Brief Itinerary Overview:
17-28 April 2027
17 April: we arrive Tokyo and check into the Villa Fontaine Grande Airport Hotel for 1 night.
Lounge bar at the Villa Fontaine – possible meeting place for 2027 birthday toasts!?
18 April: AM we travel by private coach to the Shinkansen Station, boarding for Aomori, 800kms north of Tokyo. Arriving mid-afternoon, we check into the Relabo Medical Spa & Stay for our 4 night stay. Our big luggage will travel separately arriving the following day. The Relabo is a luxury 4* hotel located right at Aomori Station, perfect for all our travel and “wellness” needs! Our guide, Chiaki, will join us in Aomori.
18-22 April: Aomori is a city in the Tohoku region of Japan famous for its ancient Jomon history and its apples. In and around Aomori we will visit the Nebuta Museum, the the Sannai-Maruyama Site and the Aomori Museum of Art. Wedneday 21 April we will take a half-day leisurely coach trip to the pinkwashed city of Hirosaki, famous for its castle, shrines, and thousands of blooming cherry trees.
Hirosaki Castle, Tsugaru region Aomori Prefecture, Japan
This is a slower-paced itinerary designed to allow time for us to explore the restaurants, cafes, beer bars, jazz bar, shrines and local craft shops of Aomori and indulge our senses in the beauty and culinary delights of seasonal northern Honshu. And for those inclined, the Relabo Hotel offers an inexhaustible menu of “wellness” treatments, optional of course!
22-24 April: Thursday 22 we board the Shinkansen for our journey to Kakonudate in the Akita Prefecture. Our big luggage will travel separately arriving in Tokyo 24 April. in Kakonodate we are staying 2 nights at the small, and delightful, Japanese-style Machiya Hotel
Originally a castle town in the Edo period, Kakunodate now has a population of around 14,000 people and no castle. Instead, it has a well-preserved samurai district, charming shops selling unique local craft, and boasts 400 graceful weeping cherry trees.
Kakonudate Samurai Street, Akita Prefecture
24-27 April: Saturday 24 we return to Tokyo for a 3 night stay at the Mitsui Garden Premier Ginza. Our luggage will be waiting for us! Our Tokyo itinerary is flexible and includes visits to teamlab Borderless, a tea ceremony and a Pigment painting workshop.
I am planning a list of optional art and cultural and shopping options for our time in Tokyo. It is too early yet to book Museums for April.
Please feel welcome to suggest places you would like to visit or revisit in Tokyo: artytravel2@gmail.com
