IMPORTANT NOTE: As our tours are tailored to what our guests require, the following do not have details for many specific accommodations, activities, special and private tours, interactions with locals, spiritual experiences, or specific adventures.
Please contact us directly to receive links to a few of our sample tours. We promise that they go far beyond the “industry standard.”
Classic Japan: For guests who are new to Japan and who really first want to experience the iconic places of the country. There is no need to simply settle for a commercial cookie-cutter journey though. Let’s bring your people to TOKYO and KYOTO and OSAKA, but let’s also integrate elements of unique places and experiences within those iconic cities. Best for clients who have 7-10 days only.
Adventure Japan: Are you a skier or snowboarder? Do you scuba dive? Are you a cyclist and a hiker and an explorer? After a brief stay in Tokyo let’s get you out to those places! From Okinawa to Hokkaido, from best surfing to best skiing, we know where to bring you. Hiking? What kind? Nature hikes abound, as to pilgrimage trails that stretch on for weeks? How about rafting or sea kayaking? Are you a wildlife photographer? We have natural places far away from the cities to bring you, and a few surprising locations in store as well. Let’s talk.
Gourmet Pilgrim: Some people use the term “foodie”. I suppose that is okay, but there ought to be a better word to describe a person who celebrates joyfully culture and life at the table. Culinary Explorer? That might be closer. But let’s get you away from hotel food and into the places where food is like a song, and we have many choruses to experience. From field or sea to table, we can provide access to fish markets, oyster farms, gardens and fields, sake breweries, and sacred places where soy sauces are dreamed up and ushered into reality. From street food, to un-advertising local restaurants, to retro cafes and bars, to Michelin establishments, we deliver on food. Save your appetite. We are on a special kind of dining safari.
Healing Journey: In a post-COVID world, we are still picking up some pieces. Getting back to “normal” sometimes does not feel so normal. For those who would like to explore Japan’s spiritual landscapes and traditions, we have tours for you to choose from. Whether you are deeply knowledgeable about Japanese cultural history or not is not important. We are all learning in our own ways and at our own paces. We are delighted to help you have a variety of unique experiences in Buddhism, Zen, Shintoism, and Pilgrimage. Many temples and shrines are focal points for healing and recovery, as well as self-discovery and self-realization. Forest bathing experiences, pilgrimage trail walks, temple visits and overnight stays are all part of our work in providing you with a deeply meaningful, and transformational experience.
Art and History Japan: If you are a bookish type, or an artist, or someone who simply loves art and history and stories, we have marvelous places to take you. Japan is truly multi-tiered with history and legend and folklore, crossing and blending often with spiritual traditions in Shinto and Buddhism. Historical characters, legendary figures, folkloric devils and monsters, artistic expression of self through art, through the cosmos, through a Japanese lens, are all elements and influences in things humans both preserve in museums, or express through art. But art also takes form in the present as well. We have a marvelous array of performance and dramatic art to explore with you as well: Kabuki, Noh, Bunraku, Taiko Drumming, Traditional dances of regions from Okinawa to the Ainu of Hokkaido. Travel and art – two very good reasons that give life meaning and direction. Let’s explore.
