Japan Autumn Maple Leaves

Your guide will greet you at the airport and escorted you to your hotel in Tokyo.  The afternoon and evening are on your own.  Overnight is in Tokyo.

Hotel: The Square Hotel Ginza

Visit the Ryogoku District where the Sumo wrestlers practice, go up the Skytree for a view of greater Tokyo, tour Kappabashi, Japan’s kitchen town, and walk nearby to Asakusa for the Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa Shrine, and Nakamise-dori.  A welcome lunch of Japanese food is included on the tour.  Overnight is in Tokyo.

Hotel: The Square Hotel Ginza

Day 3: Tokyo 

You visit the Yanaka neighborhood stopping at the Yanaka Ginza, and the Yanaka Cemetery with cherry blossoms. Lunch is at the Deaf-owned ramen shop. In the afternoon you see Shinjuku with the Tokyo Metropolitan building, Harajuku with the Meiji Shrine, and Shibuya with the Hachiko statue and the famous crosswalk. Overnight is in Tokyo.

Hotel: The Square Hotel Ginza

Optional Activity: Deaf social at an Izakaya.  Reservations required. 

You leave early in the morning on the JR highway bus to Kiso Valley, Magome. You arrive there in the afternoon. There you begin your tour of the village with an introduction about the ancient highway and the post towns.  And you participate in a cultural workshop.  By late afternoon, you check in a Honjin, a traditional post-town type of Japanese inn, and with a local meal.  Overnight is in Magome.

Hotel: (Honjin/Post Town Inn) Magome Chaya

You hike on the old Nakasendo highway, walking through a forest, stopping at various landmarks, and into the countryside to Tsumago, the best-preserved post town in Japan. Tsumago retains its old appearance. After lunch, you take a local bus and train to Matsumoto, a castle town with the Japanese Alps in the backdrop.  Overnight is in Matsumoto

Hotel: Matsumoto Mauronichi

You go on a day trip to see a farm that grows wasabi. The farm is big, scenic and interesting. You learn about the wasabi root. In the afternoon you return to Matsumoto and go on a city tour to see the Nakamachi with preserved merchant warehouses, the Frog street, and Japan’s oldest and most beautiful castle. Overnight is in Matsumoto. 

Hotel: Matsumoto Marunouchi

Optional Dinner: Matsumoto Sukiyaki.  this Japanese dish is prepared and served in the nabemono (hot pot) style. It is kind of sweet and consists of meat which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients.  Eating beef was at one time banned, but people ate beef secretly and it was the dish, Sukiyaki.  Your guide will tell you some history about the sukiyaki meal

You travel to Nagano city, a temple town. There you see one of Japan’s important temples, the Zennoji with the first Buddhist statue ever bought into the country. And you have lunch at the Fujiya Gohonjin that was founded in 1648 and reborn with a new look in 1925. In the afternoon you visit Obuse, a historic town where Hokusai, the renowned ukiyo-e master painted several masterpieces.  You enter a museum to see some of his work.  Overnight is in Nagano City.

Hotel: Hotel JAL City Nagano

In the morning you travel to the base of the Japanese Alps for the majestic Togakushi shrine with 200 giant cedar trees. Your guide will tell you an interesting legend about the shrine. Also inside the forest with tall cedar trees is the old Togakure Ninja School that showcases training rooms, photos, tools, and weapons used by ninjas. You visit the school and learn some ninja tricks.  Overnight is in Nagano.

Hotel: Hotel JAL City Nagano

You transverse on the Tateyama/Kurobe Route, riding on a variety of vehicles up 2,500m/8,202 ft to a mountainous region. Along the way, you stop at various stations to transfer. Each station has interesting information and scenery. One station has Japan’s largest dam. Your final destination for the day is Murodo, a mountaineering hub with history, a number of huts, hot springs, and beautiful scenery. Overnight is at a mountain hut with the highest hot springs bath in Japan and we think in the world, too.

Hotel: Mikurigaike Onsen Hut

You rise early to watch the sunrise. After breakfast, you descend down on different transportations to the Kurobe Gores, a forest with steep cliffs. You hop onto a special train to the gores for the autumn colors. The train stops at different landmarks, some with natural hot springs for your feet. Overnight is in Toyama City.

Hotel: Daiwa Roynet Hotel Toyama Ekimae

You travel by bus to Shirakawa-go, a village with many Gassho-zukuri style homes. The place is a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. You up to an observance deck for a panoramic view of the village and then come down to enter one of the houses. A farm-style lunch is included. You have free time to explore the village.  Overnight is in Kanazawa

Hotel: Hotel Nikko Kanazawa

You go on a city tour of Kanazawa an old castle town. The city boasts many historical attractions such as the Nagamachi samurai residential district and the Chaya entertainment districts. You stroll through the Kenrokuen, one of Japan’s best landscape gardens. In the evening you join a Sayonara dinner.  Overnight is in Kanazawa 

Hotel: Hotel Nikko Kanazawa

Optional Activity: You can experience the culture of the Japanese tea ceremony at Kanazawa’s oldest tea ceremony room.  Sessions are 40 minutes long, including drinking tea.  Also, the tutorial on making the perfect green tea is interpreted.  Advance Booking Required and with fee. 

Time to say sayonara, and be escorted from your hotel to the Shinkansen for your departure at either Narita or Haneda Airport.  Please book a late or red eye flight.