Board your overnight flight to Tokyo today.

Welcome to Japan! Transfer to your hotel and settle in. Then, meet your Tour Director and groupmates at a welcome mixer before calling it a night.

Join a local guide and embark on an immersive tour of Tokyo, Japan’s bustling capital. Ancient shrines and temples, peaceful parks, and modern skyscrapers make up the tapestry of the city, which is home to nearly 14 million people.

• Walk through Tsukiji Outer Market, whose historic lanes and alleys are chock-full of sushi shops, ramen stalls, tea vendors, and more.
• Learn about Japan’s seafood heritage and visit a vendor’s stall to sample fresh sushi. (There will also be a vegetarian option available.)
• View Tokyo’s Shibuya Crossing—the world’s largest pedestrian intersection, where as many as 3,000 people hustle across at a time—as you drive through the center of the city.
• Set off on a short walk from the lawns and ponds of Yoyogi Park to Meiji Shrine. The latter is dedicated to Japan’s Emperor Meiji, under whose reign Japan became a major power in the modern world.
• Stroll through the lively Harajuku neighborhood, which is known for its colorful street art and youthful fashion trends.

For tonight’s dinner, you’ll team up with an experienced chef to learn how to prepare traditional Japanese cuisine. Grab your apron and watch as they whip up a bento box of makizushi (sushi rolls), chicken teriyaki, and other staples. Then, try making some yourself before sitting down to feast on your creation, served with beer or wine.

Today, head back out into Tokyo with your Tour Director to explore two prominent neighborhoods: Ueno, a district packed with museums, shops, and restaurants, and Asakusa, which is known for its Old Tokyo atmosphere.

• Learn about the history of pagodas and shrines in Ueno Park, a large public green space known for its many museums and cherry trees.
• Walk to Ameya Yochoko (or Ameyoko for short), a busy market street, and enjoy free time to visit its shops and open-air stalls.
• Make your way by coach to the Asakusa district and peruse Kappabashi Street. Commonly known as Kitchen Town, it’s lined with more than 170 shops—almost all of which specialize in high-quality kitchenware and restaurant supplies.
• Enter Senso-ji, Tokyo’s oldest Buddhist temple. (With its five-story pagoda and red-and-white facade, it’s one of the country’s most photographed, too.)

Warm up your vocal cords: If you add our optional excursion to your itinerary, your night will be filled with the songs and sounds of karaoke. If you’d rather strike out on your own and are craving dinner, find a kaitenzushi. Originating in Osaka in the 1950s, these restaurants keep a steady stream of sushi circulating around the dining room atop a conveyor belt. Grab what you want and pay by the plate—they’re color-coded by price!

Begin your day by bidding farewell to Tokyo, then board your bus and drive to the western shores of scenic Lake Saiko. After the obligatory Mount Fuji photo-op, step off your bus—and back through time—into the open-air museum of Iyashi-no-Sato.

• Explore the shops and restaurants of this reconstructed farming village, a collection of more than 20 thatched-roof homes built in the traditional style.
• Participate in an interactive craft workshop (and maybe pick up a memento or two before returning to your bus).

A short drive later, you’ll find yourself in Aokigahara, a lush forest nicknamed the Sea of Trees. There, you’ll plunge into the depths of the Fugaku Wind Cave. Created by one of Mount Fuji’s previous eruptions, this chilly lava tube was once used to naturally refrigerate and preserve silkworm cocoons for weaving.

Emerge from the Fugaku Wind Cave and embark on a short hike through Aokigahara before climbing back aboard your bus and heading to your hotel. This evening, join your group for an included dinner, served with beer or wine.

Hit the road for Hakone, an onsen-dotted spa town in the shadow of Mount Fuji, and stop for a three-part visit.

• Snap photos of the Hakone Shrine. The torii gate of this Shinto holy site looks out onto Lake Ashi; take a beat to appreciate the sight of its tree-lined shores, framed by the gate’s crimson pillars.
• Head to the volcanic Owakudani valley to try a local specialty: kuro tamago, or black egg. Thanks to the sulfur-rich waters of the springs they’re boiled in, the shells of these eggs turn a distinct matte black. (Another fun fact: Legend holds that eating one will extend your life by seven years!)
• Sit down at a restaurant for an included lunch.

Afterward, transfer to Odawara Station and board a bullet train to Kyoto. Once you arrive, you’ll transfer by bus to your hotel and have the evening to yourself.

Today, join a local guide on a sightseeing tour of Kyoto, the city that served as Japan’s capital for more than 1,000 years and is still considered its spiritual center.

• Begin in the western Arashiyama district, a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty, and wander through its eponymous Bamboo Grove. A thicket of moso bamboo, towering up to 66 feet above the ground, funnels visitors down a pathway, making for a breathtaking walk.
• Step inside the UNESCO-listed Tenryu-ji, a treasured 14th-century temple complex that’s considered to be the most important of Kyoto’s five Zen Buddhist shrines.
• Cross the Togetsukyo Bridge. While the current span was completed in 1934, it has existed in one form or another since the ninth century, helping travelers from one bank of the Katsura River to the other.
• Take in the splendor of Kinkaku-ji, the UNESCO-recognized Temple of the Golden Pavilion that’s so often associated with the city of Kyoto.

To spend some quiet time in one of Japan’s most sacred sites—and to delight in the decorum of an ancient custom—add today’s optional excursion to experience the reverence of the Fushimi Inari Shrine, followed by a traditional tea ceremony.

Or, make the most of your free afternoon and roam around Kyoto at your leisure. For pictures plucked from the past, head to the historic Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka districts. Lined by traditional wood-paneled buildings and free of vehicular traffic, these pedestrian paths draw visitors for a reason.

Buddhist shrines, bowing deer, and blissful peace of mind can all be found in the city of Nara—encounter them yourself by adding today’s excursion to your itinerary. Alternatively, spend your free afternoon on the quiet streets of Kamishichiken, which is Kyoto’s oldest hanamachi, or geisha district.

Tonight, join your fellow travelers for a farewell dinner at a local restaurant. You’ll begin with a sake tasting before digging into a traditional hot pot meal, served family style and accompanied with beer or wine. Give your heartiest kanpai, or cheers, and enjoy one final evening in each other’s company.

Enjoy a final free morning in Kyoto before transferring to the airport for your flight home, or follow your nose and extend your tour to visit the culinary mecca that is Kobe.