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
• 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). If you do not know the honseki, start with a Roots Report.
• 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.

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)