2025 Japan – Autumn Themes

22 October to 4 November
TOKYO | KYOTO | OKAYAMA
NAOSHIMA ISLAND

ITINERARY WITH LINKS
(as at 20/08/2025)

Click HERE to download the detailed itinerary.


WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER:
Check-in JAL counter from 7.30am, then meet your fellow travellers in the QANTAS LOUNGE Depart Sydney 09:55AM (JL052)
Arrive Tokyo, late afternoon, transfer to Mitsui Garden Premier Hotel in Ginza.

THURSDAY 23 OCT:
Walking Tour: GINZA ORIENTATION, NIHONBASHI DISTRICT & JIMBOCHO

NIHONBASHI BRIDGE:
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/spot/44/index.html

KIDAI SHORAN SCROLL:
https://www.gotokyo.org/en/destinations/waterfront/kidai-shoran- nihonbashi.html

JIMBOCHO BOOK TOWN: https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/its-official-jimbocho-is-the-worlds-coolest-neighbourhood-in-2025-092425

In Jimbocho we will have the opportunity to see and purchase Japanese woodblock prints: Introduction to Edo & Ukiyo-e prints

FRIDAY 24 OCT:
FULL DAY trip to Hakone, beginning with a visit to the Hokasia Museum in Tokyo: https://hokusai-museum.jp/
https://hakone-japan.com/things-to-do/museums/the-outdoor-museumtest/

SATURDAY 25 OCT:
Morning: YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM:
https://yayoikusamamuseum.jp/en/home/
Afternoon: NATIONAL ART CENTER:
https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1716/

SUNDAY 26 OCT:
KYOTO by Shinkansen, approx. 2hrs.

1st of 3 nights in Kyoto

**Luggage will be transferred to the hotel in Kyoto separately**

We should pack essentials in a cabin bag or backpack – important documents, mobile phone and charger, purse or wallet and any essential medicines because our other luggage will travel separately.

At Kyoto Station we will be met by our guide, Tomoko, and she will escort us to the Cross Hotel:
The Cross Hotel:
https://cross-kyoto.orixhotelsandresorts.com/

Optional, but highly recommended, afternoon visit to the NETSUKE MUSEUM: https://www.netsukekan.jp/

MONDAY 27 OCT:
Daisen-in Temple Complex: and lunch at Café Du Mon
https://kyoto.travel/en/shrine_temple/137.html
Next to Café Du Mon is a small bric-a-brac shop, a treasure house of old and new!

After lunch we’re going off the beaten track with Tomoko to a small village in the Ohara area – local produce, craft, gentle walks, gardens and temples.

Evening: stroll and dinner in Pontocho Alley, an old geisha district close to our hotel

TUESDAY 28 OCT:
Morning tour to Miho Museum: https://www.miho.jp/ We will spend two hours here – the exhibits, architecture and location are all stunning!

Our afternoon is FREE TIME

WEDNESDAY 29 OCT:  
Bullet train to OKAYAMA. 1.5hrs

ONE NIGHT IN OKAYAMA: Hotel Granvia Okayama

Afternoon visit to KORAKU-EN, a quintessential Japanese Garden – one of Japan’s three best: https://www.okayama-japan.jp/en/spot/91

THURSDAY 30 OCT:
Excursion to Bizen Pottery Village with Dr John Wells, lunch at local restaurant in Imbe, (sitting on the floor is not compulsory), coach to UNO PORT HOTEL for three nights.

BIZEN POTTERY & IMBE VILLAGE: we will also visit the Amatsu Shrine in Imbe
https://www.okayama-japan.jp/en/spot/1067

FRIDAY 31 OCT:
DAY TOUR TO NAOSHIMA ISLAND

SATURDAY 1 NOV:
DAY TOUR TO NAOSHIMA ISLAND
https://blog.japanwondertravel.com/complete-guide-to-naoshima-19358

SUNDAY 2 NOV:
Uno Port to Okayama to Tokyo, arriving mid-afternoon to be reunited with our luggage from Kyoto.

Afternoon: Nezu Museum. Afterwards, our coach will return us to the familiar Mitsui Garden Premier in Ginza.

MONDAY 3 NOV:
Free Day till 3.00pm

3.00PM TRANSFER TO AIRPORT WITH CHIAKI

Fly from Tokyo Haneda Airport at 19:15 PM (JL051) to Sydney.

TUESDAY 4 NOV: ARRIVE SYDNEY 6.10 AM

Click HERE to download the detailed itinerary.

Autumn is the season of the Harvest Moon and the writing of Nature inspired haikus:

The white sky with the rising moon.
We put our hands on the knees.
The house at the evening. (An Autumn haiku)

Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694, haiku):
6mins YouTube Overview