take a free guided tour of countryside japan
from the comfort of your home
NEW!
Drop in anytime from your home
Just mail us to get a seat on our real-time free guided tours of Tajimi. Capacity: 1 - 3 people per tour. Choose any time and any date in August. Just let us know your time zone! (Here is a helpful tool if you want to check ours). We are in Standard Japan Time (Tokyo time). No travel, cost or hassle involved, just use your phone or VR-headset (Oculus Quest 2 recommended - cheap, easy-to-use, and great performance. Quest 1 works too, of course). Have questions to ask about Japan? Want to have a nice chat while immersed in beautiful Japanese scenery? Bring your own pictures (we want to see your home town too)? You'll be able to speak directly with the tour leader, Hans, who have spent 30 years in Japan. Learn more here below. Welcome!
The arrival of a tour member residing in the UK.
guiding in real time by a real guide
Use a VR headset or smartphone
Download the free app here
your guide's user name on vtime: hans in japan
How does this work?
You can use vTime in flat mode (2d) on a smartphone or with a VR headset. You'll find the latter experience far more engaging, so we strongly recommend that. We have to prepare a collection of still photos shot with a 360 VR camera. When use a headset you will find yourself sitting in a chair, forming a ring with up to three other people, including our guide (see image above). Since image is a sphere, you'll feel like you are in that place. You can look wherever you want just by turning your head. You can speak with the other people in the group like you are all there. It's a great way to go travel without cost or effort - especially in these difficult lock downtimes.
You need to download the appropriate version of vTime XR to your phone, PC or headset. If you use it for the first time, you'll first take a little demo tour where you'll learn about the software. This takes a few minutes, so you'll need to come early if it's the day you will join our tour. One important thing to know is how to access the menu. If you use a headset, you'll have a controller in one hand. When you point the controller upwards you'll see a grey ball appear quite high up. Point the controller to it and a little marker shows up on the ball. Now you can use the trigger on the controller to "click" and open the menu. In there you have an option to design your avatar, to access other users and more. The latter is called Connections. Click on that and a network of people will appear in front of you. You can connect to any person who is not busy in a conversation already. You should find Hans in Japan there (if he doesn't find you first). Click on him and ask to join. If he asks you to join first, accept, and you'll join his conversation. From there you basically just need to relax, enjoy the scene and the conversation. Good luck!
You need to download the appropriate version of vTime XR to your phone, PC or headset. If you use it for the first time, you'll first take a little demo tour where you'll learn about the software. This takes a few minutes, so you'll need to come early if it's the day you will join our tour. One important thing to know is how to access the menu. If you use a headset, you'll have a controller in one hand. When you point the controller upwards you'll see a grey ball appear quite high up. Point the controller to it and a little marker shows up on the ball. Now you can use the trigger on the controller to "click" and open the menu. In there you have an option to design your avatar, to access other users and more. The latter is called Connections. Click on that and a network of people will appear in front of you. You can connect to any person who is not busy in a conversation already. You should find Hans in Japan there (if he doesn't find you first). Click on him and ask to join. If he asks you to join first, accept, and you'll join his conversation. From there you basically just need to relax, enjoy the scene and the conversation. Good luck!
other device?
Find more download links on the official vTime.net site.
This is how we travel in VR
Your guide Hans Karlsson
DISCLAIMER: Our guided tours are free and we are not selling real world tours commercially. The tours are commissioned by the Tajimi Tourism Association to promote inbound tourism.
Prepare for the tour
- Install the free app vTime (on headset [recommended!] or smartphone).
- These are the supported devices (they are many :)
- Set up your vTime account
- Mail us your user name
- Enter vTime at least ten minutes before departure (see below)
- The experience: You will be personally guided along with two other participants through a series of 360 degree photo spheres shot in the city of Tajimi and its vicinity. Your guide will be a long time resident with local expertise and a background as a professional guide.
- Recommended equipment: We strongly recommend a VR headset (Oculus Go or better)
- Software required: vTime (free). See further information here below. You will need to register a free account and familiarize yourself with the platform in advance.
- Guide: You will be guided by Hans O. Karlsson (vTime user name Hans In Japan).
- Fee: The tour is free of charge
- Registration: Mail us. We can only accommodate for three participants per tour. We fill the seats as you turn up on a first come first served basis. We can therefor not guarantee that you will have a seat even if you have registered.
- Other: The tour will be recorded and broadcast on YouTube and FaceBook. You will appear as an avatar with a username of your choice. No personal information will be disclosed.
Free, Expert guided tours, best experienced in a VR headset
Tajimi is the first city in Japan to offer guided tours to foreigners in virtual reality. The benefit for you is that you can visit places in a small group (3 people plus the guide) and really feel like you are being there. This means that you can "try before you fly", experiencing places off the beaten path that you would probably never have discovered otherwise. There are any number of wonderful places and people in Japan that completely lacks PR. We want to give you the opportunity to experience what Tajimi can offer in a personal and friendly format. If you have a headset like the Oculus Go the journey will also be immersive, meaning that we will travel inside 360 degree photo spheres like if you were really visiting us. All of this is free of charge.
Questions?
Please contact us at any time about the tours. No question is too silly to ask!
Hans O. Karlsson will be your guide during the experience. He is a resident of Japan since 1989 and has worked in media, academia, and as a professional tour guide for three decades. He is now the producer of this site.
How do i participate?
We are using a free software application called vTime. You can download it from their official site. It works with many devices, but a VR headset will give you the best experience.
step-by-step guide
- If the below steps seem complicated don't worry. All you really need to do is to register and join vTime on the date and time of our appointment.
- We send out invitations on FaceBook once a month.
- You will need to message Hans on Facebook to let him know your username.
The steps
- Use your computer or smartphone to register a vTime account.
- Download the software to your device from any of these stores.
- Start the application.
- You can now choose between three viewing modes
- Virtual Reality using a headset (recommended)
- Magic Window using your smartphone screen
- Augmented Reality using your smartphone screen
- If you use your smartphone you must have your earphones plugged in. They must have a microphone so you can communicate - otherwise the system will complain.
- You will now enter "The Study", which is the default spawning environment (the space you first appear in):
After entering vTime
- Note the gray ball up in the right corner. This is the main menu.
- Use your controller (or finger if you use a smartphone) to open the menu.
- If you use a headset, point your controller upwards until the grey ball appear under the ceiling. On the Oculus Go, use the thumb pad to click.
You will see the below screen:
TAP "+" TO ZOOM
Customize your avatar and take vtime for a spin
- Note the "Avatar" button to the far left. This is where you design your avatar (if you want)
- Above the "Avatar" button is the "Destinations" button where you can choose environment
- To the far right is the "Connections" button which opens up a screen with all the people currently in vTime
- You can join a group by tapping their icon (up to four people can join)
- You can similarly invite a person that is not currently in a group
- Try out the application, go to different environments, join discussions and invite people to discussions if you like.
learn more about vtime
Here is a helpful page with guides to various functions of vTime. We encourage you to have a look, it will help you experience this software in more fun and useful ways.
