Golf in Japan
In Japan, a round of golf becomes one day of a journey through the whole country.
Japan has more than two thousand golf courses, and visitors play them all over the country, from the summer courses of Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the far south. What keeps most travellers from a round is the booking itself, because only a handful of courses take a reservation easily in English. On a private journey, the round is simply part of the day: the car takes you to the clubhouse, your clubs are waiting at the course, and golf takes its place among the gardens, the ryokan and the great tables of Japan.
golf and Japan
Golf within a private journey
We plan, organise and run every tour. Every Custom Tour of Japan is private and created for one party, so golf sits exactly where you want it: a single round between Tokyo and Kyoto, a morning beneath Mount Fuji, or several days of the Hokkaido summer. A partner who does not play spends that morning in a Kyoto garden or at the ryokan, and you meet again for lunch or for the evening.
Around the golf, the journey is the rest of Japan at its most rewarding: a Zen garden read stone by stone, a kaiseki dinner served course by course in a private room, a suite with its own onsen at the end of the day. Golf is one thread through it, as large or as small as you choose.
the Japanese round
How a round is played in Japan
A round in Japan keeps its own customs. On most courses the players stop at the turn for lunch in the clubhouse, for about an hour, before the back nine; in Hokkaido and Okinawa the eighteen holes are usually played straight through. At some clubs a caddie walks the round with you, and when the round is over, Japanese golfers bathe at the clubhouse before they change. On your journey, the drive afterwards is to a ryokan and its onsen.
Your clubs travel ahead of you. Japan Post carries a golf bag to the course or to your hotel by the day before you play, so you arrive at the first tee with nothing to carry and leave the course with nothing to carry either. Most courses ask for golf attire, and some ask for a jacket in the clubhouse, and every such detail is in the plan before you pack.
where to play
Golf across Japan
Mount Fuji
On the northern foot of the mountain, around the Fuji Five Lakes, the courses lie between 1,000 and 1,200 metres above the sea. A summer round there is played in cool mountain air, with Mount Fuji standing over the fairways.
Hokkaido
Hokkaido's courses open in spring and close in autumn, and its summer is mild. Around Niseko and Rusutsu the fairways run between silver birch beneath Mount Yotei, and the eighteen holes are played straight through.
Near Tokyo
An hour north of Tokyo by shinkansen, Tochigi alone has more than a hundred golf courses, so a round fits between two days in the city, and the evening is still yours for a table in Ginza.
Okinawa
In the far south, where no snow falls, golf is played through the whole year, and a round can begin a few days of the islands' slower pace at the end of a journey.
where you stay
Rooms chosen around the golf
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.
Where golf sits on the journey, the hotel is also chosen with the course in mind: a room above a lake with Mount Fuji across the water, or a ryokan where the evening after the round begins in its own onsen.
one of our own
Your Tour Director
Your Tour Director takes care of every arrangement on the golf days and the days between them: the tee time, the car at the clubhouse door, the table for lunch at the turn, and the evening that follows.
questions
Golf in Japan, answered
Can tourists play golf in Japan?
Yes. Most of Japan's courses are open to the public, and visitors play all over the country. The difficulty is the booking, because only a handful of courses take a reservation easily in English. On a private journey with us, each round is already in the plan you hold before you leave home, with the tee time and the car to the clubhouse.
Is golf popular in Japan?
Very. Japan has more than two thousand golf courses, from Hokkaido in the north to Okinawa in the south, and the game has a large and devoted following here.
How does a round of golf work in Japan?
On most courses the round pauses at the turn for lunch in the clubhouse, for about an hour, before the back nine. In Hokkaido and Okinawa the eighteen holes are usually played straight through. After the round, golfers bathe at the clubhouse before they change.
Can I bring my own golf clubs to Japan?
Yes. Japan Post carries a golf bag to the course or to your hotel by the day before you play, so on a journey with us your clubs go ahead of you and you never carry them between cities.
Can my partner come if they do not play golf?
Yes. The journey is private and made for your party, so while you play, your partner can spend the morning in a garden, at a tea house or at the ryokan, and you meet again for lunch or for the evening.
What is a Tour Director?
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.
begin
Begin your journey
Tell us who is travelling, how much golf you would like and what else of Japan you would love to see. The Custom Tour of Japan begins with the Journey form, where golf is one of the interests you can choose, and continues on a call with our team.