Japan Insights
experience the serenity of a family inn,

8 days, starts weekly in Tokyo on Tuesdays- April - Sep

We'll ease your way into the very essence of Japan, through encounters ranging from the mundane to the sublime. You'll experience the serenity of a family inn, where you'll be greeted with slippers at the door, and soak in the comfort of a steaming tub. You'll join the Japanese as they get about by steam train, subway, taxi, and Bullet Train, always with the orientation and guidance of our representative. We'll even arrange for you to share real-life experiences and pastimes, ranging from a campfire to a farm stay to gathering edible plants. And of course, we won't pass up the perfect beauty of Mount Fuji. Language and cultural differences often appear to stand in the way of an encounter with the real Japan. Yet the rewards can be incomparable. Beyond the stereotypes is a nation that lives fully in the modern world while honoring traditional ways. You'll find that in Japan there are comparisons to be made, experiences to treasure, and more than a few lessons to learn, all accomplished with surprising facility in just a week through Travel in Style!

DAY 1 - ARRIVAL Tue
You'll land today at ultramodern Narita International Airport, after your introduction to the serene ways of the Orient aboard your transpacific flight. Of course, our Tokyo-based representative will be on hand to greet you at the customs exit, and make sure that you get on the right bus for your downtown hotel. Though Narita is a fair distance from Tokyo, everything moves quickly and efficiently in Japan, and in only ninety minutes, you'll be at your hotel (the New Takanawa Prince or a similar establishment). After you settle in, you can have a look around, and appreciate the small marvels of Japanese urban life: spotless streets, a pace that's fast but always in control, bicycles left unlocked, vending machines dispensing superb hot coffee in cans (or whiskey, if you wish), and signs in English. Everything's the same, but a little bit different. You'll be comfortable in, and fascinated by, Tokyo.

8 days, starts weekly in Tokyo on Tuesdays- April - Sep

DAY 2 - TOKYO Wed (BL)
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel, with the option to please your palate with Japanese specialties, as well as more familiar Western fare.

Your tour voucher will specify the time at which to meet your English-speaking guide in your hotel lobby. Board the coach to get to know Tokyo, but don't think that this is an ordinary bus tour! You'll see the essential sights, including the sky-piercing Tokyo Tower, the extensive Imperial Palace and its gardens, and the national legislature, the Diet.

But you'll also attend a traditional tea ceremony at Happoen Garden, and gain an insight into the tranquil yet solid spiritual life of the Japanese at the Asakusa Kannon Temple. The avant garde of Japanese products-many not yet on sale elsewhere-will be found in the Nakamise shopping arcade. Of course, you'll rub shoulders with the locals on the streets of ultramodern Ginza, where restaurants and boutiques offer services and wares from street level upward. Lunch will be a Japanese-style barbecue (vegetarian food available)at the Chinzanso Garden restaurant. We'll even manage to fit in a waterside view of Tokyo from the Sumida River. You'll glide under thirteen bridges, and feast on sights that include the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay, the Tsukiji fish market, a sumo stadium, and other spots both interesting and offbeat. At dusk, we'll offer a courtesy shuttle back to your hotel, though of course, you're free to continue to explore, shop, and taste on your own, in one of the safest cities anywhere.

DAY 3 - TOKYO, MOTEGI, TOCHIGI Thu (BLD)
Ride into the countryside alongside the locals today! We take pride in affording you this experience, entirely by public transportation, with orientation by our English-speaking representative. You'll get to Tokyo station by subway or taxi, to board the futuristic Tohoku Shinkansen, or Bullet Train.
Your 45-minute ride speeds you through an assortment of neat neighborhoods with narrow streets, and onward through the countryside to Oyama, where you'll transfer to a train for Shimonodate. . Now, it's time for a change of pace, as you go back into time for a journey of more than an hour aboard a vintage train with fully restored steam locomotive. By now, you'll have mastered the polite bow of greeting, and will find that many Japanese are eager to practice their English-especially with someone who has wandered off the standard tourist routes! At Motegi-Cho station, you'll be warmly greeted and invited to lunch at the family inn (minshuku tabata) that will be your home and base for the next few days. You'll appreciate your unusual accommodations, along with the rural setting of small farms, and a steady, slow pace. To enhance your experience, Travel in Style offers a range of activities that may include a tea ceremony, harvesting garden-fresh vegetables, preparing a traditional barbecue dinner, a campfire, and stargazing. Take advantage of this unusual chance to experience Japanese country life!

