Treasures of COASTAL JAPAN

October 27-November 8, 2026

Tokyo, Kanazawa, Yamanaka Onsen, Amanohashidate, Kyoto

Escorted Group Tour

Journey to the less-visited side of Japan. This small-group tour introduces you to the stunning waterfront scenery, historic cities, remote villages and relaxing hot spring towns along the Sea of Japan, all with the personal encounters that define the Esprit Travel experience: art, craft, nature, cuisine, spirituality, history - and some surprises. And you'll stay in some of the country’s finest inns and hotels.

After meeting in Tokyo, we’ll travel by Shinkansen (bullet train) to beautifully preserved Kanazawa, following the footsteps of samurai and geisha. Nearby Toyama Prefecture showcases the region's alluring metal and glass arts.

Continuing southwest, we take in the fishing and trading history of picturesque Hashitate and Natadera Temple, where locals have worshipped for millennia. Our two night stay in the intimate hot spring town of Yamanaka Onsen is at one of Japan’s top ryokan (traditional inns) where omotenashi hospitality is matched only by the quality of its meals, bathing waters, local crafts and riverside scenery.

In Fukui Prefecture, the “power spot” Eihei-ji Temple offers a peek into the rarefied world of Zen, and we visit a remarkable producer of contemporary washi paper.

Our penultimate stop, Amanohashidate, is legendary as one of Japan’s top three coastal views. It's our base for visiting Ine fishing village renowned for its boathouse seascape, a textile maker and one of Japan's leading ceramic artists. The tour concludes in Kyoto, Japan’s cultural capital.

Arriving in Tokyo and departing from Kyoto makes this tour ideal for first-time and return visitors alike, who wish to extend their stay using Esprit Travel's detailed sightseeing suggestions.

Day 1

Depart Home



Depart for Japan on your individually arranged flight.

Day 2

Arrive Tokyo Japan

After arrival at one of Tokyo’s two international airports, the tour covers your transfer to our tour hotel, conveniently located to sights, shops and restaurants. As a tour guest, you will have access to Esprit’s exclusive Client Information Portal offering detailed sightseeing and cultural tips for use during your free time in the world’s largest metropolis. Flight arrivals permitting, we will have a brief, optional orientation get-together with your tour leaders and traveling companions.

Accommodations: Marunouchi Hotel

Meals: None

Day 3

Tokyo to Kanazawa

The Shinkansen (bullet train) takes us to our first stop along the Sea of Japan, Kanazawa, with time to enjoy a bento lunch of your choosing along the way. Recently named one of National Geographic Traveler’s Best of the World sites, gracious Kanazawa was one of Japan’s most prosperous cities during feudal times, and it retains a wealth of historic buildings, alongside some of Japan’s finest contemporary art and architecture. From our conveniently located, modern hotel (with its own impressive in-house art program), we’ll immerse ourselves into local history, touring a samurai house and strolling the narrow lanes of the Nagamachi Samurai Quarter. A short drive across town takes us to the Higashi Chaya-gai geisha district, where we will visit a centuries-old teahouse where top-flight geisha entertained an exclusive clientele. Returning to our hotel, an optional neighborhood orientation walk will point out some of the dozens of nearby possibilities for dinner on your own.

Accommodations: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa
Meals included: Breakfast

Day 4

Kanazawa

This morning we depart early for Kenroku-en, the former pleasure garden of Kanazawa Castle and considered one of Japan’s top three strolling gardens, followed by museum visits introducing some of the local crafts for which this region is famous: silk weaving, Kutani and Ohi pottery, lacquer, paper-making and more, before a fun roll-your-own sushi lunch. Then a short drive out of town takes us to one of Kanazawa’s leading artisans for yuzen silk dyeing, a signature local craft of intricate resist dyeing for luxurious kimono, and we will see how this centuries-old craft has been updated for 21^st-Century use. Dinner this evening is succulent wagyu beef in the traditional style, around a teppan-yaki counter.

Accommodations: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5

Kanazawa (Toyama day trip)

We depart by coach for neighboring Toyama Prefecture, approximately one hour. In central Toyama, we’ll visit to the city’s Kirari Glass Art Museum, in a landmark building by noted architect Kengo Kuma, and after lunch continue to the small city of Takaoka, long famous for metalworking crafts, we will visit two makers: one casting large-scale bronze sculptures using traditional methods, and the other creating refined, flexible tin for tableware, interior use and bells. We return to Kanazawa for the evening.

