Complete Japan Guide

Our team based in Tokyo has been designing trips to Japan for over a decade. This archipelago of 6,800 islands stretches across 3,000 kilometres, from the subarctic of Hokkaido to the coral reefs of Okinawa. Four regions structure most of our itineraries: the Kanto region around Tokyo, the Kansai with Kyoto, Nara and Osaka, the Japanese Alps from Takayama to Kanazawa, and the volcanic south of Kyushu.

Two distinctive features strike our travellers upon arrival. First, cultural density: you transition from a silent Shinto shrine to a neon-saturated electronics district in a single metro stop. Then the precision of daily life, from the shinkansen departing to the second to a platter of sashimi composed like a woodblock print. This tension between tradition and modernity appears everywhere, even in the ryokan of Hakone where you sleep on a futon after bathing in water heated to 42°C.

For a first trip, we recommend a minimum of 14 to 17 days to combine Tokyo, Kyoto, the Alps and a detour to Hiroshima or Kanazawa. Beyond three weeks, you can add Kyushu, Shikoku or the far north. The JR Pass network simplifies long-distance travel, but we also manage car rentals for the Noto Peninsula or Hokkaido, where trains are sparse.