Itinerary

Day 1      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.  (We can set you up at either Western-style or Japanese-style hotels in the city; the choice is yours.)
    
Day 2      Tokyo

Arise early (easy for most because of the time change from the U.S.!), venture out to Tsukiji Fish Market, probably the largest in the world, and check out the wholesale auction of gigantic slabs of bluefin tuna before wandering among the stunning variety of seafood available for sale, taking in the colors, shapes, and sounds as you make your way through the aisles.  For the full experience, peruse trays of octopus and sea urchin, vats of steaming noodles, and other delicacies, then treat yourself to the freshest seafood breakfast ever. Afterward, embark on an exploration of the city, starting with the lively Senso-ji temple (oldest in the city) district in the friendly, compact, and walkable neighborhood of Asakusa, with its many interesting craft and souvenir stalls.  Explore the temple and its grounds while observing the faithful as they light incense and offer prayers.  In the afternoon, get another view of Tokyo on a relaxing short cruise down the Sumida River.  The ride ends with a drop-off at the delightful Hamarikyu tei-en, a tranquil garden where one can stroll past ponds and tea houses along paths that were once the sole preserve of the shogun.  Later, head for the interesting nearby shopping and leisure district of Ginza where, depending on the schedule, you can take in a traditional Kabuki theater performance, one of Japan's more dramatic spectacles.  Also worthwhile in the Ginza area is a stop at the legendary Imperial Hotel, one of Tokyo's grand old colonial hotels, for a cup of tea and a look around at this impressive turn-of-the-century structure.  Explore the precincts of Meiji Shrine, and check out the amazing view of the city from the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.  Tonight you are on your own for dinner to indulge in one of the many diverse culinary delights available.
    
Day 3      Tokyo

Today, you may select among several options for exploration and sightseeing in and around Tokyo. Hopping on and off the Japan Rail Yamanote loop and crisscrossing town on the metro lines, you can easily catch the major sights from anywhere in Tokyo.  The districts of Shibuya and Harajuku in the eastern part of the city are particularly interesting, as is the important Meiji Jingu Shrine.  In Shinjuku, the city's highest skyscrapers offer panoramic views of Mount Fuji on clear days.  The Shinjuku area is also home to the colorful district of Kabuki-cho, known as the “Soho of Tokyo.”  In central Tokyo, it's an easy walk from Tokyo Station (modeled on Amsterdam's famous central train station) to the massive moat, stone walls, and park gardens of the Imperial Palace. The park is also famous as Tokyo's most popular site for hanami (cherry blossom-viewing) in early to mid April.  The Ueno area is also worth a visit, particularly for its park, which is home to the impressive National Museum.  Another great museum that gives insight into the Edo (old Tokyo) era is the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Ryogoku.  In the evening, consider your dining options, as there are many – sukiyaki and shabu-shabu restaurants, izakaya (traditional Japanese pubs), and robatayaki (grill restaurants), to name just a few.  The Roppongi is also a good area for dinner options.  While Tokyo is well-known for its bustling energy and futuristic architecture, it also has a gentler side, and its citizens – particularly outside of working hours – often reveal themselves to be some of the friendliest of any capital city in the world.
    
Day 4      Tokyo / Hakone

Today is available for any of several short side trips from Tokyo.  One easy outing is to the volcanic, hilly, hot spring region of Hakone for sightseeing and the chance to see the most enduring of Japanese images, the serene and almost perfectly symmetrical Mount Fuji (about 12,400 feet).  On a clear day, this now-dormant volcano is a sight to behold.  Traveling with a combination of your Japan Rail pass (train), funicular, and gondola, travel from downtown Tokyo past vibrant and dramatic scenery and small villages to Togendai, where you can get an eagle's eye view of the surrounding volcanic landscape and (weather permitting) fantastic views of Mount Fuji.  In Togendai at the northern end of Lake Ashi, board a sightseeing boat to Hakone-machi on Ashi's south shore and take a leisurely walk around the area.  This place was once known as the Hakone Barrier, a place through which all travelers had to pass on the Tokaido, an ancient highway connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with the former capital of Kyoto.  Return to Tokyo for dinner and overnight, or at your option, stay overnight in Hakone.
    
