2025 Food Tour of Kyushu, Japan in Autumn

Fukuoka is known as the 'River City'. It is the fifth largest city in Japan and is very vibrant and cosmopolitan. It has good access to an international airport and JR Hakata Station where the shinkansen (bullet train) stops. Journey to the East can offer advice to its guests on the best way to get to Fukuoka from where you are.

On your arrival in Fukuoka (whether by rail or air), you will be met by a Journey to the East guide and be escorted to your hotel.

After a good night’s sleep, you will be ready to start the first full day of your 2025 Food Tour of Kyushu, Japan in Autumn.

*Many of our guests arrive a day or so early to settle in before the tour starts. We can arrange your additional nights accommodation in the same room as the tour (subject to availability).

Your Japanese food tour begins with an exploration of Fukuoka. With a history going back some 2,000 + years, there is plenty to enjoy. Kyushu’s largest city has historically been the centre of western Japan’s trading contact with its Asian neighbours and you will feel the influence.

Walking through Fukuoka, your guide will take you to;

• Kushida Shrine, built around 757, is a host of one of the biggest festivals in Kyushu, the vibrant Yamakasa Festival. 
• See some traditional industries and age-old crafts such as Hakata-ori silk weaving at the Hakata Folk Museum,
• Experience an old-style shopping arcade selling local food products and timeless cultural items such as Buddhist altars and knives at the Kawabata Shopping Arcade.

For lunch, "Hakata ramen" noodles are on the menu, arguably the most famous dish of Fukuoka, and we find out how serious the locals are about their ramen!

Tonight, you enjoy a welcome dinner at a Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant – an exquisite multi-course banquet of seasonally sensitive local foods served in a beautiful setting. A very fitting introduction to this 2025 Food Tour of Kyushu, Japan in Autumn!

This morning you will have a chance to learn how to cook Japanese food yourself. But before that, you will first head to the town of Dazaifu. Here you will see the magnificent Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, which dates back to the 10th century. The shrine commemorates the life of a famous Kyoto poet-scholar who was exiled to Dazaifu but later deified as the god of literature and scholarship. A great way to get an informative overview of Japanese history within the context of the broader Asian region is with a visit to the Kyushu National Museum with your guide.

JttE Special Experience #1!

Then, you arrive at a cooking studio at a renovated traditional house in a suburb of Fukuoka. Here a creative food expert will passionately pass on recipes of Japanese dishes, which you can recreate at home.

JttE Special Experience #2!

Dinner tonight is another iconic slice of Hakata food culture – the Yatai food cart. These mobile carts roll into the city in the evening and serve up delicious food cooked right in front of you. Seating only 10 people, the relaxed atmosphere, shared conversation, and delicious food make it an unmissable Hakata food experience.

Set off to Itoshima by the picturesque Futamigaura Bay, which is fast becoming a foodie haven.

JttE Special Experience #3!

Here you will visit a fourth-generation-owned soy sauce brewery and a traditional sea salt extraction farm that produces some of Japan's finest sea salt. In between, visit a local farmers’ market to inspect the range of fresh produce available.

Today's lunch is not only specially prepared for our group by local chefs using local ingredients, but also includes an onigiri (Japanese rice ball) making lesson by the chef.

Closing the day,  you will stay at a Ryokan (Japanese-style inn) in the seaside town of Yobuko.

Start the day with an authentic Japanese-style breakfast consisting of a nutritional feast of grilled fish, miso soup, rice and pickles!

The first stop this morning is one of Japan's three historically renowned morning markets, Yobuko Morning Market. Locals catch and sell fresh and dried seafood, especially squid for which Yobuko is famous. This is a good opportunity to enjoy the life of remote fishing village. 

After lunch at a little local restaurant in Karatsu, you will visit;

• A beautifully preserved 19th-century villa showcasing the magnificent traditional architecture,  the former Takatori Residence, and
• The kilns of famous Karatsu-yaki pottery, which are highly sought after by Japanese pottery enthusiasts.

Dinner tonight is at a teppanyaki restaurant with juicy Wagyu beef.

Today, another treat.  You visit some porcelain kilns specializing in highly decorated styles using various colours, the Arita-yaki, and the classic style, habitually using blue and white hues, the Imari-yaki.

With its elaborate designs and influence from Chinese and Korean potters, Kyushu porcelain has become highly sought after and popular both in Japan and Europe. Essential for the proper presentation of Japanese food, the ceramic dish is seen to be as integral a part of the culinary experience as the food itself.

Later, you will travel on to your next destination Nagasaki. During Japan’s closed-door period in the 17th and 18th centuries, Nagasaki was the only city open to the rest of the world. In Nagasaki, you will feel the influence of the time when it was visited by Dutch, Portuguese and French missionaries, as well as the impressions left by traders from Europe, China, Korea and Southeast Asia.