DAY 4 - TOCHIGI Fri (BLD)
After a farm-style breakfast in Japanese style, it's time for still more traditional experiences. Depending on the season, you might take part in the harvest of rice. Or join the locals in identifying and picking edible wild plants for your lunch, or making buckwheat noodles by hand. For a change of pace, we'll take time in the afternoon to visit Honda's twin racing oval, the largest in the world, and the adjacent museum, before returning to dinner at your family inn.

DAY 5 - TOCHIGI, TOKYO Sat (BL)
After breakfast, you'll be seen from your family inn to the Motegi-Cho station, where you'll be briefed for your return trip to Tokyo with a change of train at Oyama. Our Tokyo representative will be on hand to greet you on the platform, and escort you to your hotel taxi. You'll have time to continue your explorations of Tokyo on your own. Take a walk through the exciting Ginza district where the street action never ceases, or wonder at consumer electronic marvels in Akihabara.

DAY 6 - TOKYO, MOUNT FUJI, HAKONE Sun (BL)
We'll depart in the morning by motor coach, passing through Tokyo's orderly outlying communities and, later, carefully tended fields and orchards. Majestic Mount Fuji will come into view, increasingly imposing as we approach. We'll ascend all the way to the 2300-meter level mountain for both an unsurpassed experience of the perfect mountain and an appreciation of the countryside. Surrounded by ordered beauty, we'll proceed to lunch at a Western-style resort in Hakone, followed by a cruise on placid Lake Ashi and a visit to the Owakudani Valley, a remnant volcanic crater. Evening will see your departure by rail for Tokyo station. With instructions from your guide, you'll find that you can make it back to your hotel entirely on your own.

DAY 7 - TOKYO Mon (B)
You've learned many of the ropes during your stay in Japan up to now-how to manage the public transport system, ordering food, greeting people and communicating with just a very few words and gestures. Now you're ready for a day exploring on your own! With guidebook in hand, you'll visit shopping areas filled with items both familiar and marvelous. You'll explore the parks of Tokyo, or perhaps ascend the Tokyo Tower for a farewell view, or visit shrines, or charming slow-paced neighborhoods surprisingly close to the city center. We also offer a range of optional tours to take advantage of your time exactly in the way you choose.

DAY 8 - TOKYO, DEPARTURE Tue (B)
It's sayonara today! After breakfast, you'll have time for last-minute shopping and sightseeing, until you board your coach for Narita International Airport, where you'll embark with new insights and pleasant memories of eternal Japan.

This tour operates weekly throughout the year, starting on Tuesday in Tokyo.

Rate per person in double $ 1999

Rate includes:

• Accommodations with tax and service charges in Tokyo and at minshuku family inn
• All ground transportation in Japan as mentioned, including transfer to and from airport, train tickets, and taxis
• City coach tours and tours outside Tokyo as mentioned, including all entrance fees
• Services of English-speaking guides and representatives on tours and to assist with transportation as listed.
• Meals specifically mentioned with pre-set menu (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
  

Extend your stay & Upgrade to a Ryokan -Japanese Inn

Not included:

• International air fare from your home to Tokyo. We will be pleased to help you obtain the best air fare. If you travel on your own, please advise us of flight details.
• Airline ticket taxes and airport fee in Japan.
• Trip interruption and cancellation insurance (please see our insurance brochure).
• Gratuities
• Meals except as specifically mentioned, personal expenses, and beverages (except coffee or tea at breakfast)
• Optional tours

Please note: This tour includes a rural experience. If you are allergic or sensitive to plants, animals, or insects, please consult your health professional for advice on whether this itinerary is suitable for you.

8 days, starts weekly in Tokyo on Tuesdays- April - Sep