Discover Japan Tour: Culture, Traditions & Food (11 Days Tour)

Tokyo – Four Centuries in a Day

In 1600, Tokyo was a sleepy fishing village with a population of only a few thousand. Three years later, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu chose the city, then called Edo, as his capital. Since then, Tokyo has been Japan’s most important metropolis. Today is about experiencing what city life has to offer to the traveler, historian, and gourmet inside you.

After breakfast at the hotel, a variety of activities are at your fingertips. To take in your new surroundings, there is no better place than the observation deck of the Tokyo Tower. Built in 1958 from recycled tanks from the Second World War, the tower dominated the city’s skyline for decades before the skyscraper boom of the 1980s.

If culture, peace, and nature are on your agenda, take a stroll through Meiji Park. The trails are wide and level, and just beyond the paths is a type of prehistoric nature that hints at what Tokyo was like long before man first stepped here. At the end of the trail is Meiji Shrine, a complex commemorating the soul of Japan’s first modern emperor. If you arrive in the early morning, you might catch a glimpse of Shinto priests cleaning the shrine, or a young couple posing for their wedding pictures. Your guide is on hand to offer a private lesson on the rights regarding purification and prayer. Before leaving, be sure to write your wishes for the future on a prayer tablet and leave it with the innumerable others hanging from pegs at the shrine.

The Imperial Palace, once home to Tokugawa shoguns, has been occupied by Japan’s emperors since 1868. The majority of the palace grounds only open two days a year, the East Gardens offer some of the most well-maintained and beautiful scenes of nature in all of Tokyo. For history buffs, don’t forget to see (and even touch) the remains of Edo Castle, the place from where the shoguns ruled Japan for over 250 years.

No matter your tastes, the options for lunch are nearly limitless. With millions of workers going out to eat every day in Tokyo, you can experience a great (and quick) meal at any one of the city’s fine restaurants. After eating, head to Senso-Ji, the oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. Instead of the small stone monument monks erected 1400 years ago, visitors today are greeted by the Kaminarimon, the Thunder Gate with its iconic (and massive) paper lantern. As you approach the temple, you hear the dozens of shop owners hawking their wares. These stores sell everything from traditional crafts to toys from the most popular Japanese animes.

After dinner in the city center, take a sunset cruise down the Sumida River and into Tokyo harbor. As twilight turns to night, you witness the city transform into an island of artificial light. The cruise’s highlight is the Rainbow Bridge, where the lamps illuminating its surface change color with the seasons. If traveling in late March or early April, the cruise provides the best hanami, or cherry blossom viewing, in all of Tokyo.

What’s Included: breakfast, transfer, tour, accommodation.

Takayama – Time Travel into Japan’s Past

Today you are leaving Tokyo behind as you board the Shinkansen, Japan’s famous bullet train. During the 90-minute ride to Nagoya, catch a nap or simply watch Japan’s urban and rural countryside zoom by a 168 miles per hour.

Your time in Nagoya is brief as you transfer onto an express train to Takayama. Unlike the Shinkansen, with its airplane style windows, the train to Takayama has 360-degree views as the train slowly makes its way into the Japanese mountains. The modern world melts away into deep, tree covered valleys and sleepy towns that have changed little in the last century. You arrive in Takayama just in time for lunch. Your guide takes you to a family run restaurant offering Hida beef. Like Kobe beef, Hida beef is famous for its fine marbling and melt in your mouth texture. Grill the beef to you liking on a personal stove. Just don’t be surprised if you order seconds!

In the afternoon, tour Takayama’s old town. Hundreds of years of relative isolation have made Takayama one of the most well-preserved cities in all of Japan. Depending on your tastes, your guide can arrange a private tour of one of the city’s many businesses that produce furniture, crafts, and sake using traditional methods.

In the afternoon, check into your hotel overlooking the Takayama valley. After dinner at the hotel, take a relaxing soak in one of the hotel’s many onsen baths. Onsens were once bathing houses that served entire communities. Now they represent the ultimate guilty pleasure of many Japanese. Even after just a few minutes in the warm water, any soreness of anxiety just melts away.  

What’s Included: breakfast, transfer, tour, accommodation.

Kanazawa – A Seafood Paradise

This morning you say goodbye to Japan’s picturesque villages and travel by bus to Kanazawa. Located on the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa is one of Japan’s premier seafood and sushi destinations. From the deep, cold waters just offshore, the catch of the day is on the menu at all of the city’s best restaurants. At lunch, the menu is up to the chef who provides you an array of delectable sushi no matter your lunch budget.

After lunch, you are off to Kanazawa’s old town, where a special treat awaits you: a private lesson on how to make wagashi, Kanazawa most famous confection. A master confectioner is your teacher as you learn about how the seasons and local flavors influence every bite. Even if you find yourself eating your creations, the long shelf life of wagashi means that your friends and family back home can enjoy this Kanazawa staple. If confections are not your cup of tea, your guide can arrange a class in shamisen playing, gold leaf application, or Japanese tea ceremony.

Dinner this evening is at an izakaya, a type of drinking and eating establishment where Japanese of all walks of life go to unwind and socialize after a long day’s work. Try the restaurant’s many small dishes featuring a wide variety of meat and seafood. While there, be sure to pair your food with sake from across the prefecture.

What’s Included: breakfast, transfer, tour, accommodation.

Nara - Discover Japan’s Religious and Cultural Roots

After breakfast at your hotel, you are off on a day trip to Nara, Japan's first capital. Arriving after a short journey by train, you take a brief walk through the city before stepping inside Nara Park, where curious deer come to greet you. If you’re carrying any food, you might quickly make quite a few deer friends!

Your first destination in Nara is Todai-Ji, the largest wooden building in the world. Dating back 1,200 years, the temple was once the center of religious life in Japan. The temple is also home to the Daibutsu, a 49-foot bronze Buddha that has survived virtually unchanged since 752.

Along with your regular guide, a Buddhist monk accompanies you on the tour of the temple grounds and provides expert knowledge of the temple’s history and cultural significance. Depending on the temple’s schedule of events, you might have the chance to see parts of the temple not usually open to travelers.

Due to the number of foreign visitors Nara receives each year, the options available for lunch range from stone-fired Italian pizza to mouthwatering okonomiyaki, a savory pancake described as ‘Osaka soul food.’ If you want to try some authentic Nara cuisine, look no further than nyumen, one of the first noodle dishes imported to Japan from China. The thin noodles practically melt in the mouth as you slurp them up a chopstick full at a time.

It’s impossible not to have a pleasant afternoon in Nara. Your guide can arrange a private tour of the Nara National Museum, which houses some of the finest examples of Japanese scrolls and calligraphy. Also, if the weather is nice, Nara offers bike rentals at reasonable prices.  

As you return to Kyoto by train, your guide provides you with a list of options for dinner.

What’s Included: breakfast, transfer, tour, accommodation.

Tokyo - Fresh Memories on Your Final Day

This morning, you say goodbye to Kyoto as you board the Shinkansen to Tokyo. Arriving in Tokyo in late morning, you have time to explore the city on your own, or if you prefer, you guide can arrange one final unique experience. Options available include, but are not limited to, tickets to a sumo wrestling match, a private tour of the Tsukiji fish market, or a lesson on traditional Japanese swordsmanship.  

Enjoy a private farewell dinner this evening at a Michelin star restaurant. Though fine dining, the relaxed, laid back atmosphere gives you the chance to reflect on the last ten days, and the memories you will carry for a lifetime.

After dinner, check into your luxury hotel located in the city center.

What’s Included: breakfast, transfer, tour, accommodation.