SIGNATURE JOURNEYS

This Japan tour itinerary explores the island of Kyushu where there are some of the absolute best ryokan and onsen in Japan. If you are a lover of Japanese pottery, we will visit charming villages such as Arita, Okawachiyama, Karatsu and Onta, each with their own unique artistic styles, colors and inherent beauty.

A visit to Eastern Hokkaido is perfect for those visitors to Japan wishing to explore the country’s great outdoors. This itinerary visits no less than three national parks, giving guests the opportunity to take in some of the most beautiful landscapes the country has to offer, as well as providing opportunities to see a variety of incredible birds and wildlife. 

Beginning in Hakone, a beautiful mountainous area with verdant forests, small lakes and thermal springs, this itinerary includes visits to open-air museums, time spent at one of Japan’s most important Shinto shrines, matcha tea making, and stays at some of the most special ryokan and onsen in the entire country.

Beginning in Tokyo, this itinerary takes guests across the Japanese countryside, eventually stopping to visit a samurai castle in the Japanese Alps, a beautiful ryokan in Narai, and includes time spent tasting sake in Takayama’s Sanmachi Quarter.

Starting at the at southern tip of the fabulous Kii Peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture, this itinerary includes visits to some of Japan’s most cherished Shinto shrines, the Kumano Sanzan, before visiting one of the country’s most famous waterfalls and, later, receiving a talk and a special blessing from a Shinto priest at Hongu Taisha. Your journey ends at a Buddhist mountain retreat at Mt. Koya.

Beginning at Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu on the Island of Shikoku, this art-filled itinerary includes stops at a museum hotel on Naoshima, a visit to Teshima Art Museum and Les Archives du Coeur, and the the former sugar merchant village of Kurashiki, known as the Venice of Japan. The trip concludes with a visit to Okayama and Koraku-en Garden where you will sip tea in a garden tea house while taking in the panoramic view of Okayama Castle.

At the southern tip of Honshu lies Yamaguchi Prefecture, one of Japan’s prettiest areas, and home to Hagi, a historic samurai town known for its exquisite Hagi-yaki pottery. Spend time at a lovely hot spring town surrounded by nature.

Journey to the pottery village of Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture north of Tokyo, an area that is home to nearly 400 potters. Next, a visit to Nikko, on the banks of Lake Chuzenji, and visits to Tosho-gu Shrine, a 400-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site, and stops at two of the most famous waterfalls in Nikko National Park, before arriving at Minakami Onsen, a lovely hot spring town in Gunma Prefecture.

This itinerary explores Shimane Prefecture, which is tucked away on the southwest coast of Japan. After spending time at  one of the oldest existing Shinto shrine complexes in the country near Lake Shinji, the following stops include exploring Matsue Castle, a visit to the Adachi Museum of Art, the number one rated garden in Japan, and an opportunity to parktake in traditional indigo dyeing.

Experience a bygone era with a visit to Nara, Japan’s first permanent capital. It’s a place made famous by the free-roaming deer and Todaiji Temple, which contains the nearly 50-foot tall great Buddha. Later, cross through rural Nara and see how traditional tea whisks are made before staying at the luxury rice terrace villas of Sasayuri-Ann. Next Head southward through the heart of mountainous Wakayama to Mt. Koya, Japan’s best-known Buddhist mountain retreat, where your visit entails a visit to the Banryutei Rock Garden, time to take in the iconic Daimon Gate, and a Buddhist temple stay.