Private & exclusive luxury tours of Japan
Japan cannot be seen, Japan must be discovered.
The 2027 tours
Why LUXURY JAPAN TRAVEL?
Exclusively Japan
Anyone can visit Japan. We take you inside it: the deep, authentic Japan of master craftsmen, private teahouses and centuries of tradition, where every experience is personal, exclusive and impossible to find on your own. Our expertise makes every journey seamless and effortless.
For almost two decades, Luxury Japan Travel has created and operated journeys through Japan with one purpose: to make your time here exceptional. You should experience Japan with depth, ease and intimacy.
Luxury Japan Travel plans, organises and runs every tour of Japan. Our experience and relationships allow us to know what deserves your time and to shape each day around the way you want to experience Japan.
The most sought-after doors in Japan, and its most exclusive places, open only from within. Your Tour Director opens them: one of our own, fluent in English and Japanese. They enhance every day, turning a beautiful journey into a deep and authentic experience of Japan.
“Without the doubt the greatest travel experience of my life.”
Alexander H.
“I honestly could not think of a better way to experience Japan.”
Daniel T.
“Luxury Japan Travel thought about every little detail and made my trip a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
G & N Spencer
Why Luxury Japan TravelGuest reviewsAbout Luxury Japan Travel
Luxury travel to Japan, in all its magnificence
Nowhere on earth holds so much wonder in so small a space. The neon brilliance of Tokyo and Osaka and the ancient silence of a Kyoto garden. World Heritage treasures the whole world comes to see, and hidden valleys it will never find. We take you to all of it, privately, beautifully and in complete luxury, and you will see a Japan no guidebook can show you.
- World HeritageKinkaku-jiThe Golden Pavilion, its gold leaf mirrored perfectly in the still water below.
- World HeritageKiyomizu-deraThe great wooden stage of Kyoto, built without a single nail, floating above the city.
- Sacred KyotoFushimi InariTen thousand vermilion gates winding up a sacred mountain.
- The bright lightsTokyoAfter dark the city is dazzling, electric and endlessly alive.
- Serene JapanMount YoshinoThirty thousand cherry trees on a sacred mountain, and the deep quiet of old Japan.
What Luxury Japan Travel specialises in
The people, traditions and experiences that take you beyond the obvious and inside the Japan you came to discover.
Hotels and ryokan
The ryokan worth making the journey for
You stay in the finest luxury hotels and ryokan in Japan, each one chosen personally by us for its luxury, its comfort and its setting. Legendary ryokan held by one family for generations, suites with their own onsen, and service so attentive you will wonder how you ever travelled any other way.
Dining
The table worth planning an evening around
Tokyo holds more Michelin stars than any city on earth, Kyoto is the home of kaiseki, and Hokkaido has the most sought-after seafood in Japan. You sit at the counters of the top chefs in the country, tasting the rarest ingredients of the season at tables most visitors will never hear of. This is dining at the very highest level.
Wellness
The Japanese art of relaxation
Onsen are the great indulgence of Japan, and we take you to the very best of them: sacred mineral springs, private open-air baths with mountain views, and historic ryokan whose healing waters have drawn guests for centuries. You have never been this relaxed.
Private transportation
From the moment you land, you are in our care
Luxury and convenience at every step. A private chauffeur welcomes you to Japan, and you glide across the country in first class on the shinkansen, the world-renowned bullet train of Japan. Every journey is seamless and effortless, with nothing to plan and nothing to think about.
Geisha
A private teahouse, and the geiko of Kyoto
An evening with the geiko and maiko of Kyoto is the height of the Japanese experience: pure indulgence, elegance and grace. Behind the doors of a private teahouse, the ancient arts of dance, music and conversation unfold for you, in a world the outside never sees.
Exclusive activities
If you can dream it, we can create it
The deepest traditions of Japan, opened to you: a private tea ceremony with a master, the ancient theatre of Noh, the artisans who keep the great crafts alive, and cultural encounters you could never find on your own. Tell us what you have always wanted from Japan, and it will be waiting for you.
