Small group, countryside tours of Japan

Tour Duration : 13 nights / 14 days

Tour Price : From $5480 per person,
$1250 for single supplement

Note: It is also possible to add 2 nights in Hiroshima to this tour.

What is included : all the accommodations, all breakfasts, 4 dinners (Day 5, 6, 7,10), all admission fees, guide service all the way through, all domestic transportation, taxis.

Maximum number of participants : 6 clients

Minimum number of participants : 2 clients

what is not included : international flights, lunch, drinks, personal use of taxi, airport transfer at the end of the tour

Tour Highlights

-The main focus of this tour is on the Japanese countryside. The rural Japan is glorious, which stands in stark contrast to the heavily congested cities and towns that are strung together on the Pacific Corridor between Tokyo and Hiroshima.

- Steep in authentic Japanese way of life by staying 2 consecutive nights (Day 6,7) at a hidden Japanese inn (ryokan) tucked into a valley in a reclusive calm.

Enjoy exquisite Japanese cuisine and taking a soak in indoor and outdoor hot spring baths. Slip on yukaya (a simplified kimono) for dinner in a private Japanese room.

-Savor Japanese architectural finesse at Himeji Castle and Japanese gardens nexxt to it.

-Take a drive in a private van to the Sanddunes of Tottori.

Day by Day Tour Itinerary

Day 1

Fly into Tokyo.
You will be picked up and escorted to the hotel in Tokyo.

Day 2

Tokyo S/S. The Scramble crossings, the statue of loyal dog Hachi, Meiji Shrine

Day 3

Head for Himeji by bullet train.
Himeji is a regional city and keeps a national treasure and UNESCO cultural site, Himeji Castle, which is often called White Heron Castle.
This castle is one of the 12 castles that are original.
At the peak of Japan's feudal rule of 1700s, Japan boasted more than 200 castes across the nation. But, the modern era Japanese governments systematically destroyed castles one after another, believing they represented something outdated or much worse, nuisance that had to be discarded.
The Himeji castle is the culmination of the pride of, and identity as, the Japanese.
You not only catch on to the ethos of the Japanese belief system, which is often said to have been derived from Samurai warrior culture, but also architecture and small details that Japanese are skilled at.
The masterpiece film "Last Samurai" featuring Tom Cruise was shot in this city.

Kokoen Japanese Garden.
Samurai houses used to be standing at this site before 1992 when this magnifiscent garden was laid out. This is typical of Japanese stroll type of gardening, which developed in the late 1500s.

Day 4

By express train, travel to Tottori, which is the first leg of the trip today.
Tottori Sanddunes is the main draw in this region and most extensive of all the sanddunes in Japan.
From the mound right in the middle, we overlook the Sea of Japan extending in all directions.
In the afternoon, we take off for Izumo by express train.

This evening, you get a flavor of what it is like to experience an authentic Japanese life by taking a soak in hot spring baths and slippig on a yukata to enjoy delicious Japanese cuisine.

Day 5

Day 6

Today we head for Indand Sea coast.

Stay at Okayama, a regional city with a population of over 700,000.
We visit Okayama Korakuen Garden(one of the three finest gardens in Japan).

Day 7

After depositing our luggage at the hotel, we start Kyoto S / S, visiting Fushimi Inari Shrine, or commonly called Fox Shrine, that has been worshipped by the Japanese as the symbol of bumper crops. More than one thousand red torii gates lined up on the mountain slope are eye-opening.

in the evening, we visit the nishiki Food market and Gion Geisha quarters.

Day 8

In the morning, we go to see the national registry, Golden Pavilion, originally built in 1397. The whole edifice is plated with gold and the reflection of the

monument on the pond in front is just awe- inspiring.

In the afternoon, we visit Kiyomizu Temple, built on the hill looking out over

the city of Kyoto.

Day 9

It is enjoyable to feed rice crackers to deer roaming freely around the park.

Kofukuji is the oldest temple in Nara, the foundation of which dates all the way back to 710.
Today, reconstruction work is underway to repair damages wreaked through a long history of Nara.

e early 700s when everything was dictated by Buddhism in the capital, the ruling elite spent astronomical amounts of money to cast
a huge image of Buddha. Though it was destroyed many times by fire, civil war, and so forth, the image stands solemnly in the largest wooden structure in the entire world.

Day 10

By bullet and express trains, we head for Kanazawa. We visit Kenrokuen Park, one of the three finest Japanese gardens and Higashi Chaya Geisha Quarters.

Day 11

In the morning, we visit Samurai House preserved over 300 years and enjoy

the vibe of the feudal samurai district.

Afternoon free.

By bullet train, head for Tokyo.

Day 12

We proceed to Nagano, and then on to Yudanaka to visit Snow Monkey Park.

We walk on a mountain trail to get to the tonight's accommodation, a Japanese onsen ryokan

hidden from the bustle of city life.

Day 13

Return to Tokyo.

Day 14

Tour ends.

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