2025 Cherry Blossom Tour of Sea of Japan Coast

Welcome to Japan and your 2025 Cherry Blossom Tour of the Sea of Japan Coast! On arrival at one of Tokyo’s international airports, you’ll be met by a Journey to the East guide and escorted to your Tokyo hotel by airport bus or train.

Today is an arrival day and no group program is scheduled. Stretch your legs if you like and explore the local neighbourhood around your hotel, such as Ginza and Tokyo Station. Let us know if you need any local tips.

*Many of our guests arrive a day or so early to settle in before the tour starts. Please contact us if you’d like us to arrange additional night’s accommodation.

Today you explore a residential suburb to get a sense of how Tokyoites live and socialise. Making the most of Tokyo’s ever-efficient transport system, you head to the lovely neighbourhood of Kichijoji. You walk its attractive side streets past local cafes and shops and head for the wooded expanse of Inokashira Park. The park attracts Tokyoites from across the city in spring for its stunning cherry blossoms. You will enjoy strolling the park, stop for coffee and lunch, brows cute local shops during some free time.

In the afternoon for a taste of Tokyo’s fashionable heart, you journey on to Shibuya. You head to the observation deck of Shibuya Sky Tower for spectacular views of Tokyo’s vast cityscape. Watch the crowds far below as they navigate Shibuya Scramble, Japan’s busiest intersection, and spot major landmarks such as Tokyo Tower and Skytree, and on clear days Mt Fuji in the distance!

Returning to our hotel by subway, you relax over a welcome dinner at a local izakaya, a Japanese-style pub.

You leave the big metropolis behind this morning and take a shinkansen (bullet train) to the ever popular old capital, Kyoto.

Established as capital in 794, Kyoto remains the cultural heart of Japan and home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites and a wealth of traditional craft boutiques, museums, galleries and restaurants.

You have an afternoon guided tour of Kyoto focusing on hidden treasures away from the crowded tourist spots. Hopefully you will see gorgeous cherry blossoms against elegant temples and gardens, typical of Kyoto. In the evening, you gather for a relaxed dinner in the city’s heart. The streets are beautifully illuminated at night highlighting cherry trees during the spring season.

This morning you will embark on a guided walking tour of the backstreets of Gion in Kyoto. Your guide will point out interesting sites on the streets and explain about their historic and cultural background. You will stop for a typical morning tea/coffee break of Kyoto, then finish the tour with lunch at a small local restaurant.

This afternoon and evening are free for you to explore this fascinating old capital at your own pace. Kyoto has great shopping for Japanese art and craft, beautiful parks and gardens with cherry blossoms, museums and art galleries. Please ask our friendly team for suggestions and recommendations.

Leaving Kyoto by express train, you will arrive in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. The first stop is the region of Echizen, where the tradition of forging swords, knives and farming tools has continued for some 700 years. In the 1970s artisans from the area gathered to decide how to revitalise a declining industry impacted by agricultural mechanization and stainless steel knives. Echizen knives are now sold around the world and recognised on Japan’s traditional crafts register. You tour one of the progressive knife manufacturers in the area as artisans expertly forge metal into bladed implements using traditional methods.

In the afternoon, you stop at the Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruin. Once the base of the powerful Asakura clan, the Ichijodani area thrived as a cultural, military and commercial center until it was destroyed by the great feudal lord, Oda Nobunaga, in 1573. Four hundred years later, the site was discovered and excavations began in 1967. Here you can enter the homes of samurai, merchants and craftsmen, several of which are fully furnished and feature lifelike mannequins offering a glimpse into lifestyles of the time.

Finally you arrive at the beautiful hillside temple of Eiheiji (Temple of Eternal Peace), where you overnight at its shukubo lodging. This large Zen Buddhist temple and monastery was founded in 1244 by the prominent priest Dogen Zenji and belongs to the Soto School, Japan’s largest Zen Buddhist sect. Tonight you will sample shojin-ryori (traditional Buddhist vegetarian fare) for dinner. The temple stay offers a very unique opportunity to experience Zen culture in a historic setting and welcoming environment.

For those interested, get up at dawn to attend the morning prayer service where Eiheiji’s monks gather for the first prayers of the day. After breakfast at your accommodation, your guide will take you through a guided tour of Eiheiji. You wander its forested paths and covered walkways, experience the spiritual side of this region and Fukui's long and deep Buddhist roots.

Travelling by private transport, our next stop is Tojinbo where you take a cruise to view the unusual rock formations from the ocean. A spectacular natural landmark in Echizen-Kaga Kaigan Quasi-National Park, the rock formations have been sculpted by wind and wave over millions of years to form rugged honeycomb-shaped columns.

In the late afternoon, you arrive at Kanazawa, located on the Sea of Japan coast in Ishikawa Prefecture. With its lineage as a wealthy castle town steeped in samurai culture, Kanazawa offers an impressive list of architectural and cultural sites. After resting at your hotel, your guide will give you an orientation around the hotel before dinner. You stay here for three nights, giving you a chance mid-trip to enjoy a slower pace and do some of your own exploring.

Kanazawa is home to Kenrokuen Garden, a castle garden dating back to the 17^th century, regarded as one of three great gardens of Japan. After touring this sublime garden and admiring some of its ancient cherry trees we head to nearby Kanazawa Castle Park to view the remains of castle embattlements from feudal times.

Samurai warriors were required to regularly engage in Zen Buddhist practice as part of their training and the tea ceremony formed a key part of this discipline. Today you participate in a formal tea ceremony delivered by a master practitioner and learn about the philosophy and rituals of this ancient tradition.

