Upcoming Tours

2025 Japan – 22 October to 4 November

All fully booked.**

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NATURE is the eternal theme in Japanese art and culture.

As golden ginkgo leaves fall in perfect fan shapes on the streets of Tokyo, the colours of Autumn are in full display at the Nezu Museum. Designed by Kuma Kengo and re-opened in 2009, the Nezu exemplifies the Japanese aesthetic of nature as art. The interior display space opens out through expansive glass walls to merge the colours of each season with the experience of viewing the art within. The live bamboo entrance wall offers a quiet greeting to the astonishing blend of architecture and nature inside.

Our autumn art journey begins in the Ginza district of Tokyo, where the architecture balances tradition with modernity. Narrow alleyways with tiny restaurants and diners branch off from the central shopping street, where art deco, cyber-punk, and fluid, liquid-like building facades coexist. Staying within walking distance of the Nihonbashi Bridge—once the gateway to Edo and the 17th-century birthplace of modern Japan—our purpose here, and later in Kyoto, is to explore the rich history and expression of Japanese art, both traditional and contemporary. We will encounter a range of art forms: paintings, ukiyo-e prints, screens, sculptures, architecture, gardens, textiles, and fashion.

From Kyoto, we travel to Okayama to visit Koraku-en, one of Japan’s three most celebrated strolling gardens. Named after a Confucian proverb, it is a masterpiece of design and natural beauty. Before heading to Uno Port and Naoshima Island, we will stop at the studio of Dr. John Wells near Imbe Village for a tour and discussion of his handmade Bizen pottery kilns.

Naoshima Island is a mecca for lovers of both art and nature. Its contemporary museums, outdoor sculptures, and redesigned house projects blend seamlessly into the island’s natural landscape and the surrounding waters of the Seto Inland Sea. We will spend two days fully immersed in the island’s artistic and natural beauty.

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** Waiting List

Please contact Judith if you are interested in being added to the waiting list.