Culture · 14D | 13N
Kyoto, Kanazawa & Kyushu
Fourteen days of craft and history down the length of the country: Kyoto's workshops, Kanazawa's gold leaf, Hiroshima, then Kyushu's pottery towns and volcanoes.
- Best time
- Late March to May, and November
- Route
- Kyoto · Kanazawa · Hiroshima · Beppu · Kagoshima
Day by day
14 days, planned in full
Fourteen days of craft and history down the length of the country: Kyoto's workshops, Kanazawa's gold leaf, Hiroshima, then Kyushu's pottery towns and volcanoes.
Day 1
Arrive at Kansai, on to Kyoto
The Haruka express in, a machiya in the Nishijin weaving district, and a first walk to Kitano Tenmangu.
- Night
- Kyoto
- Meals
- Dinner
Day 2
Eastern Kyoto's temples
Fushimi Inari at six, Sanjusangen-do's thousand carved Kannon, and Nanzen-ji with the aqueduct running over it.
- Night
- Kyoto
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 3
Textiles
A Nishijin weaver's workshop, a Yuzen dyeing session where you paint your own silk, and Nishiki market for lunch.
- Night
- Kyoto
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 4
Zen gardens
Ryoan-ji's fifteen rocks early, Daitoku-ji's sub-temples after, and a shojin ryori lunch inside one of them.
- Night
- Kyoto
- Meals
- Breakfast, lunch
Day 5
North to Kanazawa
The Thunderbird up the coast to a castle town that the war left intact, and a room in the old teahouse quarter.
- Night
- Kanazawa
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 6
Gold, and Kenroku-en
One of Japan's three great gardens in the morning, a gold-leaf application workshop after, and the samurai district at Nagamachi.
- Night
- Kanazawa
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 7
Lacquer at Wajima
Up the Noto peninsula to the lacquer town, where a single bowl takes a hundred coats and several months, and back for dinner.
- Night
- Kanazawa
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 8
South to Hiroshima
A long rail day with a change at Shin-Osaka, arriving in time for the Peace Park in the quiet of the evening.
- Night
- Hiroshima
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 9
The museum, and Miyajima
The Peace Memorial Museum in the morning, which takes its time, then the ferry across to the floating torii and Mount Misen.
- Night
- Hiroshima
- Meals
- Breakfast
Day 10
Across to Kyushu
The Shinkansen under the strait to Fukuoka, then across to Arita, where Japanese porcelain began in 1616.
- Night
- Arita
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 11
Arita and Karatsu
A morning at a fourteenth-generation kiln, an afternoon at a Karatsu pottery throwing badly on a borrowed wheel, and a coastal dinner.
- Night
- Karatsu
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 12
Beppu
East across Kyushu to the steaming town: the hells, the sand baths where you are buried to the neck, and a ryokan on the hill.
- Night
- Beppu
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 13
Down to Kagoshima
South past Mount Aso's caldera to Kagoshima, with Sakurajima smoking across the bay and the Sengan-en garden below it.
- Night
- Kagoshima
- Meals
- Breakfast, dinner
Day 14
Fly home
Kagoshima to Tokyo or Osaka for the connection, thirty minutes from the city.
- Meals
- Breakfast
What's included
- 13 nights in ryokan, machiya and boutique hotels
- Return economy airfare and a 14-day Japan Rail Pass
- Nishijin weaving, Yuzen dyeing, gold-leaf and pottery workshops with materials
- A cultural guide for six of the fourteen days
- All temple, garden and museum entries named in the itinerary
- Miyajima ferry and the Beppu sand bath
- Luggage forwarding on the four longest rail days
Not included
- Japanese e-Visa fees
- Lunches other than the workshop days
- Travel insurance
- The pieces you commission from the kilns, and their shipping
Other ways to go
More Japan trips
5 other routes through Japan, from ₹2,64,900 per person.
Signature12D | 11NBlossom, Neon & Old Roads
- Fushimi Inari before the crowds
- Ryokan and onsen night in Hakone
- Hiroshima and Miyajima by bullet train
- Tokyo
- Hakone
- Kyoto
- Osaka
Blossom, Neon & Old Roads — Japan, 12D | 11N, from ₹2,64,900Per person, starting from*
₹2,64,900, reduced from
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Honeymoon10D | 9NJapan for Two
- Ryokan suite with a private open-air onsen
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- Private tea ceremony and a maiko evening
- Tokyo
- Hakone
- Kyoto
Japan for Two — Japan, 10D | 9N, from ₹2,98,900Per person, starting from*
₹2,98,900, reduced from
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Family11D | 10NJapan with the Family
- teamLab Planets and the Ghibli Museum
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- Feeding the deer at Nara
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- Osaka
- Kyoto
Japan with the Family — Japan, 11D | 10N, from ₹2,89,900Per person, starting from*
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Luxury13D | 12NRyokan & Rail, First Class
- Green Car rail and luggage forwarded ahead
- Kaiseki at a Relais ryokan under Fuji
- Naoshima's Chichu and Benesse museums
- Tokyo
- Hakone
- Kanazawa
- Kyoto
- Naoshima
Ryokan & Rail, First Class — Japan, 13D | 12N, from ₹5,49,900Per person, starting from*
₹5,49,900, reduced from
₹7,80,900
Adventure12D | 11NKumano Kodo & the Alps
- The Nakasendo from Magome to Tsumago
- Four days on the Kumano Kodo
- Onsen at Yunomine, in use for 1,800 years
- Tokyo
- Kamikochi
- Magome
- Kumano
- Osaka
Kumano Kodo & the Alps — Japan, 12D | 11N, from ₹3,14,900Per person, starting from*
₹3,14,900, reduced from
₹4,47,200
*Per person on twin sharing. Prices move with season and availability — we confirm yours in writing before anything is booked.
Plan this trip
Make Kyoto, Kanazawa & Kyushu yours.
Dates, hotels, pace, who's coming — all of it moves. Send us the outline and a planner will price a version built round you, usually within twelve hours.