Our favourite Japan tours and excursions

Beautiful, inscrutable, and thoroughly aloof from everyday life, Japan’s geisha have seen their world shrink from hundreds of hanamachi (geisha districts) to just a handful, including the most famous: Gion. 

Today, the narrow lanes and alleys of Gion are still lined with teahouses, restaurants, and traditional machiya merchant houses. This is the last place in Japan where you can still find geisha (or geiko, as they’re known here) entertaining their clients with song, dance and drinking games. Unless you’re lucky enough to have an exclusive audience yourself you’re unlikely to spot a geiko or maiko, but a walking tour of the hanamachi is still fascinating. With the granddaughter of a geisha as your guide, you’ll get a window on a world that’s all but disappeared, learning about what it takes to succeed in this revered profession as you explore the beautiful streets of Gion. You might even catch a glimpse of a maiko gliding between appointments – you never know!

No sooner have you stepped inside Moe and Chikako’s front door than you’ll be seated at the kitchen table, chatting away and sipping the latest batch of their home-made plum wine. 

Japanese cooking might seem intimidating at first glance, but Moe and Chikako make it a piece of cake. With their help, you’ll make your own classic dishes from scratch – including vegan options such as miso-marinated tofu and veggie sushi rolls. They’ll explain every technique and ingredient as you go, whether you’re rolling out noodle dough, whipping up a marinade or trying to master that perfectly packed nori seaweed roll. Then, you’ll all sit down to lunch together while Moe and Chikako share their insider tips and local recommendations. Whatever’s on the menu, their charm, passion and enthusiasm for sharing the secrets of Japanese cooking are infectious. We can’t help wishing we still had them all to ourselves!

More than a weapon, the Japanese sword is the symbol of loyalty between a warrior and his warlord, the ceremonial tool used in religious rites, and the physical manifestation of the owner’s soul.  

Visit a Japanese swordsmith today and you’ll see one of a dwindling number of masters of this art making katana as they have been for centuries. Watch as he folds and welds the layers of tamahagane steel to yield both strength and flexibility, then curves and polishes the blade — a process that can take weeks. Through an interpreter, you’ll be able to ask about this meticulous operation, the significance of the sword in Japanese culture, and how to tell a katana’s quality. Depending on the stage of the process, you might even get to try your hand yourself. Sword enthusiast or not, it’s hard not to be impressed by such supreme skill and dedication to a centuries-old art that might not survive much longer.

Hiking might not spring to mind when you think of Japan, but the Japanese are passionate hikers, and they never do anything by halves. That means the country’s trails are second-to-none. 

It doesn’t matter whether you’re after a gentle half-day stroll or a punishing multi-day trek (or, probably, something in between) — Japan has it, and you can guarantee it’ll be be safe, well signposted, and stunning. The most famous hike in Japan is the summer slog up Mount Fuji, but that’s just the beginning. Follow in the footsteps of pilgrims on the atmospheric forest trails of the Kumano Kodo, traverse sweeping landscapes of volcanoes and hot springs in northerly Hokkaido, or follow the little-known Shin-Etsu trail along the backbone of the Sekida Mountains. Wherever you hike, there’s no better feeling after a day on the trail than sinking into an outdoor hot-spring bath at a warm and welcoming ryokan inn.

Geisha are among Japan’s most recognisable icons, but they’re also among its most mysterious and misunderstood. No matter how much you’ve read, meeting one is something special. 

Being a geisha isn’t a job, and it’s certainly not a costume. It’s a way of life. Kyoto is the centre of geisha culture, and yet most Kyotoites will never meet one — that’s how elusive and exclusive they are. Take tea with a geisha and you’re taking tea with a living work of art. You’ll soon realise it’s not just about looking pretty and learning to sing and dance. She’s an effortless conversationalist, a master game-player, and she knows how to put you at ease while remaining somehow otherworldly and remote. It’s hard to explain, but meeting a geisha feels a bit like meeting someone from a different time (which, in a way, it is). It’s one of the most unforgettable experiences you can have in Japan.