FLAGSHIP JAPAN

Your once-in-a-lifetime Japan adventure begins in the country’s iconic capital, Tokyo. Both ancient and modern, spiritual and brash, and constantly walking the tightrope between brilliant and downright baffling, Tokyo distils the essence of Japan into one (enormous) city. You’ll get to know the capital during your stay through some truly exclusive experiences: a private sushi-making class with an expert chef and an Imperial Palace walking tour with a knowledge guide.

If you don’t mind an early start, join sumo wrestlers at a stable to watch the morning practice and follow this with a helicopter flight over Tokyo Bay, Mount Fuji and the Ashinoko Lake for an unforgettable day. Your home for three nights in Tokyo is the Park Hyatt, an iconic and elegant hotel known to many as the setting of cult movie Lost in Translation. Here you can trace the footsteps of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson and head to the bar to watch the sun set from the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 52^nd floor.

The next stop on your exclusive Japanese adventure is Yamanaka Onsen, where you’ll stay in the traditional Ryokan Kayotei for four nights. The inn offers a Taste of Traditional Japan experience that includes private meetings with members of a local artisan group and visits to craftsmen workshops and studios. You’ll be able to meet a porcelain and Japanese tea ceremony master, as well as watch the skilled artists creating stunning wooden crockery with techniques passed down through three generations.

In between tours of the Matsuura Sake and Yamanaka Shoya (soy sauce) breweries, you can venture to the Japanese holy mountain, Mount Hakusan, to spend the day amid the 1000-year-old cedar trees that line the pathway to the Shirayama Hime shrine. For a bit of contemporary culture, you can visit the impressive 21^st century art museum or simply soak in the famed hot springs before dining on exquisite, multi-course kaiseki cuisine.

Catching the high speed Shinkansen train, you’ll then head to the remarkably well-preserved city of Kyoto, which is one of Japan’s former Imperial capitals. After settling in to your ryokan, the 300-year-old Tawaraya, it’s time to begin exploring Kyoto’s myriad of historical attractions: visit the 1,001 statues of Kannon at Sanjusangendo Hall, and marvel at the stunning Kiyomizu-dera Temple. On a clear day, visit Kinkakuji to see the golden pavilion reflected in the lake in front or take a few steps towards enlightenment at the serene Zen rock garden at Royan-ji Temple.

During your stay in Kyoto, you’ll be taken on a private tour of Arashiyama, the phenomenal bamboo forest on the western edge of the city, and then witness the Japan’s most traditional and iconic cultural practice, the tea ceremony. To round off this exclusive trip in Kyoto, you’ll experience a centuries-old cultural dinner with a maiko, a Geisha in training, who will keep you entertained with elegant dances and Japanese games.

Heading to Japan’s southern coast, you’ll spend the last three nights of this signature vacation nestled in the forested hills of Ise-Shima National Park. One of the most unusual sights in Ise-Shima are the floating rafts that are spread across the Shima peninsula. Tied to the rafts and hanging beneath the waves are ropes that are strung with pearl oysters – Ise-Shima is the homeland of Japan’s pearl industry. In a time-honoured tradition, female divers collect oysters and other fresh seafood from the bay dressed only in white and without air tanks. During your stay here, you’ll be taken to meet one of these pearl divers and dine with them as they tell you their tales of the sea and its beautiful jewels.

Made up of tempting onsen baths, delicate sliding screens and expansive walls of glass, the Amanemu offers an authentic hit of traditional rural beauty at the same time as keeping you in the lap of luxury. Once you’ve taken in the views from your room’s hot spring bath and walked along the area’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed pilgrimage trails, which have been trodden for more than a millennium, you’ll visit the holy Ise Grand Shrine with a private guide.

At the end of your three nights, you’ll be collected from Amanemu and flown out in a helicopter – our favourite way to travel!