World

We start the morning with the famous and beautiful Ritsurin Garden exploring the meticulously landscaped gardens with our enthusiastic guide

We spend the afternoon exploring the Yashima Temple which lies on a famous pilgrimage route as well as the Taburo Badger

Today we cross over to Shikoku island over multiple impressive bridges enjoying beautiful views and visiting movie locations

After lunch we spend the evening exploring Pontocho Street a historical small street with shops and restaurants

The major attraction today for us is a visit to the majestic Imperial Palace that we booked far in advance

The second temple today is the huge Nishi Hongwan-ji built by a popular Buddhist sect with lots of colorful buildings and temples

The first temple we visit in Kyoto is To-ji a historically important temple founded in 794 and worth exploring

One of the most scenic villages we visited in Japan is Shirakawa-go built using traditional “Praying Hands” architecture and recognized as a Unesco WHS

We spend the first half of they day exploring the wooden houses of Takayama a historic town rich due to skilled carpenters and abundant wood resources

We spend the night in Takayama in a luxurious hotel with both a Western and Japanese room and multiple restaurants