Tonight’s dinner is teppanyaki – tender wagyu-beef and vegetables grilled to perfection on a hot plate.

Your learning of samurai culture continues this morning. You visit the Nagamachi district, the old part of Kanazawa where daimyo lords once resided. Its winding old streets are full of beautiful villas and gardens nestled behind traditional plaster-covered walls.

The next stop is Omi-cho Market, a lively working market full of fishmongers and eateries. It is called "the Kitchen of Kanazawa residents" and a great place to learn the life of local people.

You have the afternoon and evening free to explore the city. Wander Kanazawa’s backstreets, discovering galleries and shops offering all sorts of exquisite ceramics, gilded lacquerware, local sake and traditional foods. Your guide is happy to give you information based on your interests.

Leaving Kanazawa, it's on to your last destination along the captivating Sea of Japan coast – Toyama Prefecture. The first stop here is the UNESCO World Heritage site of Gokoyama where you spend the morning exploring this enchanting high-mountain village with its thatched-roof farmhouses. Some of the farmhouses, with their steeply slanted roofs built to withstand heavy snowfalls, are open to the public and you take a look inside to learn about their history, construction and ongoing preservation efforts.

The next one and half days is dedicated to exploring the traditional woodworking town of Inami in Toyama’s countryside. While there other Japanese towns known for their woodcraft traditions, Inami is justifiably known as Japan’s best. Its high level of craftsmanship is officially recognised as “Japan Heritage” designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, and its master craftsmen are regularly dispatched across Japan to help in the renovation of traditional buildings. This afternoon you do a hands-on craft workshop, fashioning a small dish or spoon out of wood, guided by an Inami master artisan. This session provides an opportunity to chat with local folk in a relaxed studio setting and gain some insights into their work and lives as well.

Reflecting our focus today, you stay at Bed and Craft, which has progressively renovated the town’s old buildings as lovely boutique villas. Dinner will be in the hotel restaurant, prepared from fresh, seasonal produce from surrounding farms. A very special day spent exploring the local!

You will have a relaxed morning today enjoying your wonderful accommodation, and atmospheric town of Inami. Inami’s picturesque Yokamachi Street is lined with woodcarving studios, where artisans can be seen at work. We visit Inami’s museum which displays over 200 crafted pieces, including the ornate transom panels that sit above Japanese sliding doors. The town’s Zuisenji Temple represents the pinnacle of Inami craftmanship and we visit this grand temple to appreciate the beautiful woodwork on its main hall and Sanmon gate.

After lunch, you leave Inami and head to Toyama City, the centre of Toyama Prefecture. It is a lovely regional city with much green space and relaxed amenities. Your hotel is very centrally located, perfect for a stroll.

In the evening you will have a dinner at a relaxed local restaurant.

Toyama is where Japanese traditional and modern pharmaceutical industries have thrived. For a slice of local history, you stop by an old medicine shop specialising in traditional medicines this afternoon. Remarkably, some of the traditional medicinal herbs first sold centuries ago in Japan are still available.

After visiting some more attractions of Toyama City, this afternoon and evening is free for you to explore this pleasant regional city at your own pace. There are numerous art and craft museums, local parks and gardens, and great modern shopping, too. Ask us for your sightseeing and meal recommendations.

This morning you take a cruise through a stunning tunnel of cherry blossoms on the Matsukawa River, before journeying on to Toyama Bay. The bay is a member of the UNESCO-endorsed “Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club” and it’s easy to see why – the towering snow-capped Northern Alps provide a dramatic backdrop to the coast and its pine trees. The view has inspired Japanese poets and writers for centuries.
The bay is one of the country’s best places to enjoy fresh seafood and you have the unique opportunity today to witness a fresh seafood auction at Shinminato Kitokito Market – yellowtail, crab and firefly squid are especially highly prized. Afterwards you sit down for a sushi lunch, perhaps the freshest you’ve ever had and caught from the bay in front of you!

This afternoon you stop to enjoy a unique local landmark, only possible at this time of year. Known locally as the “Spring Quartet”, contrasting rows of rapeseed and tulips sit alongside cherry blossoms lining the Funakawa River, with the dramatic snow-capped Northern Alps in the background.

Tonight accommodation is an authentic onsen ryokan inn in the hot spring town of Unazuki, nestled in the foothills of magnificent Kurobe Gorge. Unwind in your first natural hot spring bath of the trip, enjoy the simple elegance of a tatami-mat room and feast on a delicious kaiseki multi-course meal. Bliss!

After splendid Japanese style breakfast at your ryokan, you will finally leave the Sea of Japan Coast by shinkansen and head back to Tokyo. After arriving, you have free time until the final group dinner. You may like to do the last minute shopping, or visit a few of the endless list of interesting sites in Tokyo. Please ask our friendly team for suggestions and directions.

Tonight you will gather one last time for a "farewell Japan" dinner with your fellow travellers and relive best memories of your Japan adventure.

You check out of your hotel after breakfast and your 2025 Cherry Blossom Tour of the Sea of Japan Coast concludes.

You can take an airport express train or limousine bus to Narita or Haneda International Airport for your departure. If you’d like to linger in Japan a little longer, we would be delighted to plan your personal post-tour extension to show you a different part of Japan. Please see our Model Extension Itineraries on Private Tour page for inspiration.

Note: The cost of an escorted transfer to your departure airport is not included in our Small Group Tours as we found many guests choose to stay in Japan a bit longer. However, we would be happy to arrange your transfer to your next destination or your departing airport. Please see our FAQ for more details.