Day 5      Tokyo / Kyoto

Relax on your three-hour bullet train journey across 350 miles to Kyoto.  Your base for the next four nights will be a lovely ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in the atmospheric back streets but also convenient to subway stations and major attractions.  Ryokan are often wonderful old establishments that sometimes have been managed by the same families for generations, and they provide classic experiences of old Japan that engage all the senses.  The focus of a ryokan stay is the visitor's room, which is very simply and tastefully decorated with tatami mat flooring and simple ikebana flower arrangements, and with futon bedding brought in nightly.  Breakfasts are served in the visitor's room in the mornings after bedding has been put away and “kaiseki” style dinners in the evenings before the bedding is brought back out again.  Kaiseki is the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine where ingredients, preparation, season, setting, and presentation come together to create a unique, all-senses-engaged dining experience.  Rounding out your ryokan experience are traditional baths (typically taken before dinner) and yukata (soft cotton robe loungewear).  Your time in Kyoto will be a “total immersion” experience.
    
Day 6      Kyoto

Today includes a full day of guided city exploration on public transport and by foot to some of Kyoto's most famous sights as well as some lesser-known places of interest.  The itinerary is flexible so that each sight can be enjoyed at leisure, with fees and transportation paid for as you go.  Your guide will contact you at your ryokan the evening before to discuss your preferred arrangements.  Some of Kyoto's more important sights include the imposing and opulent Nijo Castle, former home of the Tokugawa shoguns and the extravagantly-decorated Kinkakuji Temple, immortalized in Yukio Mishima's novel, “The Golden Pavilion.”  From here, it is also possible to walk or drive the short distance to Ryoan-ji, perhaps the most famous Zen garden in Japan.  Take a casual stroll through the nearby eastern hills along the “Path of Philosophy” which links Ginkaku-ji with Nanzen-ji Temple.  This walk can be extended south through the well-preserved old town areas of Kyoto to Kiyomizu-dera temple, from which there is a famous view across a wooded gorge to Kyoto.  The architecturally-impressive Higashi Honganji Temple and the almost surreal Sanjusangenda, home to 1,001 statues of Kannon (bodhisattva of compassion whose name was later taken up by the camera company, Canon), are both quite interesting.  Another nearby sight is Japan's largest pagoda at Toji.  At the end of the day, your guide will drop you off at your ryokan, or anywhere else in the city you wish to spend the evening.  We can arrange another kaiseki dinner at your ryokan, or you can try a local restaurant's Kyo-ryori (Kyoto style) cuisine, the most famous of which is the vegetarian dish, sojin ryori, created to feed Zen Buddhist priests and pilgrims.  Other, simpler restaurants specialize in Obanzai, a traditional Kyoto homestyle meal, while some specialty restaurants offer sushi, tempura, soba, ramen, and other options.  Kyoto is also famous for its sweets – save room!
    
Day 7      Kyoto

In the morning, visit Tondaya Machiya, an authentic Japanese townhouse, one of the few still in existence, for a real taste of old Japan.  The visit will include a tour around the house, a chance to try on a traditional kimono, a tea ceremony experience, and a traditional Japanese lunch.  The afternoon is free for exploration.  In the evening, take a walking tour of atmospheric old Gion, the geisha district, with its many old teahouses, some of them mentioned in the widely-acclaimed novel, “Memoirs of a Geisha.”  The walk goes through the back streets and alleyways, each lined with old wooden houses, of Kyoto's world-renowned Geisha district.  Catch a glimpse of geisha and maiko (young geisha-in-training) making their way to their evening's engagements while your guide gives you insights into the past, present, and future of this unique and exotic world.  You'll see geisha schools, ochaya, okiya, and traditional artisans' shops, along with the great photo opportunities they all afford.  For dinner, you may either return to your ryokan or head out for another culinary adventure.
    