Accommodations: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa

 Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6

Kanazawa

Our morning begins with an immersion into the world of Ohi pottery, now in the 11^th generation of artisans in the renowned tradition of Kyoto’s Raku ware and ideally suited to the wabi-sabi aesthetic of the Way of Tea. Following lunch, we tour Seisonkaku, the stately former mansion of the mother-in-law of the ruling Maeda lord at the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868). The remainder of the day is free with suggestions from your tour leaders, for shopping for crafts, browsing Kanazawa’s museums and parks, and dinner on your own.

Accommodations: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7

Kanazawa

Our final full day in Kanazawa highlights the city’s vibrant contemporary art and architecture scene. We begin with the D.T. Suzuki Museum, a quietly stunning modern building by Yoshio Taniguchi (architect of New York’s Museum of Modern Art), dedicated to the internationally known 20^th Century Buddhist philosopher and Kanazawa native who helped spread Buddhist teachings around the world. A walk along a contemplative path brings us to the cutting-edge contemporary exhibits and design of the 21st Century Museum of Art, by Japan’s Pritzker Prize-winning SANAA team. After lunch in the museum’s café, the remainder of the day is free before our onward journey.

Accommodations: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8

Kanazawa to Yamanaka Onsen

Bidding farewell to Kanazawa, we continue southwest along the coast to the charming village of Hashitate, a historically important fishing town. Following an immersion in local history at the Kitamaebune Museum (former estate of an Edo-Period shipping magnate), we will sample the fresh local seafood for lunch at market restaurant by the picturesque harbor. This afternoon, Natadera Temple, a warren of caves and forested paths, has been considered a sacred place since the Jomon Era (ca. 14,000–300 BCE). Arriving in remote Yamanaka Onsen and our luxury ryokan for the next two nights, there will be time to stroll the banks of the rushing river through town and its quiet main street, before hot spring baths and a kaiseki banquet dinner of local specialties.

Accommodations: Kayotei Ryokan

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9

Yamanaka Onsen

Today we will visit the home studios of local artisans, including a wood turner who crafts vessels from sake cups to vases, and a specialist in the art of maki-e, embossing gold leaf into lacquer for elegant effect. We’ll break for lunch at a local Michelin-recognized Italian restaurant, before free time for further exploration of the lovely surroundings. Tonight’s dinner features French-Japanese fusion cuisine at a nearby bistro.

Accommodations: Kayotei Ryokan
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10

Yamanaka Onsen to Amanohashidate

After breakfast in our inn, we continue along the coast to Fukui Prefecture and Eihei-ji, one of Japan’s grandest Zen sites. The spirituality is palpable while strolling the expansive grounds of this nearly 900-year-old temple, where we will have an experience of seated Zen meditation. Continuing down the coast, we arrive at Echizen and a workshop which makes traditional washi  (Japanese paper) and updates it for contemporary uses. We end the day in the coastal region of Kyoto Prefecture, where Amanohashidate lives up to its name, “Bridge to Heaven,” a causeway linking an archipelago jutting into the Sea of Japan. Our accommodations for the next two nights feature western bedding in a mid-century modern Japanese building.

Accommodations: Hotel Kitanoya
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11

Amanohashidate

Today we will explore the region around Amanohashidate, beginning with the fishing village of Ine where funaya (boathouses) are perched picturesquely over the water, leaving mooring for vessels underneath; we will take in the scene from land and by boat cruise on the bay. Our afternoon visit, Yosano village, is long known as Japan’s center for the production of chirimen crepe fabric. Here we will visit a factory which mixes traditional techniques with 21^st-Century technology, to make fabric used in everything from neckties to sneakers and handbags. This evening’s farewell dinner features French-Japanese fusion.

Accommodations: Hotel Kitanoya
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12

Amanohashidate to Kyoto

Our route to the ancient capital of Kyoto takes us via the small town of Tamba Sasayama, one of the 6 great kilns of ancient Japan. Here, potters have been crafting storage jars, mortars and sake bottles since the late 1100s. After a visit to the Old Tamba Pottery Museum to see the progression of this art through the ages, our lunch is in a ryokan (traditional inn) featuring modern-day kaiseki cuisine on exquisite dishware. Our final stop of the tour is one of Tamba’s leading artists of contemporary ceramics, whose work covers functional and decorative pieces. Arriving at our Kyoto hotel in the late afternoon, we will have free time to explore the city on your own or join your tour leaders for an introduction to nearby restaurants for dinner.

Accommodations: The Thousand Kyoto
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 13

Depart for home

Our Kyoto hotel is located adjacent to Kyoto Station for easy transfers on your own to the airport of your choice in nearby Osaka or via Shinkansen bullet train to other parts of Japan. Alternatively, you may wish to extend your stay in the ancient capital using sightseeing suggestions from Esprit’s Client Information Portal.

Meal included: Breakfast

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