23 november to 4 december 2026 (sold out) · japan
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan
twelve days · autumn colour · $19,500 per person, twin share
When the colour comes to Kyoto, the two thousand maples of Tōfuku-ji turn in the valley below the Tsūtenkyō Bridge to a red so deep the light seems to come from inside the leaves, and the old capital gives itself entirely to the season. This journey moves down the length of Japan with it, from the ginkgo gold along the Tokyo palace moat to the snow-country crab of the Japan Sea. We plan it, we arrange it, and we travel every mile of it beside you, so that across twelve days your only work is to be there.
signature experiences
momiji-gari
The thousand-year hunt for the colour
Long before it was anyone's holiday, autumn in Japan was an art. In the Heian court a thousand years ago, the nobility would leave the capital each November on what they called momiji-gari, the hunt for the maple leaves, riding into the hills to stand beneath the colour and answer it with poetry. The word is still used today, and it is precise: autumn in Japan is something you go out and find, at the one moment and in the one place the colour is most complete. A whole way of seeing grew out of that pursuit, a deep regard for a thing met at its height, and it shaped the gardens, the temples, and the reading of the season that follows. This tour is momiji-gari as the court understood it, a considered pursuit of the colour down the length of the country, in the company of people who have spent their lives learning where and when it turns.
signature moments
The heart of the journey
yamashiro onsen
The crab of the Japan Sea
A snow crab landed that morning, served course after course. The one crab dinner of the year that every other is measured against.
kyoto in autumn
Kyoto among the maples
Three nights in Kyoto among the maples of the eastern hills.
kamishichiken
An evening with the geiko of Kamishichiken
An evening in a teahouse of Kamishichiken, the oldest geiko district in Kyoto, with the games and dances of the ozashiki explained as they happen.
two onsen towns
The art of the empty hour
Two towns, and two days whose only plan is to do nothing at all.
The colour keeps moving
The colour moves the length of Japan, from Tokyo's ginkgo avenues to Kyoto's maple valleys, and the route travels with it.
the itinerary
the itinerary
The shape of the journey
The tour opens in Tokyo, gold with the first ginkgo of the season, then follows the colour south and west: to Kanazawa and the hot springs of Kaga, where the first snow crab of the year comes to the table; into Kyoto among the maples, with a day among the deer of Nara and an evening in the teahouses of Kamishichiken; and out to the Japan Sea, to the old bathing town of Kinosaki, before a last night in Osaka. Twelve days, north to south, with the autumn moving beside you the whole way.
the journey begins at home
Before you depart
The journey begins weeks before Japan. Your Tour Directors meet you in a private video call: introductions, the shape of the twelve days, and your preferences gathered quietly, so every kaiseki kitchen knows your table before you land. A pre-journey welcome pack follows: packing guidance for the season, arrival instructions with your chauffeur's details, and reading worth the flight. By the time you clear arrivals in Tokyo, you are already known, and already expected.
1 · two nights
Tokyo
2 · one night
Kanazawa
3 · two nights
Kaga · Yamashiro Onsen
4 · three nights
Kyoto
5 · two nights
Kinosaki Onsen
6 · one night
Osaka
the extension
continue west · 3 days, 2 nights
The Hiroshima and Miyajima extension
For those who want the fuller shape of the country, the journey carries on west. Hiroshima is a city that chose to become something other than the day that happened to it. An afternoon is given to the Peace Memorial Park: the Atomic Bomb Dome framed through the arch of the cenotaph, the flame that will burn until the last nuclear weapon is gone, and a museum that simply sets a child's tricycle and a watch stopped at 8:15 in front of you and lets them speak. It is the most moving hour of the whole journey, and it is met with the quiet it deserves.
The second day is the sacred island of Miyajima, where the great vermilion torii of Itsukushima Shrine stands out in the tidal flats, floating at high water and walkable at low. Behind the shrine the forest climbs into Momijidani, the valley of maples, where the colour lingers longest of anywhere on the tour; at the foot of Mount Misen a temple flame lit twelve hundred years ago has never once gone out. The last day runs the length of Japan home to Tokyo, a country understood, this time, from the inside.
duration
3 days, 2 nights
dates
4 to 6 December 2026
price, per person
$4,200
ends
Tokyo (Haneda or Narita)
accommodation
accommodation
Where you stay
kanazawa · night 3
Hakuchoro Sanraku
A quiet address beside Kenrokuen garden, in the castle town the war never touched.
yamashiro onsen · nights 4 to 5
Araya Totoan
A seventeen-room ryokan founded in 1639, its mountain-garden rooms with their own open-air onsen.
kyoto · gion · nights 6 to 8
Hotel The Celestine Kyoto Gion
Three nights at the centre of the colour, the temples of Higashiyama a short walk from the door.
kinosaki onsen · nights 9 to 10
Nishimuraya Honkan
A historic wooden ryokan over the willow canal, seven public bathhouses within walking distance.
