Japan's Elegant Autumn

Welcome to Tokyo! Arriving late in the day on your flight from the U.S., you will be met at Narita Airport and transferred by private vehicle to your comfortable, centrally-located hotel in Tokyo, your base for four nights. In the evening, you will meet the tour leader and other group members for an introductory briefing, followed by an optional dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Meals: None
Lodging: Chisun Hotel or similar

Get to know this vibrant city as you spend two days exploring cosmopolitan, yet historic, Tokyo and its many diverse neighborhoods. Today, embark on a thorough city tour, including highlights such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office building with its great, sky-high observation decks; Harajuku, a cosmopolitan area of the city known for shopping, sightseeing and street entertainment; Asakusa, an interesting and compact neighborhood filled with shrines and temples, including Senso-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple complex; and a boat ride on the Sumida River, serenely gliding past the many sights and sounds of the city. At the beuatiful large Meiji Temple complex, located in the center of a large forested area in Tokyo City, enjoy the color and tradition of Shichi Go San, a rite-of-passage festival for young girls and boys. The festival celebrates the growth and well-being for children between the ages of three to seven. Return to your hotel around 8:00 pm

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Chisun Hotel or similar

Today you'll have the opportunity to experience the local transportation as you head out to the JR Ueno station for a forty-minute train ride to take part in traditional Tea Ceremony. Tea culture is a major part of Japanese hospitality and history and you will learn about how the Japanese treat their guests, proper etiquette, and tea-drinking techniques. Return to your hotel around noon and spend the rest of the day exploring Tokyo on your own. Perhaps a visit to the Edo-Tokyo Museum to learn about early Tokyo, the Edo Period. Rikugien Park, considered Tokyo's most beautiful Japanese landscaped garden, is a great place to take an afternoon stroll.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Chisun Hotel or similar

After an early breakfast, head north out of the city for a change of pace, a day trip to Nikko Park (approx. 2 hr drive) with its beautiful forests and the eight century sacred sites. First a training center for Buddhist monks, it later became the burial site of the warlord Tokugawa Jeyasu, a shogun whose dynasty ruled all of Japan for more than 250 years. Visit Toshogu Shrine, mausoleum of the late shogun, and Rinno-ji Temple, an eighth century Buddhist temple complex.  Behold the gorgeous Kegon Falls and, if you're lucky, you'll spot some wild monkeys as well.  Nikko is also famous for "Yuba," dried soy bean sheets mainly used to wrap Dim Sum. You may want to give this delicacy a try, or enjoy the other plentiful options. Return to your Tokyo hotel around 6:30 pm for the night.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Chisun Hotel or similar

After breakfast, check out of your hotel around 8:00 am, and drive to Lake Kawaguchi (approx. 1.5 hrs), where the best views of Mt. Fuji can be enjoyed. In autumn, the display of colorful leaves are magnificent. Mt. Fuji is one of Japan's best-known images, visible from Tokyo on a clear day, and towering over the area at close to 12,500 feet. From the Mt. Fuji Visitor Center, you will have excellent views. Your exploration of Lake Kawaguchi includes Fujiyoshida's Sengen shrine, dedicated to Princess Konohanasakuya, the Shinto diety associated with Mt. Fuji; a folk village to see the beautiful thatched roof homes; and Wind Cave, once used as a natural storehouse and refrigerator in ancient times; and the town farmer's market. You'll stay at a ryokan in a picturesque setting. Check-in to your ryokan around 4:00 pm. Ryokans are traditional Japanese style inns featuring tatami-matted rooms, communal baths, and futon beds.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
Lodging: Yamagishi Ryokan or similar

After breakfast at your ryokan, you'll be picked up for a two-hour drive to laid-back Matsumoto City, famous for its Soba noodles and Wasabi. You'll explore the fantastic Matsumoto-jo (Matsumoto Castle), Japan's oldest wooden castle and one of four designated as National Treasures.  Continue the drive for about an hour and a half to the Shinhodaka Ropeway (cable car), which affords superb views of Japan's Alps. After enjoying a break and the scenery, continue on another one and a half hour drive to Hida Takayama City, a modern city that hasn't lost its traditional charms.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Murayama Ryokan or similar

