Day 01: Tokyo, Japan
Arrive Tokyo Narita International Airport. Upon clearing Customs and Immigration, you will be met by an English-speaking assistant for airport shuttle to your hotel.
Hotel check-in and day at leisure.
Tokyo. The sheer level of energy is the most striking aspect of Japan's capital city. More than anything else, Tokyo is a place where the urgent rhythms of consumer culture collide with the quieter moments that linger from older traditions. It's hectic madness leavened by the Zennest of calms. What makes Tokyo fascinating is the tension between mammoth scale and meticulous detail. Sightseeing in its streets can be a neon assault that leaves you elated and breathless or an encounter with the exquisite art of understatement. Jump aboard the subway and see how one city is really many. Grand Prince Hotel New TakanawaDay 02: Tokyo
Breakfast at the hotel. Full-day coach tour of Tokyo visiting Tokyo Tower Observatory, Happoen Garden, Imperial Palace Plaza, Sumida River Cruise, Asakusa Kannon Temple, and Nakamise Shopping Street.
Tokyo Tower. Completed in 1958, at 333m (1,093 ft) tall, it is higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on which it is based. The ground floor has an aquarium and elevators to the observation deck. Other floors house various amusements. Visit the main observation deck at 150m (492 ft).
Japanese Garden and Tea Ceremony. Take part in a traditional tea ceremony at the "Happoen" Japanese Garden.
Barbecue lunch at Chinzanso Restaurant.
Imperial Palace Plaza. Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun, started building his castle here in 1590. In the Edo period his successors made this into the world’s largest castle, only the inner circle remains. The emperor and his family still live in the western part of the grounds in the Imperial Palace, rebuilt after the previous one was bombed in World War II. The most famous landmark is the Nijubashi, a double arched stone bridge, east of the palace. Completed in 1888, it was the palace’s main entrance. The huge Otemon (Big Hand Gate), rebuilt in 1967, was the main gate before Niju-bashi was built. Now it is the entrance to the East Garden of the Imperial Palace.
Sumida River Cruise. Enjoy a 40-minute boat ride from Hinode pier of Tokyo Bay to Asakusa. The river was the most important waterway for the development of Tokyo.
Asakusa Kannon Temple (Senso-ji Temple). Popularly known as Asakusa Kannon, this is Tokyo’s most sacred and spectacular temple. In AD 628, two fishermen fished a small gold statue of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, from the Sumida River. Their master built a shrine to Kannon, then in 645, the holy man Shokai build a temple to her. Its fame, wealth, and size grew until Tokugawa Ieyasu bestowed upon it a large stipend of land.
Nakamise Shopping Street. This street is a treasure trove of traditional wares, including specialists in obi sashes, hair combs, fans, dolls, and kimonos. Return transfer to your hotel. Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa (B,L)Day 03: Tokyo - Nikko - Tokyo
Breakfast at the hotel. Full-day coach tour to UNESCO World Heritage site of Nikko with visits to Toshogu Shrine, Irohazaka Zigzag Driveway, and Japanese style lunch by Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Waterfall.
The shrines and temples of Nikko, together with their natural surroundings, have for centuries been a sacred site known for its architectural and decorative masterpieces. They are closely associated with the history of the Tokugawa Shoguns. Afternoon return to Tokyo. Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa (B,L)Day 04: Tokyo - Mt. Fuji - Hakone
Breakfast at the hotel. Morning coach tour en-route to Hakone visiting Mt. Fuji Visitor Center and 5th Station.
Lunch at Hotel Highland Resort near Lake Kawaguchi. Afternoon Lake Ashi Boat Cruise and Mt. Komagatake Aerial Ropeway. Transfer to your hotel for check-in and balance of the day at leisure.
Hakone is a hilly hot-spring town whose scattered attractions are both cultural and natural. Popular as a resort since the 9th century, it can be very crowded. The Hakone area extends across the collapsed remains of a huge volcano, which was active until 3 to 4,000 years ago, leaving a legacy today of hot springs. Hotel Kowaki-en (B,L)Day 05: Hakone - Nara - Kyoto
Breakfast at the hotel. Motor coach transfer to Odawara train station. Board the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” to Kyoto. Arrive Kyoto train station and your hotelfor check-in. Japanese style lunch at the hotel.
