Hometown Visit Guide

What you get

• A map of where the old village lies today
• A short history of the village
• Temples that may be your family temple (the temple that holds your ancestors' graves and records), chosen by your family's Buddhist school (sect), and how to contact them. If you do not know the sect, we list the temples near the village as candidates, school by school; the family crest or the Buddhist names on a memorial tablet or gravestone can also show it.
• A short letter in Japanese to the temple, written for you to copy and send. If the temple replies in Japanese, we translate one reply free of charge (within six months of delivery, up to two handwritten pages).
• How to get there from the nearest station, and what to keep in mind on the day
• A card in Japanese to show people you meet ("I am looking for my ancestors' home")
• Format: A4 PDF of usually 8–10 pages; prints on US Letter with "fit to page"
• The length depends on how many records survive for your family; we confirm it in our order confirmation email.

What you need to provide

• Your ancestor's registered domicile (honseki, the address under which the family's koseki, or family register, is filed). The name of the old village is enough; you do not need the lot number. If you are not sure your place name is the honseki, tell us what you have, and before you pay we will say whether we can make the guide or a Roots Report should come first.
• If a Roots Report has to come first, the two together are $780. The Report takes about 1 month and the guide about 2 weeks more, so allow about 2½ months before you travel.
• Your travel dates.

Price and payment

• We confirm the order by email and send a payment link.
• Prices are in US dollars and include all our fees for the PDF.
• Delivery times are estimates, not guarantees. Every record gets the care it needs, so if we expect a delay, we will let you know by email.
• Tell us the date you need the guide by. We reply whether we can meet it. If we say yes and then miss that date, you get a full refund.

How it fits with our other services

This is a single request: one trip, on its own. You need your ancestor's honseki; if you do not know it, start with a Roots Report. Compare all services at a glance.

See a sample

Every service has a full public sample (Chronicle + Family Tree shares the Family Chronicle and Koseki Family Tree samples). The family in the sample is fictional; the places, records and research are real.

Read the sample on the webDownload the sample as delivered (PDF, 1.5 MB)