FIT Tours

Arrive into Tokyo on your scheduled flight.

You will be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel directly.
Enjoy an afternoon or evening orientation with our local staff, then your favorite Japanese dinner such as Shabu shabu, Sukiyaki, or Tempura is waiting for you. (We can arrange the restaurant with your own expenses).

Service Included:
Guiding: Our English-speaking staff (or guide)
Transfers: Limousine Bus (Public transportation) from airport to your hotel

Stay in Tokyo / Accommodation at Tokyo Prince Hotel or similar

Breakfast at hotel.

This morning, take a morning walk around the famous Tsukiji Outer Market, Japan’s”Food Town,” where one can encounter all kinds of Japanese traditional foods.
A mixture of wholesale and retail shops along with numerous restaurants line the streets and new culinary trends are born here.
Tsukiji Market is home to many sushi shops and restaurants. There are several traditional sushi restaurants serving sashimi (raw fish) and sushi (raw fish over rice).
You can enjoy Sushi lunch (on your expense) here, while learning the art of sushi making first-hand.

After the lunch, let’s explore Asakusa district around Sensoji, which was completed in 645AD and is the oldest temple in Tokyo surrounded by beautiful town brimming with tradition. Then, you cannot miss Tokyo Sky Tree with a height of 634 meters, the tallest structure in Japan and the second tallest in the world at the time of its completion.

In the evening, please enjoy Restaurant boat – Yakatabune for dinner cruise along the romantic river.

Service Included:
Guiding: Our English-speaking staff (or guide)
Transfers: Public transportation and occasionally taxi:
Entrances: Tsukiji outer market, Asakusa Sensoji, Tokyo Sky Tree, Cruise Boat with dinner

Stay in Tokyo / Accommodation at Tokyo Prince Hotel or similar

Breakfast at hotel.

Leave Tokyo to take a bullet train to the 17th-century Edo town of Takayama(approximately 5 hours by Shinkansen and rapid train). Takayama is a charming town located in the Japanese Alps. The region is famous for its traditional streetscapes, sake breweries and Hida-gyu (Hida wagyu beef).

On arrival, visit the nearby Hida Folk Village – an outdoor museum where the traditional thatched-roof architecture unique to the area has been put on display. Discover the techniques used to build farmhouses that could withstand fierce winters. Each house is like its own self-contained museum, with displays of personal items and traditional tools.
For the next two nights, you’ll stay in a traditional ryokan (Japanese inn), where you’ll also get to dine on regional Takayama delicacies.

Service Included:
Guiding: Our English-speaking staff (or guide)
Transfers: Public transportation from Tokyo Takayama (including Bullet Train)

Stay in Takayama – “Ryokan” Japanese Style inn with hot spring and dinner

Breakfast at Ryokan.

Today, you’ll explore the morning markets that date back 600 years and browse the stalls of seasonal produce. Stalls are set up by local farm women from 6 am every morning. Look out for the unique local style of pickles, bags of miso wrapped in leaves, preserved fish, spices, and the delicious marshmallow treat of owara tamaten.

Let’s visit a local sake brewery to sample and learn about the sake-making process. Gifu’s alpine climate and crystal-clear mountain waters are perfect for creating Japan’s signature liquor. Back in Takayama for dinner, you’ll be able to sample some more of the town’s iconic dishes.

Service Included:
Guiding: Our English-speaking staff (or guide)
Transfers: Public transportation

Stay in Takayama – “Ryokan” Japanese Style inn with hot spring and dinner

Breakfast at hotel.

Take the train towards Japan’s northern coastline to Kanazawa – sometimes known as the hidden pearl of the Sea of Japan (approximately 2 hours).

On arrival, head on a leader-led orientation walk before visiting 17th-century Kenroku-en Garden – a highly intricate landscaped acreage of bridges, ponds, waterfalls, fountains and tea houses that are beautiful no matter the season. Perhaps stop for a cup of freshly whisked matcha tea on your stroll through its extensive grounds.

Depending on the schedule, you might get the chance to visit the Chaya gai district, with its well-preserved streets of old wooden tea houses, and where geisha continue to perform music and dance for small private functions.

In the evening, join your leader for an optional dinner to sample some of the delicious regional food found in Kanazawa, particularly fresh seafood fished from the Sea of Japan.
The unique blend of warm and cold currents create the perfect conditions for a wide variety of fish and shellfish – including the famed Kano crabs and sweet prawns – all throughout the year.

