Taste of Japan

After checking in, the hours are yours to rest, reset, and step into Japan’s rhythm. Perhaps take a short stroll for your first glimpse of softly lit streets and orderly calm, then choose an easy first bite close by.

Accommodation: Tokyo Bay Shiomi Prince Hotel 4★

The Edo Tokyo Museum adds depth, showing how the city’s story stretches from wooden townscapes to steel and glass. Later, Shibuya brings the present into sharp focus, with the famous crossing, bright billboards, and a restless rhythm that feels instantly recognisable.

As dusk falls, the city turns cinematic, reflections on glass and a soft buzz in the air. Food anchors the day in two distinctive ways: monjayaki at lunch, casual and comforting, then teppanyaki in the evening, where heat, skill, and conversation turn dinner into theatre.

Between sights there is space to pause, look up, and notice the city’s smaller details, a tucked away shrine gate, a perfectly wrapped pastry, a quiet moment above the crowds.

Meals: (B, L, D)

Afterwards, the pace softens in the Imperial Palace East Gardens, with wide paths, stone walls, and seasonal planting offering calm in the middle of the capital. The afternoon brings a polished shift in Ginza, where window displays feel like galleries and confectionery counters are almost ceremonial in their presentation.

Tonight’s izakaya style dining is relaxed and sociable, built around small plates and easy conversation, the kind of evening where you compare favourites, discover new flavours, and feel the small group rhythm settle into place, one bite at a time. A gentle night walk afterwards often feels irresistible in Tokyo’s glow.

Meals: (B, D)

It is also a satisfying day for simple pleasures: a long coffee, a slow browse, and a little room to wander. Later in the afternoon, the group reunites for the included Seven Sake and Food Experience, a 75 minute tasting journey through seven regional varieties paired with carefully matched bites.It is social, elegant, and surprisingly revealing, showing how rice, water, and place shape flavour in subtle ways.

The evening remains at leisure, leaving space to choose your own dinner, whether that means a bowl of ramen, a tiny counter restaurant, or a meal found by simply turning down the right side street. Tokyo’s night energy makes even a simple choice feel exciting.

Meals: (B)

In Ise, the approach to the Grand Shrine feels like a reset, with forested pathways, cedar scents, and an atmosphere that encourages calmer steps and softer voices. Nearby Okage Yokocho adds warmth and charm, an Edo style street where local snacks and crafts invite gentle browsing, light tasting, and the pleasure of taking your time.

As the scenery opens towards the coast, Shima Mie brings sea air and a slower rhythm, perfectly suited to the tour’s sensory theme. Settle into your ryokan style stay, where calm spaces and hot spring waters signal a different pace, and the view over the bay feels like a deep exhale.

Dinner is Japanese and regionally rooted, a comforting close to a day that quietly shifts the whole journey into a more restorative register. An evening soak under warm water seals the change from city to coast. 

Meals: (B, L, D)

Accommodation: Kashikojima Hojoen 4★

The region’s culinary identity comes alive with an ama divers experience and lunch in an ama hut, where seafood is prepared with an honesty that feels both immediate and deeply traditional, and stories travel as easily as smoke from the grill. Later, a bonito smokehouse shows how time, technique, and patience build one of Japan’s foundational flavours, the kind that quietly supports countless dishes without demanding attention.

The day finishes at Yokoyama Viewpoint, where bays and islands unfold into a wide, calming panorama and the light seems to slow down. Back at the hotel, dinner arrives with gentle ease, and the evening invites a soak, a slow conversation, and the feeling of having stepped into a different Japan. Outside, the bay air is cool, and the night feels wonderfully still.

Meals: (B, L, D)

The experience is gentle yet memorable, the kind of morning that changes the way you notice details for the rest of the trip. Lunch is taken locally, then the afternoon stays calm with meditation and quiet time, with an optional tent sauna experience noted as to be confirmed. These wellbeing moments sit naturally within a gastronomy theme, reminding you that appetite, mood, and environment are closely linked.