Kyoto. If you can visit only one city in Japan, Kyoto is the one. This ancient city was the capital of Japan for more than a thousand years and still is considered the country's spiritual capital. Kyoto is graced with an abundance of temples, palaces, gardens and museums (as well as plenty of tourists, so expect crowds).
Afternoon coach excursion to Nara, visiting; Todaiji Temple, Nara Park and Kasuga Shrine.
Todai-ji complex consists of a vast Buddha hall, sub-temples, halls, pagodas, and gates of exceptional historical and architectural interest. The construction of Todai-ji, completed in 752, was ordered by Emperor Shomyo, ostensibly to house Nara’s great Buddha image but also to consolidate the position of the city as the capital and powerful center of Buddhism. Nara Park is a 1,300-acre area where most of the temples are located. Over 1,000 tame deer, regarded as messengers of the gods, roam the park.
Kasuga Shrine. Originally built as the tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara’s, one of the families who helped to establish Nara, Kasuga is one of the best known and most photographed Shinto sites. The original building was completed in 710 but, according to the strictures of purity and renewal governing Shinto beliefs, the structure, like the Great Shine at Ise, was demolished and rebuilt in identical fashion every 20 years. Return to Kyoto and enjoy the evening at leisure. New Miyako Hotel (B,L)Day 06: Kyoto
Breakfast at the hotel. Full-day coach tour of Kyoto visiting Kinkakuji Temple (Golden Pavilion), Nijo Castle, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Sanjusangendo Hall, Heisan Shrine and Kiyomizu Temple.
Kinkaku-ji Temple is more familiar to foreign tourists as the Golden Pavilion. The visitor approaches the temple along a tree-shaded path, then emerges into a bright garden, on the other side of which stands the fabled pavilion. An exact replica of the original, destroyed by arson in 1950, the graceful three-story structure is totally covered in gold leaf and topped by a bronze phoenix.
Nijo Castle features unusually ornate interiors and so-called nightingale floors. The latter were designed to make bird-like squeaking sounds when walked upon, a warning of possible intruders. The complex was created by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), and symbolized the power and riches of the newly established Edo-based shogun.
Kyoto Imperial Palace (Kyoto Gosho) the residence of Japan's Imperial Family until 1868, when the emperor and capital were moved from Kyoto to Tokyo. Sanjusangendo is the popular name for Rengeo-in, a temple in eastern Kyoto which is famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The temple was founded in 1164 and its present structures date from 1266.
Heisan Shrine is one of Kyoto’s largest and newest shrines. Built in 1895, the shrine was intended to help boost the city’s morale and economy – both at a low ebb after Tokyo was made capital in 1868. With its vermilion pillars and green tiles, the shrine harks back to Tong Dynasty China. Its pond garden is famous for irises and a Chinese-style covered bridge.
Kiyomizu Temple. While many other famous temples are the preserves of certain sects, Kiyomizu-dera seems to belong to everyone. For over 1,000 years, pilgrims have climbed the slope to pray to the temple’s 11-headed Kannon image and drink from its sacred spring. The main hall’s veranda, a nail-less miracle of Japanese joinery, offers wonderful views of Kyoto. To view the temple itself, walk to the pagoda across the ravine, and you’ll see why the expression “to jump off Kiyomizu’s stage” is the Japanese equivalent of “to take the plunge.” On the temple’s north side is a small shrine where love charms can be purchased. New Miyako Hotel (B,L)Day 07: Kyoto - Hiroshima - Miyajima - Hiroshima - Kyoto
Breakfast at the hotel. Board the Shinkkansen “Bullet Train” for Hiroshima. Upon arrival, transfer by coach to Miyajima Island and Itsukushima Shrine for tour and lunch (own account.)
Return to Hiroshima to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome); the only structure left standing in the area where the first atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945. Through the efforts of many people, including those of the city of Hiroshima, it has been preserved in the same state as immediately after the bombing. Not only is it a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind, it also expresses the hope for world peace and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear weapons.
From Hiroshima, board the Shinkansen “Bullet Train” to Kyoto and your hotel. New Miyako Hotel (B)Day 08: Kyoto - Depart
Breakfast at the hotel. Meet your English-speaking assistant in the hotel lobby for airport shuttle to Kansai International Airport. (B)
