Forest, Temple, Breath: A Japan Immersion
Eleven Days. Eleven Centuries of Wisdom. Nothing Like Anything You've Done Before.
WALK IN WONDER
Most people who visit Japan glimpse the surface of something extraordinary and spend years trying to get back to it. This journey was built to immerse you in the culture of awe and adventure as only Japan can provide, with guides who have spent years earning access to the encounters no standard itinerary reaches, and a community of women who chose depth over highlights.
You will spend a morning with an Ama diver in her hut on the Ise-Shima coast, one of fewer than 1,200 women still practicing a free-diving tradition 3,000 years old, eating what she brings up from the sea. A female yamabushi will walk with you to Kumano Grand Shrine along a trail that emperors and pilgrims have walked for a thousand years. You will soak in onsen (natural hot springs) older than most of Western history, and experience the healing power of forest bathing where the science of awe was first documented.
Eleven days. Three UNESCO World Heritage sites. The company of remarkable women. And guides who know not just where to take you, but how to help you arrive.
In Collaboration With
THE ITINERARY
Day 1 — Arrival: Kyoto Meet your fellow travelers over a welcome dinner, and your guide sets the tone for what’s ahead. Meals: dinner | Overnight: The Royal Park Hotel Kyoto Sanjo (or similar)
Day 2 — Kyoto’s Inner Life Ginkakuji Temple, the Philosopher’s Path, lunch at a private restaurant, a meeting with a Maiko or Geiko, and an afternoon in the back lanes of Gion. Meals: breakfast, lunch | Overnight: The Royal Park Hotel Kyoto Sanjo (or similar)
Day 3 — Nara: Sacred Ground Todaiji Temple (UNESCO, world’s largest bronze Buddha), Nara Park’s sacred deer, Naramachi’s old-town lanes, and a traditional tea ceremony to close the day. Meals: breakfast, dinner | Overnight: The Royal Park Hotel Kyoto Sanjo (or similar)
Day 4 — The Pilgrimage Begins The Kumano Kodo hike through an ancient forest, arriving at the ridge-top village of Takahara. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Yunomineso (or similar)
Day 5 — Deep into the Kodo Hike to Oji shrines placed centuries ago to protect pilgrims on exactly this path, meet with local women preserving traditional crafts, end with onsen. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Kawayu Onsen Fujiya (or similar)
Day 6 — The Yamabushi and the Grand Shrine A female yamabushi, Japan’s ancient mountain tradition keepers, walks with you to Kumano Grand Shrine, where you create washi paper and have it stamped, before a long soak in Yunomine Onsen, one of Japan’s oldest hot springs. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Kawayu Onsen Fujiya (or similar)
Day 7 — Nachi: Forest, Waterfall, Shrine The Nachi Grand Shrine, above Japan’s tallest waterfall, and an ancient cedar-lined stone staircase that many pilgrims call the most beautiful stretch of the entire route. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Kamenoi Hotel Nachi Katsuura (or similar)
Day 8 — Ise Grand Shrine Travel to Ise to visit the spiritual center of Shinto then walk the restored pilgrimage-town street of Okage Yokocho before continuing to Toba on the coast. Meals: breakfast, dinner | Overnight: Toba Hotel International (or similar)
Day 9 — Morning with the Ama Spend the morning with an Ama diver, one of fewer than 1,200 women still practicing a 3,000-year-old tradition of free-diving, eating what she brings up from the sea. Bullet train carries you to Tokyo. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Prince Park Tower (or similar)
Day 10 — Tokyo Hama-Rikyu gardens, Ginza, the Grand Meiji Shrine, and a farewell dinner with women who went all the way in with you. Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Overnight: Prince Park Tower (or similar)
Day 11 — Departure Breakfast, transfer, and the particular feeling of leaving Japan — already certain you will find your way back. Meals: breakfast | Depart Narita (NRT) or Haneda (HND) after 10:00 AM
What Travelers Say
“Japan was spectacular, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to see it. All details were dialed in, and what a wonderful group of ladies — so dynamic, so fun, so different, so up for anything. Many of us are still keeping in touch too.” — Nicole B., Japan Immersion traveler