Start the day with a visit to the morning market, a great place to see all the local products and enjoy the local scene. Visit Jinya, the 16th century historical Government House, with its lovely and extensive grounds, and  explore the Festival Cart Museum, which displays the carts used in Hida Festival, one of Japan's largest.  You'll also have time to wander through the streets of the Old Town, a beautifully preserved town with buildings and houses dating back to the Edo period (1600-1868). While in Takayama, be sure to sample Hida beef, well known for its high quality and delicious flavor, as well as Houba miso, another local favorite.  You'll arrive at your ryokan around 5:00 pm.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Murayama Ryokan or similar

After breakfast, spend some time exploring Hida Takayama and perhaps visit the morning market. Then drive about 45 minutes through a dramatic mountainous area to Shirakawa village, famous for its UNESCO-designated historic old houses, one of which will be your lodging for the night. Some of the traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses here are more than 250 years old. Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer" due to the shape of their steep thatched roofs that resemble hands pressed in prayer. The homes roofs are designed to withstand heavy snow fall and provide large attic space for cultivating silkworms. You'll have some time in the late afternoon to spend exploring the village on your own.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: A gassho-zukuri minshuku

After breakfast, check out of your bed & breakfast and  enjoy some free time in Shirakawa village before embarking on the four-hour drive to Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital.  On arrival in the late afternoon, you'll check in at your ryokan and have the remainder of the day free to begin exploring this wonderful and atmospheric ancient city at your own pace. Consider an evening stroll to a nearby neighborhood temple or shrine to explore on your own. Kyoto is wonderful, mysterious, and atmospheric, especially after dark.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Sakura Ryokan or similar

Spend two full days in this wonderful ancient city.  Kyoto is rich with UNESCO World Heritage sites, including about 1600 Buddhist temples, more than 400 Shinto shrines, and breathtaking gardens. Enjoy the city's highlights with your guide including Kinkaku-ji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), a Zen Buddhist temple complex and garden that is a National Special Historic Site and a National Special Landscape; Ryoan-ji (Temple of the Dragon at Peace), another Zen temple and garden containing a massive gate and a 15th century rock garden; Kiyomizu, an eighth century Buddhist temple with a lovely waterfall; the Kyoto National Museum, which focuses on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art; and Ninenzaka, a preserved historical district of Kyoto. You'll return to your ryokan around 5:00 pm.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Sakura Ryokan or similar

You'll have the day free to explore Kyoto at your pace. Consider taking a walk through the Tondaya neighborhood to see some authentic old Japanese townhouses known as Machiya. Or pay a visit to the Saiho-ji Temple, famous for its luxurious mossy growth (advanced reservations required). The Sanjusangendo Temple contains 1,001 shining gold statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy.  Another lovely, less-visited attraction is the Fushimi Inari shrine dedicated to the popular diet of rice and sake. Here thousands of torii shrine gates make a labyrinth of bright red tunnels along the mountain paths.  For an up close look at the daily life of the locals, spend some time exploring the Nishiki market where old women in kimono barter for mysterious ingredients; the public baths in the center of town; and the tiny lantern-lit temples set among the shops in the Sanjo arcades. Be sure to visit the geisha district of Gion and take a walk through the back streets and alleyways lined with old wooden teahouses, some of which were mentioned in the novel "Memoirs of a Geisha."  The maiko  - young geishas-in-training - are often seen making their way to their engagements.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Sakura Ryokan or similar

After breakfast, depart for the Osaka Airport where you check-in for your departing flight back home.

Or, if your schedule permits, consider extending your adventure. Visit Nara or Hiroshima for a day.  If you have a couple of days, visit Mt. Koya and the pilgrimage site of Koya-san where more than a million pilgrims visit every year. If you choose this option, you wil travel by rural train, and then by cable car up the mountain, to the serene monastery site where you'll stay for two nights as a welcome guest.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: None