“Good balance between planned and free time to explore... Excellent local guides... Appreciated everything
being so well planned, didn’t have to worry about anything... Our Tauck Director was on top of everything, all details taken care of – he gave us a unique look at Japan and felt like he truly cared about each of us.
” – Excerpts from guest comment cards
VENERABLE JAPANESE CUSTOMS
So much of the joy of travel is experiencing age-old cultures, traditions and lifestyles – highlights of your travels on Essence of Japan.
• Authentic tastes of daily life in Japan include tea ceremonies; eating with chopsticks; sampling – and making – seafood delicacies like sushi; dining at a low
table while sitting on the floor; wearing a traditional kimono; learning the art of calligraphy and Origami; attending a Geisha dance performance; and removing your shoes at temples, shrines and private homes.
• Sleep atop a futon on the floor of a Japanese ryokan; relax in a
communal thermal bath; don slippers instead of shoes; and learn the art of bowing when greeting new friends in Japan.
6. TEMPLES OF TRANQUIL NARA
Tour Sanjusangendo Temple, home to 1,001 wooden cypress statues of Kannon-Bosatsu dating back to the 13th century. Continue on to Nara, where you’ll savor an unforgettable glimpse of old Japan on visits to ancient temples, shrines and gardens and during lunch at a Japanese restaurant. See the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) at the Todai-ji Temple in Nara Park; at more than 50 feet high, the huge statue is the largest bronze Buddha in all of Japan. Stroll the wooded grounds of the vermilion-colored Kasuga Grand Shrine, adorned with some 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns, before returning to Kyoto. Meals BL
7. GARDEN CHARM ON THE NOTO PENINSULA It’s all aboard the Thunderbird train for a rail journey to Kanazawa, home to winding cobblestone streets, Samurai residences, Geisha houses, museums, gardens, and a flower-filled open-air market – lunch at a local restaurant then stroll through Kenroku-en Garden, among the country’s top three gardens; translated, its name means “a refined garden incorporating six attributes: spaciousness, careful arrangement, seclusion, antiquity, elaborate use of water and scenic charm.” Spend tonight at a ryokan (inn), where the dress code is a traditional kimono, mats double as chairs, and dinner features regional specialties – and a drumming show. Meals BLD
8. SHIRAKAWA-GO & A MOUNTAIN RESORT Travel to Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is well-known for its villages of thatched gassho-zukuri (praying hands) farmhouses. Visit a private 300-year-old family home (shoes off!) and explore the historic village of Ogimachi, the largest village with 59 intact gassho houses. See the Miboro Dam en route to your mountain resort in the 16th-century town of Takayama. Meals BLD
9. HISTORIC TAKAYAMA
Takayama is renowned for its remarkably preserved Edo-period merchants’ shops and houses, quaint village streets and sake. A walking tour with a local guide visits the farmers’ morning market, the Festival Float Museum and the historic Takayama Jinya. There are more than 2,000 different brands of sake produced
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