Classic and Festive Japan

Welcome to Tokyo! Arriving late in the day on your flight from the U.S., you will be met at Narita Airport and transferred 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: Ohgaisou Ryokan or similar

Get to know this vibrant city as you spend two days exploring cosmopolitan, yet historic, Tokyo and its many diverse neighborhoods. Some of today's highlights include the Tokyo Metropolitan Government office building with its great, sky-high observation decks; Meiji Jingu, a famous Shinto shrine in a large forested area; 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.

If you're traveling in October 2012, you'll be able to attend the October 12th Oeshiki Festival.  Or, if you go in early to mid-November, you'll be there for the day of Shichi Go San, a rite-of-passage festival for young girls and boys.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Ohgaisou Ryokan or similar

Today you'll have the opportunity to explore by local transportation as you head out to the JR Ueno station and board the train to Gallery REN Studio for an opportunity to learn about and purchase traditional Japanese lacquer handicrafts. You'll even have a hands-on experience of creating your own laquer design and take home your artwork as a souvenir.

Return to your ryokan where you have the rest of the day free to explore on your own. Ginza, an upscale and mesmerizing part of the city known for its boutiques, dining options, shops, and general scene is a great place to spend the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Ohgaisou Ryokan or similar

After an early breakfast, head north out of the city for a change of pace, a day trip to the 8th century sacred site of Nikko. 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 8th century Buddhist temple complex.  See Kegon Falls and, if you're in luck, some wild monkeys as well.  Return to your Tokyo hotel for the night.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Ohgaisou Ryokan or similar

After breakfast, check out of the ryokan, and drive to Lake Kawaguchi, where the best views of Mt. Fuji can be enjoyed. During the cherry blossom season, the seaside promenade near the Music Forest is particularly beautiful. In autumn, the display of colorful leaves are magnificent. Mt. Fuji, looming above, 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 the Sengen shrine, a folk village, local wind cave, and the town farmer's market. You'll stay at a ryokan in a picturesque setting.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Seigaku Ryokan or similar

After breakfast at your ryokan, you'll be picked up for a two-hour drive to laid-back Matsumoto City, where you'll tour fantastic Matsumoto-jo (Matsumoto Castle), Japan's oldest wooden castle and one of four designated as National Treasures.  Continue your drive for about an hour and a half to the Shinhodaka Ropeway, which affords superb views of Japan's Alps. After enjoying a break and the scenery, continue to Hida Takayama City, a modern city that hasn't lost its traditional charms, which include old inns, shops and sake breweries.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Muraiya 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's 16th century town administrative center, 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.  While in Hida, 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 lodging, a lovely local ryokan, in the early evening.

Mid-April is the time for the Hida Takayama Spring Festival, a great experience if your trip dates coincide.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Murayama Ryokan or similar

You'll have some free time in Hida Takayama after breakfast and check-out, to explore on your own and to see the morning market again. Then drive about 45 minutes, into a dramatic and remote mountainous area, to Shirakawa village, famous for its UNESCO-designated historic old houses, one of which will be your lodging for the night.  The afternoon is at your leisure to explore the village.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Traditional old Japanese house

After breakfast, check out of your ryokan with some free time in Shirakawa village before heading to the train station for a scenic four-hour train trip to Kyoto, Japan's former imperial capital and one of the highlights of your trip.  On arrival in the late afternoon, you'll check in at your ryokan, your base for the next two nights, with the remainder of the day free to begin exploring this wonderful and atmospheric ancient city at your own pace. At your option, 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, intriguing for exploration, and home to much of Japan's traditional culture and history.  Kyoto is rich with UNESCO World Heritage locations, about 1600 Buddhist temples, more than 400 Shinto shrines, and many other culturally-rich sights. Kyoto has something for everyone.

Today you'll have a full day of exploring many of the city's fantastic sights with a guide, including Kinkaku-ji Temple (Temple of the Golden Pavilion), a Zen Buddhist temple complex and garden that is a National Special Historic Site as well as a National Special Landscape; Ryoan-ji Temple (Temple of the Dragon at Peace), another Zen temple and garden containing a massive gate and a 15th century rock garden; Kiyomizu Temple, an eigth century Buddhist temple with several historic buildings, extensive grounds, and a lovely waterfall; Kyoto National Museum, a large and historic museum which focuses on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art; and Ninenzaka, a preserved historical district of Kyoto. For dinner, seek out one of the many restaurant options around the city, or return to your ryokan.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Sakura Ryokan or similar

You'll have the day free to explore Kyoto at your pace and choose the sites you wish to visit. Options may include Tondaya Machiya, an authentic Japanese townhouse and one of the few still in existence for a real taste of old Japan. You may even want to try on a traditional kimono and experience a tea ceremony. In the evening, take a walking tour of the geisha district of Gion. This walk takes you past old teahouses, some of which were mentioned in the novel "Memoirs of a Geisha" and through the back streets and alleyways, each lined with old wooden houses. Keep your eyes out for the beautiful geishas that dart in and out of the teahouses. The maiko (young geishas-in-training), are often seen making their way to their engagements. Saiho-ji Temple is famous for its luxurious mossy growth (advanced reservations required) while Sanjusangendo Temple's main temple hall is filled with 1,001 shining gold statues of Kannon, the goddes of mercy.  Another lovely, less-visited attraction is Fushimi Inari, the famous shrine dedicated to Inari, the popular diet of rice and sake, where thousands of torii shrine gates make a labyrinth of bright red tunnels along the mountain paths.  Then there are the places that are the real working Kyoto – 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.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: Sakura Ryokan or similar

After breakfast, leave Kyoto for Osaka and your flight 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