Japan Fiery Ceramics And The… (trip)
Japan Fiery Ceramics And The Citadels Of The Shogun
- Tokyo airport, Japan
- Culture & Nature
| from £5,395* per person | 18 Days | November |
| Comfort accommodations | Exertion level: 3 | |
| Operator: Andante Travels | 12 people max | |
Nevertheless, its culture and history have had an extraordinary influence on the progress of modern cultures. Despite the country's iconic status, the archaeology and past of Japan, from the remarkable fiery ceramics of the Jomon Neolithic, through later periods dominated by medieval castles, to Hokusai's iconic great wave are still difficult to visit and experience for oneself.
Scattered across an archipelago of four significant islands, Japan developed a series of highly creative local cultures. This will be a unique experience, and an opportunity to see finely excavated and restored monuments from the Palaeolithic, Jomon Neolithic which lasted 14,000 years, into the era of classical Japan. This was a time which saw the creation of feudal states and an Imperial government, whose power waxed and waned through the time of the Shoguns until the Imperial restoration of 1868.
Our itinerary has been slightly revised after the events of March 2011, and we are so pleased that our visit is still possible. We will travel through the islands of Honshu and Kyushu, and will now also cross to Hokkaido, seeing varied landscapes, mountains, coasts, castles and towns, spending several days in the megalopolis of Tokyo. Most journeys will speed along in the famed ‘Shinkansen’ or Bullet Train.
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Locations visited/nearby
Japan, Asia
Itinerary
Day OneDepart Heathrow.
Day Two
Arrive Tokyo, private coach to our hotel.
Day Three
Tokyo: the Tokyo National Museum of Japanese History, the Edo Tokyo Museum and the Asakusa temple and its surroundings. National Museum of Japanese History at Sakura.
Day Four
Tokyo: Fukagawa ‘Downtown’ Museum’, with reconstructed streets of the Edo period, and Roppongi area, with art galleries tbc.
Day Five
‘Bullet train’ north to Aomori on the north coast of Honshu. We visit the Jomon period site of Sannai Maruyama, occupied by hunter-gatherers between
c3900 and 2300 BC, and where the extensive remains have changed our ideas about how these people lived and died. Ferry to Hakodate on Hokkaido.
Day Six
Explore Hakodate, including the excellent Ainu/Northern Cultures Museum, the magnificent star-shaped fortress and the 19th century so-called ‘foreigners’ houses’ including a Russian Orthodox Church.
Day Seven
By train, via the Seikan Tunnel which is the longest train tunnel in the world, to Aomori. Drive across the volcanic landscape of Lake Towads and visit the Oyu stone circles and museum.
Day Eight
Train through the lovely scenery of the Japan Sea coast to Nagaoka and Niigata Prefectural Museum of History, and Umadaka Site Museum to see the wonderful Jomon ‘Flame Pottery’. First of three nights in a traditional Japanese inn.
Day Nine
Drive down the Shinano River, focus of Simon Kaner’s Shinano Project. Najomon Experimental Jomon Museum, high in the mountains at Tsunan; through the Japan Alps to Nagano Prefecture.
Day Ten
Togarisihi Jomon site, home of the Tanabatake Venus; the Shakado Jomon site, where over 1100 figurines were discovered, now exhibited in a museum in the midst of Japan’s wine country – and perhaps a glimpse of Mount Fuji. Suwa Grant Shrine complex, focus of the ‘Ombashira’ festival, every 7 years, when huge cedars are cut down and ‘ridden’ down the steep mountains.
Day Eleven
Train through the southern Alps to Nagoya and on to Kyoto, the ancient Heian capital of Japan. Free time in p.m.
Day Twelve
Nara, Japanese capital in the 8th century; on to the Asuka region in south of Nara basin to visit the Chikatsu-Asuka kofun (mounded tomb) museum.
Day Thirteen
Kyoto for palaces, gardens, temples and shrines, and an opportunity to visit the Kodai-ji Temple to try a tea ceremony!
Day Fourteen
Osaka where the rebuilt castle was the fulcrum of great events during the time of the Shoguns. Overnight ferry through the Inland Sea to Kyushu.
Day Fifteen
Drive from Beppu to Yoshinogari, a huge Yayoi period site in Saga; Arita the home of Japanese porcelain production.
Day Sixteen
Nagasaki, a rebuilt and bustling commercial city, once the location of the first Dutch trading station in Japan. We see the famous ‘Spectacles Bridge’, with time to do some last minute shopping.
Day Seventeen
Bullet train from Hakata to Tokyo, stop at Hiroshima to see Atomic War Museum.
Day Eighteen
Fly home from Tokyo.
NB This itinerary may be subject to small changes.
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