Day 1: You will be met by an English-speaking guide at Narita or Haneda Airport and escorted to your hotel.
Day 2: A whole day tour in Tokyo. We start the day by going up to the observation deck of Tokyo Tower, which gives you the panoramic view of the central Tokyo. After enjoying the view, we are headed to Ginza, the fancy commercial district of Tokyo (also known as Japan’s version of 5th Avenue). The next stop is Asakusa, the oldest area of Tokyo. You can enjoy the Samurai period atmosphere by visiting Buddhist temple of Senso-ji. The walkway to the temple is lined on both sides with many small souvenir stores. We proceed to Harajuku, where you can stroll across the famous Takeshita street with a lot of trendy shops, crepe stands, fashion boutiques and so on. Before going back to your hotel we are to visit Shibuya, which is famous for the huge crossing and the statute of the dog Hachi.
Day 3: We are headed to Nikko to visit the famous World Heritage mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the most famous Shogun in 17th century. The sacred mausoleum is located approximately 100km north of Tokyo.
Day 4: Mt. Fuji is designated as one of World Heritage Site of Japan because it has been the object of worship in Shintoism or one of the deities of Japanese indigenous religion. We visit the Fuji-Hakone National Park to view the magnificent view of the Mountain from there. In addition, we are scheduled to take a mini cruise on Lake Ashi and cable car to the hill by the lake.
Day 5: By taking Shinkansen bullet train we are moving to Kyoto. Leaving our luggage at our hotel in Kyoto, we take a train to Nara, which is one hour away from kyoto. One thing you cannot miss at that ancient city of Japan is to visit Todaji temple. Inside the biggest wooden structure in the world at the temple, you will be welcomed by a huge statute of Buddha which has been sitting there from 8th century. Watch out for dear roaming around in the precinct. They see you coming with food! On the way back to Kyoto, we stop at a Sake Brewery for tasting.
Day 6: A bullet train takes you within one hour to the famous Samurai castle, which was used for American TV program called “Shogun”. We go inside the beautiful Himeji Castle and explore the historical structure. People in Samurai attire welcome you inside the precinct of the castle. Then we stop at Osaka on the way back to kyoto and enjoy the hustle bustle of Dotonbori area.
Day 7: One day trip to Hiroshima, the only city together with Nagasaki which suffered from A-bomb in the world. There are two places that you cannot miss in Hiroshima, one of which is of course the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. It tells you all about what really happened at Hiroshima more than 70 years ago. The other must to go is Itsukushima shinto shrine on Miyajima island. You will be impressed with the spectacular structure built on the water.
Day 8: A whole day tour in Kyoto city. The first visit of the day is the Golden Pavilion of Kinkakuji. You will be impressed by the flashy temple gilded with gold leaves. If you have any problem in your life, our next visit to Zen temple of Ryoanji might calm you down looking at its exquisite rock garden, the meditating place. Even the Queen of England admired the garden when she visited there. The kimono show waits us to impress us with beautiful kimono models. There you can buy not only reasonable kimono but other Japanese souvenirs. After visiting Nijo-Castle, where the last Shogun announced his retirement, we visit Sanjusangen-do with one thousand Buddha statutes.
Day 9: Leaving for Kansai Airport to fly back home..
