Our favorite Japan tours and excursions

Japan is where it all began for us. We led our first tour here in the year 2000, and we’ve spent the years since building a network of the very best guides, tour leaders, hoteliers, inn owners, enthusiasts and experts across Japan.

Over the years, we’ve learned that a trip to Kyoto isn’t just about ticking off the top ten temples. It’s about peeling back the layers of history with one of our favorite Kyotoites, Kiyono-san, whose passion for traditional culture will bring the city to life. Likewise, a visit to Miyajima isn’t just about seeing the stunning World Heritage shrine, it’s about staying at the tiny inn run by Shinko-san and her son, who’ve known us for over two decades and will serve you the best baked oysters in the whole world.

Our guided tours and excursions cover everything from tea ceremony to cycling tours, and from traditional festivals to kitschy theme parks. Some of them are things you could do without a guide, and some are things you couldn't — but what makes them all special is the people. These are people we’ve known for years, who’ve been on this journey with us and who are passionate about taking you beneath the surface of Japanese culture, and that’s something you won’t find anywhere else.

Lanterns outside izakaya in backstreet of Tokyo

Izakaya experience

Can you be a professional at bar-hopping? Some of our Japan team have dedicated years to the art, and this insider’s eating-and-drinking extravaganza is the result.

Beloved by Japan’s legions of office workers, the izakaya is something like a cross between a pub and a tapas bar. Typically relaxed, down-to-earth and affordable, it serves everything from spaghetti and fried chicken to gyoza dumplings and sushi, all washed down with quantities of frosty beer. Anyone can stumble in and muddle their way through (you’ll probably do so several times on your trip), but they're not always easy for the uninitiated. This experience removes the angst and uncertainty. With your itinerary, navigation, etiquette and ordering taken care of by one of the most accomplished drinkers we know, all you need to do is abandon yourself to the fun of a night out – Japanese-style. Then, you're an expert for the rest of your trip.

Sumo

A sport, an art form and a religious ritual all in one, sumo wrestling is far, far more interesting than the comedic stereotype that made it to the West.

Did you know, for instance, that sumo wrestlers are not allowed to drive cars, or to wear Western-style clothes? Or that a sumo match is also a religious ritual dating back 1,500 years? Pay a visit to a sumo “stable” — where the wrestlers live and train — with us and you’ll get a glimpse into this strictly regimented way of life. Training begins early in the morning, but wrestlers are also expected to cook, clean and serve their superiors, and to be self-effacing and softly spoken in public. Have us book you a seat at a tournament and you’ll have great fun even if you know nothing of the sport, but go with a guide to keep you up to speed and it’s completely enthralling.

Sake and whiskey tasting

We all know that Japan is famous for sake, but did you know that it also produces some of the best whiskey in the world?

It probably won’t surprise you that the Japanese treat their booze with the same level of dedication, sophistication and precision that they apply to all areas of life. There’s even a word for it: kodawari, or a relentless devotion to one’s craft. Sake, a fermented rice wine brewed in Japan for centuries, comes in all shapes and sizes (milky, clear, cheap, premium, strong, mild, hot, cold) and offers a palate as subtle and varied as wine. Whiskey, meanwhile, has only been produced in Japan since 1923, but it can already compete with Scotch for quality and depth of flavor. You can sample sake on a brewery tour and whiskey on a distillery tour, or you can go all out and combine them both (plus cocktails and food pairings) on a fabulously indulgent gourmet tour of Tokyo or Kyoto.

Tatami room with low-lying table and floor cushioned seats has beautiful view of the garden

Ryokan & Onsen

If we had to pick one experience to sum up Japan (and thank goodness we don’t), it’d be the traditional ryokan inn.

The ryokan isn’t just a Japanese-style hotel, it’s the encapsulation of what hospitality means to the Japanese. The quality of a ryokan isn’t measured in the plushness of its luxuries or the opulence of its interior décor. In fact, even the most exclusive ryokan room might contain nothing but a low table and a futon laid on a tatami-mat floor. Instead, you tell the quality of a ryokan by its exquisite multi-course, seasonal cuisine, by the warm, heartfelt hospitality of the host, and most of all by its onsen hot spring baths — arguably the most Japanese cultural experience of all.

Playing drinking games with a maiko in a yellow room in Kyoto

Maiko afternoon tea experience

Geisha are among Japan’s most recognizable 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 center 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 realize 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.

Hands are shaping clay on a pottery wheel, cast in a warm light

Traditional craft class and workshop visit

Gone are the days when the only Japanese arts and crafts the West had heard were origami and ikebana flower-arranging.

In Japan, there is no hierarchy between art and craft. Origami and ikebana are just two drops in a deep ocean, and each of these myriad techniques and practices is treated as an art form. These range from (to name a few) dyeing, weaving and embroidery to ceramics, paper-making, lacquerware, printing, metalworking and calligraphy. Running through much of Japanese craft is a philosophy that imperfections can be beautiful. For instance, in the art of kintsugi, broken pottery is repaired with powdered gold or silver, while sashiko is a type of decorative embroidery used to mend and reinforce fabric. We can arrange one-off workshops in almost any craft imaginable, or, if you’re a real enthusiast, we can organize a deeper dove into a craft, including guided visits to ateliers and even whole trips themed around your passion.