Japan Tour Overview
This autumn, join Classical Pursuits director Melanie Blake and our local guide Kim Kida on a journey into the heart of Japan’s artistic and spiritual traditions. October in Kyoto offers the perfect balance—mild weather, fewer crowds, and gardens just beginning to shift with the season. Over five full days in Japan’s cultural capital, we’ll explore grand wooden temples, serene moss gardens, and centuries-old crafts that reflect the aesthetic refinement of Japanese life from the Heian period through today.
Led by expert local guides and enriched by seminars with Melanie and the group, this journey combines cultural immersion with thoughtful conversation. Our readings will include selections from The Tale of Genji and and waka poetry, the elegant, modern-feeling verse form that shaped courtly life and literature in medieval Japan. Finally, the beautiful Gardens of Awakening: A Guide to the Aesthetics, History, and Spirituality of Kyoto’s Zen Landscapes, will help us engage more deeply with the gardens we visit and the values they express.
From Kyoto’s historic beauty, we travel to Naoshima Island, home to Japan’s most celebrated contemporary art. Staying at the extraordinary Benesse House—part museum, part resort—we’ll explore installations by artists such as Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Lee Ufan, all set in dialogue with the natural world. We conclude in lively Osaka with its historic castle and dazzling neon neighborhoods.
Whether this is your first time in Japan or a long-awaited return, this tour offers the chance to experience both the classical and the contemporary, guided by a team who brings warmth, insight, and a deep love of Japanese culture. Come with curiosity and return with a new way of seeing.
Japan Itinerary at a Glance
Day 1: Arrive to Kyoto
Day 2: Discussion #1 / Ryoan-ji and other temple visits
Day 3: Craft workshop / Philosophers’ Walk
Day 4: Discussion # 2 / Nijo Castle
Day 5: Moss Temple and tea ceremony
Day 6: Discussion # 3 / Tofuku-ji and Fushimi Inari
Day 7: Tale of Genji museum and Nara visit / Travel to Naruto
Day 8: To Naoshima / Chichu Museum and Lee Urfan Museum
Day 9: Teshima art sites
Day 10: Travel to Osaka / Osaka Castle
Day 11: Depart Osaka
Readings
All Classical Pursuits tours include readings that we send directly to you, and that help you connect more deeply with the places you’ll see and the people you’ll meet on the tour.
On this tour we will read
- The Tale of Genji (abridged), by Murasaki Shikibu
- Gardens of Awakening: A Guide to the Aesthetics, History, and Spirituality of Kyoto’s Zen Landscapes by Kazuaki Tanahash and Mitsue Nagase
- Selected short poems
Practical Details and Next Steps
Requesting an itinerary is a great way to help decide if this tour is for you. We’re also available to talk by email at info@classicalpursuits.com or on the phone toll-free at (844) 869-1001.
Once you’re ready to book, our colleague Abbie at our partner Worldwide Quest is happy to get you started with information about putting down a deposit and the tour payment schedule. You can reach her at abbie@worldwidequest.com or 1-800-387-1483. Classical Pursuits offers a number of pre-tour online experiences for each tour, all of which are free or deeply discounted for tour participants.
All Classical Pursuits tours are sold by and operate through our longtime partner Worldwide Quest, a licensed Ontario tour operator and an IATA Accredited Agent that was created in 1970 (as Quest Nature Tours and Worldwide Adventures). All participants on Classical Pursuits trips are covered by the terms of the Ontario Travel Industry Act (Worldwide Quest Inc., Ontario License #2667946).
Gallery