osaka · night 11
Imperial Hotel Osaka
A final night beside the castle grounds, and the last gold of its ginkgo before the farewell dinner.
tour experiences
tour experiences
Moments along the way
The snow-crab kaiseki, course by course
An evening with the geiko of Kamishichiken
Two onsen towns, two full days of relaxation
First-class rail, the length of the country
The quieter gardens of Kyoto, chosen for the season
Geta on the stone lanes of Kyoto
The stone bridges and willows of the Kinosaki canal, after dark
what is included
Looked after, entirely
From the moment you land, everything is anticipated. This is omotenashi, the Japanese art of caring for a guest before they think to ask, and for twelve days it is the texture of the whole tour. A private car and chauffeur meet you at the airport and see you off at the end. The long crossings are made in the calm of first-class rail, the landscape sliding by the window. Every reservation is made and every arrangement is settled long before you arrive. Your only task is to give Japan your whole attention, while someone who knows it completely carries the rest.
One price, settled before you travel
$19,500
per person, twin share
Part of your journey
included, always
Every night at the properties named above: a Club floor room above the palace moat at Palace Hotel Tokyo, a mountain-garden room with its own open-air onsen at Araya Totoan, and the Imperial Floor at the Imperial Hotel Osaka
Your Tour Directors, from the welcome evening to the final departure
First-class rail and private vehicles, the length of the country
A private chauffeur at the airport, arriving and departing
Every entrance, and every arrangement in between
the days
The ginkgo avenue at Meiji Jingū Gaien, and the garden of Rikugien
The gold-leaf workshops of Kanazawa, and Ōmichō market
The maples of Tōfuku-ji and Eikandō in autumn colour
A day in Nara, among the deer and the ancient forest
An evening with the geiko and maiko of Kamishichiken
The seven bathhouses of Kinosaki Onsen, crossed in yukata and geta
Two onsen towns, and two full days of relaxation
at the table
Autumn kaiseki at a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Kyoto
Snow-crab kaiseki in a private dining room at Araya Totoan, the crab landed off the Japan Sea that morning
Kaiseki in your room at Nishimuraya Honkan, a Relais & Châteaux ryokan: Tajima beef and matsuba crab
The Tajima beef and snow crab of the San'in coast
A farewell at an Osaka sushi counter
More than twenty-five meals in all, every one included
Every night, more than twenty-five meals, and every arrangement in between: one price covers everything from the airport car to the last dinner in Osaka.
how we work
We plan it, we run it, and we travel it with you
We plan, organise and run every tour, and your Tour Directors travel every mile with you, in a group that never exceeds eight, a small number of couples and no more. The route runs north to south, from Tokyo to Kanazawa, Kyoto and the Japan Sea coast, the order in which the colour moves, and every night is spent at a property named on this page.
how it works
How it works, and the terms
The process
Enquire through the form and we reply personally. If you would like to talk the journey through, a call with your Tour Directors is available, though many guests are happy to book on the strength of the itinerary itself. A deposit of $3,500 per person secures your place, and the balance falls due 95 days before departure. Nearer the time, your Tour Directors call you again, to prepare you for the days ahead.
Payment
One price, tax included. It covers every night, every train, every transfer, every reservation, and every meal set out in this itinerary. Payment is safe, secure and encrypted, by card or bank transfer.
The terms
Your booking is governed by our Booking Conditions, which set out what is included and excluded, and our cancellation terms in full.
Good to know
International flights to and from Japan are not included. Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of booking.
questions
frequently asked
Questions before you enquire
If your question is not answered here, ask us; it is what the enquiry is for.
How many guests travel on the tour?
What is the pace of the tour like?
What is included in the price?
Can you cater for dietary requirements?
Where does the tour finish?
How long does the tour spend in Kyoto?
When does the tour run, and when should I enquire?
Further questions
when to speak to us
A journey that keeps coming back to you
This is a journey that keeps coming back to you long after you are home: the gold of the ginkgo over the moat, the crab set down in a silent room, an evening among the geiko, the sound of geta on a wet stone street. Months later a certain slant of light brings the whole autumn back, and you find you know Japan from the inside: a country understood, not only seen.
Considered. Intimate. Perfect.
The 2026 departure is sold out. Enquire, and we will tell you first when the next departure of this journey opens; the Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan travels 2 to 13 November 2027.
23 November to 4 December 2026 (sold out)$19,500 per person, twin share
Not these dates? The Private Collection travels on the dates you choose.
other journeys
More ways to see Japan
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Northern Japan
12 days2 to 13 November 2027$19,500per person, twin shareSee the journey
The Private Collection
9 to 13 daysOn the dates you chooseFrom $18,000per person, twin shareSee the journey
The Custom Tour of Japan
From 6 daysOn the dates you chooseFrom $3,500per person, per daySee the journey
from The Japan Edition
