Japan's Earthly Treasures

Day 1 Fly overnight from London Heathrow to Tokyo.

Day 2 The sleek, chic, multi-faceted capital masters Japan’s mix of old and new. After arrival, visit the Imperial Palace Plaza, the primary residence of the Emperor of Japan, encircled by its lotus moat; and the Senso-ji Buddhist Temple in Asakusa district, Tokyo’s oldest temple, and steeped in legends since its origins in 645AD. Later, transfer to the 3-star Hotel Monterey Hanzomon for three nights. (L)

Day 3 Take the short journey to Tachikawa to visit Showa Kinen Memorial Park, its 160 hectares boasting water features, untamed areas, and spectacular seasonal flowers; and continue to the Shinto Meiji Jingu Shrine, dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort. (B)

Day 4 Visit Kamakura’s most important shrine, the Shogun, 12^th-century, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, the focus of a long approach through the whole city centre from the waterside; the Great Buddha, an enormous bronze statue, cast in the 13^th century, and set in the grounds of Kotoku-in Temple; and the Hase Temple, famous for its 11-headed statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. Tour to Yokohama to visit the vast classical Japan garden, Sankeien, encompassing many historic houses, and renowned for its changing beauty. (B, L)

Day 5 Travel by Bullet Train to Odawara. Cruise on the clear blue waters of Lake Ashinoko, enjoying breathtaking views to fabled Mount Fuji, white-capped and wondrous; and continue to the Open-Air Museum of sculptures, nestled in the hills of Hakone, with valley views, and artworks in harmony with nature. Overnight at the 3-star Shibu-no-yu Hotel, in rural Kami Suwa (or similar), furnished in traditional Japanese-style. Enjoy the ‘onsen’ hot springs. (B, L, D)

Day 6 Travel to Kanazawa (4½ hrs), with a photo-stop enroute at Matsumoto Castle, in the centre of Honshu Island. A complex of five structures, designated a National Treasure, its black exterior earned it the nickname ‘Crow Castle’. Visit Kenroku-en Garden, one of the ‘Three Great Gardens’ of Japan, a ‘garden of six aspects’, with ponds, hills and streams, pavilions, teahouses, and serenity. Continue to East Chaya Old Street, an historic entertainment district known for its teahouses and for geisha performances of song and dance. Overnight at the 3-star Hotel Vista Kanazawa. (B)

Day 7 Travel by express train (2hrs) to Kyoto, the home of geishas, manners, and tradition, where hundreds of Shinto shrines, and over a thousand Buddhist temples join old-world shopping streets and timber townhouses. Visit the Shogun, 17^th-century, Nijo Castle, with its five-storey keep, a UNESCO World Heritage site; and the Heian Jingu shrine, built in 1895 and dedicated to the first and last Kyoto emperors, Kammu (737 – 806) and Komei (1831 – 1867), with time to explore its tranquil Shin’en Gardens. Two nights at the 3-star Rihga Gran Kyoto Hotel.  (B, L)

Day 8 Visit the Buddhist Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion, gloriously coated in gold leaf; and the tiny Gioji temple, a Buddhist convent, and the only surviving building of the former huge Ojo-in Temple, its mossy garden a shaded haven of calm. Enjoy a tea ceremony at the walled temple complex of Daitoku-ji; and a traditional dinner and ‘Maiko’ (apprentice geisha) experience this evening. (B, D)

Day 9 Travel to Nara, visiting Uji Byodoin temple and garden, considered the best example of a Pure Land Garden. Stroll through Nara Park, famed for its free-roaming deer, to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Kasuga Grand Shrine, and its Manyo Botanical Gardens, boasting 250 plant types. Visit the Kofukuji Temple, also UNESCO listed, with over a thousand years of history; and the Todaiji Temple, its Big Buddha Hall housing a 15m-high bronze statue of a seated Buddha. Continue to vibrant and very contemporary Osaka, for an overnight stay at the 4-star Rihga Royal Hotel. (B, L)

Day 10 Leave the city and travel first to Okayama, to visit Koraku-en ‘garden of pleasure’. One of Japan’s three most celebrated gardens, founded in the 17^thcentury, its landscape of lawns, streams, ponds, and maple groves enjoys ‘borrowed scenery’ too, with views of Okayama castle. Continue to Matsue, the ‘City of Water’, on the eastern shore of Lake Shinji, for two nights at the 3-star Matsue Excel Hotel Tokyu. (B, L)

Day 11 Visit Adachi Museum of Fine Art, and its immaculately manicured ‘shakkei’ garden, a style designed to blur the boundary between the garden and a its natural surrounds. Classified as 3-stars in the Michelin Green Guide, the Journal of Japanese Gardens consistently names it as the most beautiful. Continue to Matsue’s 17^th-century castle, one of only a dozen original castles in Japan. Stroll along Nawate-Kogi Old Street, and enjoy a traditional tea ceremony. (B, L)

Day 12 Visit Iwami Silver Mine, producing huge quantities of fine quality Soma Silver in its 1600s heyday, closed in 1923, but with one of its 600 tunnels now open to explore. Continue to Izumo Taisha Shinto shrine, the oldest and largest in Japan, known as ‘the place where the gods gather’. Fly from Matsue to Tokyo for overnight at the 3-star Hotel Monterey Hanzomon. (B, L)

Day 13 Transfer to the airport for the return flight to London Heathrow, arriving the same day. (B)

• Key
• B - Breakfast
• L - Lunch
• D - Dinner