Honshu Highlights

The rest of the day is at leisure. If arriving in the morning, we can arrange for a guided afternoon tour taking in some of Tokyo’s highlights, though you may prefer to explore the city at leisure or relax in your hotel.

Your first stop is Meiji Jinja, Tokyo’s most famous shrine. Set within a huge 200-acre park in the heart of the city, and surrounded by beautiful gardens, Meiji is in many ways Tokyo’s defining landmark.

From Meiji, take a stroll down Takeshita Street (Harajuku), a popular teen hangout, to Omotesando. This lengthy promenade is famous the world over and houses Tokyo’s most fashionable stores and boutiques, as well as many of its most striking buildings, such as the iconic department store, Omotesando Hills.

A short subway ride will take you from the modernist sheen of Omotesando, with its imposing tower blocks and stylized glass-and-metal facades, to the narrow alleyways and wooden shopfronts of Asakusa.

The heart of Tokyo’s shitamachi, or old town, Asakusa was once the city’s traditional entertainment district, as well as the original home of Kabuki theatre. Though badly damaged during the bombing raids of the 1940s, it houses some fascinating historical monuments, foremost among them Sensoji, Tokyo’s oldest and largest Buddhist temple. Take the time to wander through Asakusa’s lantern-lit lanes and tour its ancient temples, before continuing to Ueno.

Your final stop for the day is Ameyokocho, a bustling market set beneath the railway lines in Ueno district. The site of Tokyo’s largest black market in the years following WWII, this lively market street is filled with stalls and stands selling exotic foods, antiques and eccentric gifts. It’s also a great place to sample traditional Japanese snacks! The market tends to wind down in the late afternoon, making it a good time to visit.

Kamakura, a delightful seaside town and former political capital of Japan. Kamakura is notable for its innumerable temples and shrines (both Shinto and Zen Buddhist), and provides a fascinating insight into the era of Japan’s first shogunate.

Nikko, a small city located in the mountains two hours north of Tokyo, most famous for its spectacular shrine complex, Toshogu, a UNESCO world heritage site which houses some of Japan’s most extravagant displays of religious architecture.

Alternatively, if you prefer to stay in Tokyo, today can be spent taking in some of the sights and sounds missed during yesterday’s tour. Districts you might like to visit include Akihibara, the city’s electronics mecca; Shibuya, famous for its scramble crossing and Tokyu food show; and Shinjuku, a large entertainment and shopping area that centres on the busiest railway station in the world (while here, don’t miss the stunningly beautiful Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden!) Or, if you’re wanting to escape the crowds, Yanaka carries the rustic charm and ambience of Asakusa but not the traffic, while Roppongi, as Tokyo’s largest art district, offers world-class galleries and museums where you can happily while away a few hours.

On arrival in Kyoto, check into your centrally-located hotel.

Kyoto is classical Japan writ large, a city of ancient Buddhist shrines, tranquil gardens and sublime palaces. It is the home of Japanese court culture and traditional artisanry, and the setting and focal point of over 1,000 years of Japanese Imperial history.

This afternoon, we’ve arranged for you to visit a private Kyoto home to learn more about Japanese tea ceremony, or cha-no-yu. Japanese tea ceremony is an incredibly intricate and involved procedure, rich in symbolism and elaborate ritual. The tea master will explain the origins of the ritual, its long history and association with Zen Buddhism, and the meaning behind each gesture and movement. Afterwards, you can try your own hand at making and serving tea in the Japanese style.

After the ceremony, the rest of the evening is free for you to explore central Kyoto at your own pace. Let your host know if you’d like a taxi to return directly to your hotel.

Start the day with a tour of Nijo Castle. Built in 1603 by the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, Nijo Castle is considered by many to be the definitive piece of Momoyama (1573-1615) architecture.

After exploring the castle, visit Ryoan-ji in Kyoto’s western Arashiyama district. This 15th-century Zen Buddhist temple contains one of Japan’s most famous gardens. Stunningly simple, the garden is an austere rockscape intended to reflect the principles of Zen meditation.

After lunch, continue to Kinkakuji, the “Golden Pavilion”, a fabulous Imperial villa constructed in the late 14th-century as a retirement home for the then Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Following his death, the villa was converted into a Buddhist temple, and now stands as one of Kyoto’s most famous sights. Covered in a thick layer of gold-leaf, Kinkakuji gleams like a beacon in the sunlight, its golden reflection captured by the shimmering waters.

Your last stop for the day is Kiyomizu, the “pure water” Temple. Set on the high slopes of Mount Otowa, on the outskirts of Kyoto, Kiyomizu enjoys stunning views of the city from its main hall, which perches on the edge of a cliff, supported by an intricate lattice of timber frames. Allow an hour to explore the temple and its numerous halls and pagodas, before walking down through the atmospheric Higashiyama district—where you can explore busy lanes filled with quaint shops selling souvenirs, sweets and Kiyomizu-yaki pottery—to Kyoto’s central Gion district. Your tour ends in Gion.

We recommend starting with Kasuga Taisha, Nara’s most celebrated Shinto shrine, which is situated in the verdant Kasugayama Primeval Forest in the far west of the city.

Kasuga Taisha is notable for its beautiful botanical gardens and elaborately decorated offering hall. Perhaps more impressive than the shrine itself, however, is the approach. A towering shrine gate at the foot of Kasuga Hill marks the entrance to the shrine, from where a winding path flanked by two thousand stone lanterns climbs through the woods to the main offering hall.

From Kasuga Taisha, it’s possible to walk down through Nara Deer Park to the city’s star attraction, Todaiji Temple. The world’s largest wooden building, containing Japan’s tallest Buddha (Daibutsu), Todaiji is a spectacular sight.

For further sightseeing in Nara, we recommend Isuien, a sublime Meiji-era garden, and Kofukuji Temple, notable for its five-storey pagoda (the second highest in Japan). Return to Kyoto on the late afternoon train.

Osaka, Japan’s third largest city, is a vibrant, bustling entrepôt famous for its good food, warm-hearted people, and lively entertainment district. If you’re wanting a break from temple tours and sightseeing, Osaka offers fantastic shopping and restaurants, as well as several of Japan’s best museums, including the subterranean Museum of Art.

Himeji, 130km to the east of Kyoto (one and a half hours by Shinkansen), offers an escape from the crowds.

The standout attraction of this quiet medieval city is its 400 year-old castle, a huge complex centred around a towering five-storey keep. Known as the “White Heron Castle” (the counterpart to Matsumoto’s austere “Black Crow Castle”), on account of its gleaming white walls and curved structure, Himeji is considered by many to be the most magnificent castle in all of Japan. Miraculously, it survived the WWII bombings, which destroyed much of the rest of the city, almost entirely unscathed, making it one of the few medieval-era castles in Japan to survive in something close to its original state.

Allow 4-5 hours to explore the castle and the nearby Koko-en gardens.

Early evening, return Kyoto.

End of tour.