Return to the hotel with time to unwind before dinner, and enjoy an evening where the coastal quiet feels like a luxury, unforced and deeply calming, as the group relaxes into the rhythm. The simplicity of the setting is the point, and it works. You sleep deeply here.

Meals: (B, L, D)

The Iga ryu Ninja Museum brings folklore to life with stories and demonstrations that feel lively, surprising, and far more rooted in history than many expect, adding a playful edge to the journey. Iga Castle deepens the sense of place, with layers of regional power and period atmosphere that make the day feel textured rather than simply scenic.

After lunch, Kyoto arrives with a different kind of beauty, quieter streets, softer light, and an elegance that seems to sit just beneath the surface. The evening is free, ideal for a first gentle wander, perhaps a small sweet shop, a simple local meal, and that first sense of Kyoto’s calm settling in. It is a subtle shift, but it changes the emotional tone of the trip in a quietly satisfying way, and the city invites you to slow down. 

Meals: (B, L)

Accommodation: Noku Kyoto 4★

Kinkaku ji follows, the Golden Pavilion shimmering above its pond and gardens, an iconic moment that still feels quietly composed rather than loud. Later, Arashiyama softens the day further, with riverside scenery, shaded pathways, and time to browse small artisan shops or pause for tea and seasonal sweets. The rhythm is intentionally unhurried, letting you absorb Kyoto’s textures: wood and stone, garden greens, the hush of temple grounds, and the small, careful gestures that define the city’s charm.

Return with the evening free, when Kyoto’s atmosphere feels most intimate, and even a simple dinner can feel like part of the story. Lantern light, soft voices, and quiet streets do the rest. If you step out after dark, Kyoto feels like a whisper, and you listen.

Meals: (B, L)

Kiyomizu dera then delivers sweeping hillside views and the romance of historic lanes below, where traditional storefronts and local treats tempt you into unplanned stops. Sanjusangendo offers a quieter, more contemplative contrast, its hall of statues creating a sense of scale and stillness that lingers.

As evening approaches, Gion provides the perfect finish, lantern lit streets, wooden façades, and the feeling that Kyoto’s past is still gently present. The night remains at leisure, ideal for lingering, browsing, or choosing a relaxed dinner close by, with the city’s calm making everything feel effortless and beautifully paced. Small moments, a tea shop, a folding fan, a shared photo, tend to become the souvenirs. It is Kyoto at its most cinematic.

Meals: (B, L)

From here, the fermented food focus adds depth to the culinary story, exploring the ingredients that quietly shape Japanese flavour, from miso and soy to vinegar and sake, all tasted with context and care. By afternoon, Osaka brings a fresh pulse, brighter, louder, and famously hungry, a city that wears its appetite with pride. After settling in, the evening is free to enjoy casual food culture, where the best meals are often found in bustling lanes and small, welcoming counters.

Osaka’s energy is contagious, and the night tends to slip by quickly, carried by laughter, sizzling grills, and the easy pleasure of choosing what looks good in the moment. It feels like a finale beginning to gather pace. Osaka loves bold flavour, and tonight you can follow that instinct wherever it leads.

Meals: (B, L)

Accommodation: Miyako City Osaka Hommachi 4★

In Nada, sake museums reveal the artistry behind Japan’s most iconic drink, where water, rice, and climate shape distinct regional profiles, and where tradition feels practical rather than staged. Tastings and stories create an easy understanding of why this area became synonymous with brewing, and the day keeps its pace comfortable and social.

Lunch is Kobe beef, a premium highlight that feels both indulgent and unmistakably Japanese, the kind of meal you remember in texture as much as taste. Back in Osaka, time in Shinsaibashi and Namba brings colour and movement, and a visit to a depachika food hall turns browsing into a final tasting adventure, with beautifully packaged treats perfect for gifts and souvenirs.

The evening is at leisure, an ideal final night to take one last walk, share a toast, and let the journey’s flavours settle. Osaka’s lights make a beautiful backdrop for goodbye photos.

Meals: (B, L)

Transfer to Kansai Airport for departure, carrying home not just photographs, but the softer details too, shared meals, new tastes, and the feeling of Japan unfolding day by day.

Meals: (B)