A message from our Chief Tour Director
Ichigo ichie
The true essence of Japan: one meeting, never again. From it comes the beauty, the precision and the purest hospitality, because a moment that will not return must be designed once, perfectly, for you, for that evening, and for no one else ever. All our tours, and everything that we design, is only for you: one meeting, never again, ichigo ichie.
Luxury Japan tours for 2027
Spring
Our six luxury Japan tours are limited to 8 guests. Cherry blossom season is the most celebrated time of the year in Japan, and our two spring tours take you to the most spectacular blossom in the country, from Tokyo and Kyoto to the far north of Hokkaido.
The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan
The tour that has everything: cherry blossom over the Imperial Palace moat, Mount Fuji from your own open-air bath, the temples of Kyoto in full flower and a private evening with the geiko of Gion. You stay in the finest luxury hotels and ryokan, dine at two Michelin stars, and cross Japan seamlessly and effortlessly. This is the journey of a lifetime, and it has only 8 places.
12 days, 30 March to 10 April 2027
The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido
Long after the blossom has fallen in the south, it reaches the far north in a deeper, wilder pink, around a white castle and along eight kilometres of road beneath the flowers. Then there is the food: Michelin-starred sushi in Otaru, a private tempura counter at two Michelin stars, and hairy crab, sea urchin and salmon roe at the great market of Hakodate.
13 days, 28 April to 10 May 2027
Summer
Hokkaido is the great larder of Japan, and in summer it is the most beautiful place in the country: cool clear air, endless lavender fields, volcanic lakes, and the sweetest sea urchin, crab and Wagyu you will ever taste.
The Summer Tour of Hokkaido
The one Japanese summer worth crossing the world for. Hills of lavender to the horizon, lakes so clear they look unreal and a private onsen at the water’s edge of your suite. Sea urchin straight from the boats of Shakotan, Hokkaido Wagyu and kaiseki built on the extraordinary seafood of the north, and evenings that end with fireworks over the lake.
12 days, 25 June to 6 July 2027, or 11 to 22 July 2027
The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido
This is a Japan your friends have never seen. Volcanic peaks, a World Heritage coast of basalt cliffs, wild bears on the shore and an Ainu community that welcomes you as a neighbour. The seafood comes straight from the cold waters outside, grilled over charcoal in Kushiro and served as kaiseki in private dining rooms, in complete luxury.
11 days, 27 July to 6 August 2027
Autumn
Autumn in Japan is spectacular: whole mountainsides of crimson and gold, and temple gardens ablaze with maples. Our two autumn tours take you to the very best of it.
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan
The autumn the guidebooks never find. A gorge of waterfalls and moss ablaze with colour, a milky mountain onsen more than three centuries old, a gas-lit valley unchanged for a hundred years, and a private boat down the river that moved the poet Bashō. Deep, authentic Japan at its most magnificent.
12 days, 26 October to 6 November 2027, or 2 to 13 November 2027, 2 places remaining in November
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan
Two thousand maples turn a red so deep the light seems to come from inside them. From the golden avenues of Tokyo to the temple gardens of Kyoto and the snow crab of the Japan Sea, this is autumn in Japan in all its splendour, with an evening among the geiko of Kamishichiken.
12 days, 23 November to 4 December 2027, the 2026 departure sold out
Winter
Luxury skiing in Japan
Japan’s snow is so dry it falls through the birches like smoke. The most celebrated powder on earth, in Niseko, Hakuba and Myoko, on private ski journeys created for your party alone.
Private journeys
The ultimate luxury is a journey that belongs to you and no one else. Take a private tour of Japan with Luxury Japan Travel, on the dates you choose and at the pace you choose: deep, authentic and effortless, with every door open to you.
Four private journeys
The Private Collection
Four private journeys perfected by us, from nine days in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka to Pure Hokkaido, each yours alone on the dates you choose.