Day 8      Kyoto

Today is yours to explore as you wish.  Among the many things to see and do in Kyoto, consider visiting Saiho-ji temple, famous for its luxuriant mossy growth. (Advance reservations are required, but we can make them for you on request.)  This is also your opportunity to find the real heartbeat of Kyoto – hidden just around the corner for those who make the effort to get off the main tourist trail and seek it out.  For example, return to Kiyomizu-dera temple, take the back exit out, and find yourself alone in the ancient and majestic cemetery which clings to the mountainside.  If you didn't visit Sanjusangendo on your first day in Kyoto, go see its main temple hall filled with 1,001 shining gold statues of Kannon, goddess 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 less museum exhibits and more real, working Kyoto – Nishiki market where old women in kimono barter for mysterious ingredients; the public baths in the center of town; or the tiny lantern-lit temples set among the shops in the Sanjo arcades.  For dinner, seek out one of the many restaurant options around the city, or return to your ryokan.
    
Day 9      Kyoto / Nara

Jump on the train again for a short trip to Nara and head to Todai-ji Temple with its vast hall, sub temples, halls, pagodas, and gates of exceptional historical and archaeological interest.  Don't miss the Great Buddha Vairocana, originally cast in 752, and hugely impressive as is the massive wooden structure that houses it – the largest wooden building in the world today.  Look for a hole in the base of one of the Great Hall's supporting posts said to be the same size as one of the Buddha's nostrils.  According to legend, those who squeeze through it will be blessed with enlightenment in their next life.  Spend the afternoon among the many temples and shrines of 1,300-acre Nara Park, also home to a rather assertive group of more than 1,200 tame deer that roam the grounds, protected by law, feeding on deer biscuits bought by tourists or brazenly interrupting picnics.  Visit the park's Ukimido, a hexagon-shaped building on Sagi-ike Pond, that appears to be floating on the water.  Visit the National Museum to see the world's best collection of Buddhist art and statues. Another place of interest is the shrine of Kasuga Taisha, one of the best known and most photographed Shinto sites.  Surrounded by woods, the approach paths around this vermilion-colored shrine boast 3,000 or so stone and bronze lanterns, an impressive spectacle, particularly when they are lit in early February and mid-August.  Return to town for dinner and overnight, followed by a bit of additional exploring in the morning before catching the train to Mount Koya.
    
Day 10      Nara / Mount Koya

Travel to Mount Koya, where getting there is half the fun – the train winds through a series of tight valleys with mountains soaring up on all sides and ends up at a cable-car which will take you right to the top.  Spend a night relaxing in this lovely area, taking in sights such as Kongobuji, the Shingon temple famous for its large sliding doors, and the Garan temple complex and rare pagodas within it (Daito and Saito) which resemble Indian stupa more than the common three- and five-story Japanese pagodas.  The most famous temple at Koya-san is the Kongosan-mai temple, decorated with beautiful depictions of elephants, lions, and exotic birds. Don't miss the Okunoin necropolis, a huge cemetery with more than 200,000 stone stupas commemorating those buried here.  The best time to visit is in the early morning or late afternoon when the area is peaceful, quiet, and perhaps a little eerie.  Also stop in at the Mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, where the entrance hall is festooned with hundreds of oil lanterns, two believed to have been burning for more than 900 years, all aglow in stark contrast to the simple and unadorned tomb itself.  Enjoy a simple vegetarian meal and a good night's sleep at your  shukubo and arise early and well-rested for breakfast and your trip onward, preceded – if you wish – by participation in the monks' morning prayer ritual.
    
Day 11      Mount Koya / Hiroshima / Miyajima

Jump back on the rail system for a trip to Hiroshima.  Visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of the A-Bomb Dome, emblematic of the destruction of the city,  Peace Memorial Park, and the Children's Peace Monument with its thousands of folded paper cranes.  Afterward, take a short boat ride across the water to Miyajima, known as Itsuku-shima, admiring the famous “floating” torii (Shinto shrine gate) in the water – or perhaps standing out on the tidal flats during low tide – along the way.  Apart from the shrine, the island has several temples, good walks, beautiful landscapes, and remarkably tame deer that wander the streets.  While on Miyajima, consider an ascent of Misen, the island's finest walk, or use the cable car to get up the hill and enjoy the superb views at the top.  Consider a final small splurge at one of the island's lovely ryokan, particularly in the autumn when large portions of the island explode with the colors of maple leaves.
    
Day 12      Miyajima / Osaka / Depart

In the morning, take a quick ferry ride back to the mainland, then board a high-speed train (shinkansen) to Osaka to catch your flight home.

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