Tonight, you enjoy a unique regional cuisine called Shippoku, a cuisine developed by combining Japanese, Chinese and Western cuisines.

Another claim to fame in Nagasaki is its breathtaking night view. You will drive by Inasayama Outlook before dinner.

This morning, you will visit Dejima, a man-made island in the port of Nagasaki, constructed in 1636 to segregate Portuguese residents from the Japanese population and control their missionary activities. Today, Dejima is not an island anymore, as the surrounding area has been reclaimed in the 20th century. However, several Dejima's historical structures remain or have been reconstructed in the area and are open to the public as a museum.

Lunch today is a popular Japanese curry at Dejima.

After lunch, you have free afternoon and evening. Nagasaki has so much history and culture. Enjoy the city in your way.

No trip to Nagasaki is complete without a visit to the Nagasaki Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum which mark the events of that tragic day in August 1945.

After lunch, a minibus will take you to your next destination, Unzen on the fascinating Shimabara Peninsula.

At Unzen, a guided walk through Unzen’s National Park is where you can see active geothermal geysers and mud pools. You’ll see how man has harnessed nature’s power to create the heavenly hot springs experience tonight.

At your hotel tonight enjoy a course meal with French-style influence in a historical dining room with a view of the geothermal park.

You will take the ropeway up to Mt Unzen which reveals a great view of Ariake Sea and beyond. The next stop is a five-storied feudal-era castle on a hilltop, Shimabara Castle. Here you can learn about Kyushu’s early samurai clans and the curious history of the Christian rebellion in the 17th century.

Lunch today is a local noodle soup dish, very warm and satisfying.

In the late afternoon, you take a 30-minute ferry ride crossing from Shimabara to Kumamoto City.

JttE Special Experience #4!

At dinner tonight, meet the local Japanese chef famous nationwide for his creative, beautifully presented dishes. At his Japanese Italian fusion-style restaurant, you can experience the work he does to revive and promote heritage Kumamoto vegetables which were slowly disappearing from use.

You will spend today in the city of Kumamoto, in the middle of Kyushu.

The first stop is the symbol of the city, the splendid Kumamoto Castle, considered one of the three premier castles in Japan. Originally built in 1607, it was severely damaged by an earthquake in 2016. You will have a rare chance to witness its completed restoration work. You will also visit the nearby sublime Suizenji Japanese Garden this morning.

This afternoon and evening are free. Kumamoto is a great place for shopping and you can try many different styles of food from local cuisine to modern western style restaurants. Why not try an izakaya, a casual Japanese-style eatery, where you can taste many different small dishes (like tapas). Our guide will always assist our guests in choosing what to do and eat.

You start today by heading through some of the most scenic parts of Kyushu Island, the Mt Aso region.

Mt Aso is one of the world’s largest calderas, and volcanic activity over the last 300,000 years has created a visually striking landscape: craggy volcanic peaks, dense forests, and lush grasslands.

You will stop at some vantage points to enjoy the mighty landscape and beautiful autumn colours.

Tonight, you will stay at a ryokan on a secluded mountainside. This will be the final chance to experience an onsen on this trip.

Dinner will be a kaiseki banquet at your hotel.

Take a trip to one of Japan’s leading green tea producing areas, the Yame district and its surrounds.

JttE Special Experience #5!

You visit a centuries-old tea merchant and be hosted by its fourteenth-generation owner to learn about the different varieties of green tea and how to brew the perfect cup of gyokuro (highest quality green tea).

Later, you taste-test another famous Japanese beverage – sake. A visit to a local sake brewery and a personal tour by the brewery staff will reveal the end-to-end processes of sake production – a special experience to engage in first-hand and ask as many questions as you like.

Although the 2025 Food Tour of Kyushu, Japan in Autumn is coming to an end the farewell dinner tonight is truly something special. Back in Fukuoka, you will have an exquisite sushi banquet. The dinner will bring together all the elements of Kyushu food culture discovered along your journey – from its seas, mountains, rivers, plains and undeniably stunning autumn colours – reaffirming the fantastically diverse nature of Kyushu's food and geography.

This morning, you will check out of your hotel after breakfast as your 2025 Autumn Food Tour of Kyushu, Japan in Autumn concludes.

You can fly out from Fukuoka or return by air or train to the international airports in Tokyo or Osaka.

But it doesn't have to be the end of your dream adventure! Perhaps you might like to linger in Japan for a little longer. We will 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 Tours 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, but we will be happy to arrange your transfer to the airport or your next destination. Please see our FAQ for more details.