Service Included:
Guiding: English-speaking Guide
Transfers: Public transportation from Takayama to Kanasawa

Overnight in Kanazawa / Accommodation at Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel or similar)

Breakfast at hotel

This morning, head to Omicho Market, where the city’s quality food producers gather. Seafood from Ishikawa Prefecture are brought in from the port every morning and, as　well as sold fresh, there are a number of restaurants in the market which whip it up into rice bowls or sushi – almost 200 stalls to get lost in!

Later, hop on an express train (approximately 2.5 hours) and make the journey to Osaka – Japan’s third-largest city and unofficial culinary capital. There are sprawling shopping hubs and tiny backstreets full of restaurants and bars, serving up local delicacies as well as Japan’s answer to fast food.

Osaka is credited with the first kaiten-zushi (conveyer belt sushi) restaurants. The city is also renowned for its take on okonomiyaki (fried savoury pancake), kushikatsu (deep fried meat and vegetables on skewers) and perhaps its most renowned dish – takoyaki (a hot snack of shredded octopus, pickled ginger and spring onion cooked into batter)

After checking into the hotel, take a walk through Osaka’s “must-visit” place- Dotombori district, sampling some street food as you stroll along its main neon-lit canals.

Service Included:
Guiding: English-speaking Guide
Transfers: Public transportation from Kanasawa – Osaka

Stay in Osaka / Accommodation at Hotel Rihga Royal Osaka or similar

Breakfast at hotel.

Rise early and take the train (approximately 3 hours) into an important region for Shingon Buddhism. Founded in the 8th century by the Buddhist saint Kobo Daishi, Koya-san has been a centre for religious activities for over 1200 years.

You’ll visit Okuno-in, the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism and one of the most revered people in the religious history of Japan. Your unique accommodation tonight is in one of the many temples still operating here.
You’ll live alongside Buddhist monks and follow their routine of evening meditation and morning prayers. Temple lodgings, known as shukubo, have facilities similar to Japanese ryokans.

Rooms are equipped with thin futon mattresses that are spread on tatami mats for a comfortable night’s sleep. Tonight you’ll enjoy an introduction to shojin ryori, or monastic cuisine, prepared by novice monks. Shojin ryori was popularised in Japan in the 13th century by Zen monks from China. Shojin ryori is vegetarian, and prohibits inclusion of meat and fish, following the teaching that it is wrong to kill living animals. Instead meals are prepared with seasonable vegetables and wild plants from the mountains.

Service Included:
Guiding: English-speaking Guide
Transfers: Public transportation from Osaka to Mt. Koya

Stay in Koyasan / Accommodation at Monastery

Breakfast at Monastery.

The journey starts from Koya-san to Kyoto via Osaka taking approximately 4.5 hours.

On arrival, get acquainted with this beautiful city on an orientation walk with your leader, taking a stroll through the glass-covered walkway of Nishiki Market. It’s here that you’ll find a range of Kyoto’s regional specialities like pickled vegetables hidden beneath layers of fermented rice, ornate Kyo-wagashi (Kyoto sweets), Uji green teas, as well as souvenirs and a renowned hand-crafted knife shop.

Later in the afternoon, take a step back in time on a walk through the narrow streets of Kyoto’s charming Gion district and learn about the city’s geisha culture. If you’re lucky you might spot geiko (geisha) or maiko (apprentice geisha) in their elaborate dress and makeup. An optional dinner to sample some of Kyoto’s trademark cuisine is also offered.

Service Included:
Guiding: English-speaking Guide
Transfers: Public transportation from Mt. Koya to Kyoto

Stay in Kyoto / Accommodation at Kyoto Prince Hotel or similar

Breakfast at hotel

Today you’ll experience the simple pleasures of joining in a cooking class in Kyoto. You will learn how to prepare authentic Japanese dishes in a newly renovated 100-year-old ‘Kyo-Machiya’, Japanese traditional wooden townhouse. The best part is that you can enjoy your meal in a traditional setting with a beautiful Japanese garden.

After all, you will find Japanese cooking actually very easy and better understand its food culture, and you will love it even more! Once you’ve prepared your meal, you’ll get to enjoy the fruits of your effort at lunch.

In the afternoon, let’s explore the many UNESCO World Heritage Highlights in Kyoto such as Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion and more. Before finishing your day in the Geisha district in Gion. Here you will have a special treat – Authentic Tea Ceremony in a local Kyoto tea-house.

Service Included:
Guiding: English-speaking Guide
Transfers: Public transportation
Cooking Class

Stay in Kyoto / Accommodation at Kyoto Prince Hotel or similar

Breakfast at hotel.
Free at leisure until departure.

Transfer to Kansai International Airport
End of the tour

*** Sa Yo Na Ra **

Service included:
Transfer from hotel to Kansai International Airport (KIX) by public transpotation.