable to accept Japan trip requests below a budget minimum of $750 per adult traveler per day. Connect with Kirsten or Jeff to start planning your trip to Japan. Now is a great time to look ahead to 2026!
Kirsten e-biking past rice fields on Shikoku Island. Jeff on the Kumano Kodõ Trail.
Comments