Travelz Collection
Curated luxury Japan itineraries by the Travelz editorial team.
Travel plans by Travelz Collection
Otsu & the Tale of Genji: Ishiyama-dera, Mii-dera & a Lake Biwa Cruise — 2 Days
Ishiyama-dera, where The Tale of Genji is said to have begun, and the great Tendai temple of Mii-dera on day one; then the lake itself on day two — Omi Jingu shrine, a Michigan paddle-steamer cruise, the Nagisa lakefront and an Omi-beef sukiyaki lunch
First-Time Shiga: Hikone Castle, the Merchant Canals of Omi-Hachiman & Omi Beef — 2 Days
Hikone Castle and the Genkyu-en garden on the eastern lakeshore, the glass town of Nagahama, then a second day in the merchant canals of Omi-Hachiman — Vories architecture, a hilltop ropeway and Omi beef throughout
Northern Saitama: Ancient Burial Mounds, a 'Floating Castle' & the Father of Japanese Capitalism — 2 Days
The giant Sakitama burial mounds and their National Treasure sword, Gyoda's 'floating castle' and zelly-fry soul food, then an ancient-lotus tower, Shibusawa Eiichi's birthplace and a red-brick station
Western Saitama for Families: Moominvalley, Lakeside Forests & Sayama Tea — 2 Days
The lakeside Moominvalley Park and Nordic Metsä village, then a fairy-tale children's forest, a Sayama tea museum and farm, and a river bend of red spider lilies in season
Omiya: Japan's Flagship Railway Museum, the Bonsai Village & the Great Hikawa Shrine — 2 Days
Japan's flagship Railway Museum and the master nurseries of the Bonsai Village, then the long cedar approach to the head Hikawa Shrine, a bonsai class and Urawa eel
Chichibu & Nagatoro: Mountain Shrines, Silk & a Wooden Boat Down the Arakawa — 2 Days
Chichibu's two-thousand-year shrine and Meisen silk, the wolf-shrine of Mitsumine, then Nagatoro's Mount Hodo and a flat-bottomed boat down the Arakawa gorge
First-Time Saitama: Kawagoe, the 'Little Edo' of Warehouse Streets — 2 Days
The clay-walled warehouse street and bell tower of 'Little Edo', the sweet-potato candy lane and an Edo eel house — then Kita-in's five hundred rakan and the surviving castle palace
Kashima & the Ariake Sea: A Great Inari Shrine, a Sake Town & a Sea Torii — 2 Days
The soaring stilted complex of Yutoku Inari Shrine, a monzen lunch, the white-walled sake town of Hizen-Hama and a brewery tasting on day one; the Ariake tidal flats and mudskippers at Michi-no-Eki Kashima, an oyster lunch and the sea torii of Tara on day two — a quiet solo two days on the Ariake coast, based in Hizen-Hama
Saga City & Yoshinogari: Castle, Saga Beef, Balloons & a Yayoi Capital — 2 Days
The Nabeshima lords' reconstructed honmaru palace, Saga Shrine, a Saga-beef lunch and the Balloon Museum on day one; the great Yayoi-period town of Yoshinogari, a nearby kaiseki lunch and the prefectural museum on day two — a family-and-history two days on the Saga plain, based in Saga City
Ureshino & Takeo: Beautiful-Skin Onsen, Tea & a Garden of Light — 2 Days
A tea experience in the Ureshino tea fields, an onsen-yudofu lunch, Todoroki Falls and a beautiful-skin bath at Siebold-no-Yu on day one; Takeo's vermilion onsen gate, the Tsutaya library, the Mifuneyama garden and the three-thousand-year camphor on day two — a slow onsen-and-tea two days, based at a heritage ryokan in Ureshino Onsen
Arita & Imari: The Birthplace of Japanese Porcelain — 2 Days
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, the quarry where porcelain stone was first dug, the shrine with a porcelain torii and the Kakiemon kiln on day one; the secret Nabeshima kiln valley of Okawachiyama, a ceramics-park lunch and the Gen-emon kiln on day two — the four-century story of Japanese porcelain, based at a design hotel in Arita
Karatsu & Yobuko: Castle, Karatsu Ware & Morning-Caught Squid — 2 Days
