23 november to 4 december 2026 · japan
The Autumn Leaves Tour of Japan
twelve days · a maximum of eight guests · USD $19,500 per person, twin share
Late in November the colour reaches Kyoto. In the valley below the Tsūtenkyō Bridge, two thousand maples at Tōfuku-ji turn over a handful of mornings to a red so deep the light seems to come from inside the leaves, and for those days the old capital gives itself entirely to the season. Arriving at that moment is the whole art of this journey: to move down the length of Japan, from the ginkgo gold along the Tokyo palace moat to the snow-country crab of the Japan Sea, and to be in each place in the days it is at its height. We plan it, we arrange it, and we travel every mile of it beside you, so that across twelve days nothing is asked of you but 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, at its one moment
A snow crab landed that morning, served course after course at the height of its season. The one crab dinner of the year that every other is measured against.
kyoto at its peak
Kyoto, on the morning it turns
Three nights in Kyoto in the last days of November, when the maples of the eastern hills turn.
kamishichiken
An evening with the geiko of Kamishichiken
An evening in a teahouse of Kamishichiken, the oldest geisha 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
Late autumn moves the length of Japan over three weeks. The same colour that empties from Tokyo's ginkgo avenues fills Kyoto's maple valleys not long after. It is always ahead of you, not behind.
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 at the very height of its maple, 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 Director meets 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
USD $4,200
ends
Tokyo (Haneda or Narita)
accommodation
accommodation
Where you stay
tokyo · nights 1 to 2
Palace Hotel Tokyo or similar
Rooms above the palace moat, where the ginkgo corridor turns gold in the last days of November.
kanazawa · night 3
Hakuchoro Sanraku or similar
A quiet address beside Kenrokuen garden, in the castle town the war never touched.
yamashiro onsen · nights 4 to 5
Araya Totoan or similar
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 or similar
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 or similar
A historic wooden ryokan over the willow canal, seven public bathhouses within walking distance.
osaka · night 11
Imperial Hotel Osaka or similar
A final night beside the castle grounds, and the last gold of its ginkgo before the farewell dinner.
*or similar
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
USD $19,500
per person, twin share. Guests travel two to a room
Part of your journey
included, always
Every night of the journey, at the properties named above
Your Tour Director, 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 at their peak
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
A snow-crab kaiseki at the height of the season
Kaiseki evenings at the ryokan of Kaga and Kinosaki
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 time it ourselves
We plan, organise, and run every tour ourselves, and your Tour Director travels every mile with you, in a group that never exceeds eight, a small number of couples and no more. That scale is what lets us follow the season closely. The route runs north to south because that is the order in which the colour moves, and each place is met in the days it is at its height. It is why we keep the group small, and why we secure the year's most sought-after rooms long before the season turns.
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 Director is available, though many guests are happy to book on the strength of the itinerary itself. A deposit of USD $3,500 per person secures your place, and the balance falls due 95 days before departure. Nearer the time, your Tour Director calls you again, to prepare you for the days ahead.
Payment
One price, paid once, quoted in US dollars, tax included. It covers every night, every train, every transfer, every reservation, and every meal set out in this itinerary. Payment is 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 are on the tour?
Is the pace demanding?
What is included in the price?
Can you accommodate dietary requirements?
Where does the tour finish?
When does the tour run, and when should I enquire?
from The Japan Edition
Read before you go
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 next step is a conversation. Begin your enquiry, and we will confirm your dates and your extension before you book a single flight.
23 November to 4 December 2026eight placesUSD $19,500 per person, twin share