Planned around you
The Custom Tour of Japan
The Custom Tour of Japan is the finest journey of its kind. It is the pinnacle of the Japanese experience, and highly sought after. We therefore welcome only a small, select number of valued guests each season.
Travelled on your own
The Expert Japan Itinerary
All our expertise, written down for you. Every day planned by our Tour Directors, every hotel and table chosen, so you can experience the deep, authentic Japan on your own with complete confidence.
For two
Couples Journeys
The most romantic journey of your life. Private cars, exclusive ryokan, and Japan for just the two of you.
Travelling solo
Solo Journeys
Travel solo, in the personal care of a Tour Director of your own, with every door in Japan open to you.
How a journey with Luxury Japan Travel begins
Let us show you how.
In Japan the care of a guest is an art, and it has a name: omotenashi. Every wish anticipated before you have thought of it, every detail perfected, every moment of your journey looked after. Speak with us about the journey you have in mind.
Questions about luxury Japan tours and holidays
What is Luxury Japan Travel?
Luxury Japan Travel is the true Japan specialist, a luxury tour operator for Japan and nowhere else, based in Kyoto. We lead six small group tours a year on fixed dates, and private journeys on the dates you choose, each with a Tour Director fluent in Japanese and English.
How many guests travel on a tour?
Every tour is limited to 8 guests, a truly small group tour, with a private van and a Tour Director from our own team.
What is included in a Luxury Japan Travel tour?
Everything that makes the journey effortless, in one inclusive price. You stay in the finest luxury hotels and ryokan in Japan, each one chosen personally by us for its luxury, its comfort and its setting. Your private chauffeur, private vehicles, your Tour Director, all breakfasts and the meals detailed in your itinerary are included. You book your international flights, and we advise on every routing and timing.
When do the 2027 luxury Japan tours run?
Six tours run in 2027: The Classic Cherry Blossom Tour of Japan, 30 March to 10 April 2027; The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido, 28 April to 10 May 2027; The Summer Tour of Hokkaido, 25 June to 6 July 2027, or 11 to 22 July 2027; The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido, 27 July to 6 August 2027; The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan, 26 October to 6 November 2027, or 2 to 13 November 2027; The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan, 23 November to 4 December 2027.
Do you run small group tours of Hokkaido?
Yes: four of our published tours run in Hokkaido, each led by our Tour Directors and limited to 8 guests. The Cherry Blossom Tour of Hokkaido crosses the island in 13 days, from 28 April to 10 May 2027. The Summer Tour of Hokkaido spends 12 days among the lavender fields and lakes, on two departures in 2027. The Wild North Tour of Hokkaido is the wildlife tour: 11 days in the far east of the island, watching the Shiretoko coast and its wildlife from the calm of a boat, from 27 July to 6 August 2027. The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan begins in Hokkaido and continues through Tohoku, from 26 October to 6 November or from 2 to 13 November 2027. For a private journey on dates of your choosing, Pure Hokkaido is nine days from Hakodate to Sapporo. Each tour's price is set out on its own page. Every Hokkaido tour is set side by side on luxury Hokkaido tours.
Do you offer private tours of Japan?
Yes, private guided tours of Japan in two forms. The Private Collection is four private journeys already made, each taken on the dates you choose. The Custom Tour of Japan is created for your party alone, from five nights. Each has a Tour Director fluent in Japanese and English.
Do you offer bespoke tours of Japan, including Kyoto and Tokyo?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party, from five nights, and Kyoto and Tokyo may sit at the heart of it for as many nights as you wish, with a private car and driver in each city and first class on the shinkansen between them. For a journey already made, Essential Japan is nine days through Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, one of the four journeys of The Private Collection, on the dates you choose.
Do you arrange private tours of Japan for families?
Yes. A family travels on a journey created for its party alone, with private cars and no fixed timetable, so every day moves at your family's pace, with your own Tour Director, fluent in English and Japanese. Private family tours of Japan sets out how it works and what it costs for your party.