The seafront keep of Karatsu Castle, a four-century Karatsu-ware kiln, the famous local burger and the great pine grove of Niji-no-Matsubara on day one; the dawn market, the sea caves and bridge of Yobuko and a plate of live squid on day two — a food-and-craft two days on the Genkai coast, based at a heritage ryokan in Karatsu
Northern Okayama: Hiruzen's Jersey Highlands, the Sand Bath of Yubara & the Sake Town of Katsuyama — 2 Days
The Hiruzen dairy highlands and a timber sustainability pavilion, a free riverbed sand bath at Yubara and a historic onsen ryokan at Okutsu on day one, then the sake town of Katsuyama and the stone walls of Tsuyama Castle on day two — two days in Okayama's cool northern hills
Castle in the Sky: Bitchu Matsuyama's Mountaintop Keep, a Sea of Clouds & the Red-Ochre Town of Fukiya — 2 Days
The original mountaintop keep of Bitchu Matsuyama, a tea master's Zen garden and the samurai street of Takahashi on day one, then a dawn sea of clouds and the red-ochre village of Fukiya on day two — two days of castles in the sky in inland Okayama
Bizen: Six-Ancient-Kiln Pottery, the Forge of the Samurai Sword & Japan's Oldest Public School — 2 Days
The kiln town of Imbe, a hands-on Bizen-ware experience and the prefectural art museum on day one, then an Inland-Sea olive garden, the swordsmiths' forge at Osafune and the world's oldest commoners' school at Shizutani on day two — two days inside the crafts of Bizen
Kurashiki for Two: The Willow Canal of Bikan, Japan's First Western-Art Museum & the Birthplace of Japanese Denim — 2 Days
The willow canal and white kura of Bikan, Japan's first Western-art museum, a hilltop shrine and a night in a machiya ryokan on day one, then the jeans street of Kojima and the Seto-Inland-Sea panorama of Washuzan on day two — two days in Kurashiki for a couple
First-Time Okayama: Korakuen, the Crow Castle & the Momotaro Shrines of the Kibi Plain — 2 Days
Korakuen, the Crow Castle and the demi-katsu shop that invented Okayama's signature cutlet on day one, then the Momotaro shrines, a giant keyhole tomb and the five-story pagoda of the Kibi plain on day two — a first-timer's two days in sunny Okayama
Murakami & the Northern Coast: Salt-Salmon Town, Tea, Sunset Onsen & Sea Cliffs — 2 Days
Day one for Murakami's salmon culture — the castle ruins, a 400-year salt-salmon merchant house, a salmon kaiseki lunch and the northernmost tea garden — then a sunset onsen; day two for the Sasagawa Nagare coast by boat and the Fukushimagata lagoon
Tsubame-Sanjo & Yahiko: Hammered Copper, Master Knives, a Mountain Shrine & Koi — 2 Days
Day one for the open factories of Tsubame-Sanjo — a copper atelier since 1816, a master knife house and a nipper maker's glass gallery; day two for Yahiko Shrine and its ropeway, the Teradomari fish market and the koi museum of Ojiya
Echigo-Yuzawa & Snow Country: Kawabata's Onsen, Sake & a Tunnel of Light — 2 Days
Day one for the 'Snow Country' museum, a station wall of local sake, the Yuzawa Kogen ropeway and a hegisoba lunch, with a night in Kawabata's own ryokan; day two for the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel of Light and the Echigo-Tsumari art museums
Sado Island: The UNESCO Gold Mine, Crested Ibis, Taiko & Tub Boats — 2 Days
Day one for the UNESCO Sado Kinzan gold mine, the crested-ibis breeding centre and the cliffs of Senkaku Bay; day two for Myosen-ji's pagoda, a Kodo-style taiko session, the Ogi tub boats and the Shukunegi shipwrights' village
First-Time Niigata City: Japan's Sake Capital, the Port & a Wealthy-Farmer Estate — 2 Days
Hakusan Shrine and the Taisho-era Saito garden villa, a Sea-of-Japan sushi lunch and an 1767 brewery, the Furumachi geigi quarter, then the Ito family's thatched estate and a station wall of local sake
Eastern Nara's Flower Temples: Hasedera, Muro-ji & the Soni Highlands — 2 Days
Where Nara goes quiet
Nara's Living Crafts: Tea Whisks, Ink & the Birthplace of Sake — 2 Days
The workshops behind the rituals
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