Japan is ancient and complex and full of tradition of many kinds. It's also modern, and beautiful and crowded! On one level, many of us are familiar with Japan. We eat their cuisine. We watch their baseball players on our teams. We love their anime and manga, and admire their acumen with speedy and efficient public transportation.

You know you've been telling yourself "Someday, I'll get myself to Japan." to experience all that. Well that someday is today.  And I'm gonna give you five pretty good reasons why...

#5 FALL WEATHER

Japan is renown for its cherry blossom season, but I'm gonna argue that mid to late fall is the time to go.  Japan's fall is temperate, the sun is bright, and the foliage beautiful.  It's also a bit less crowded (by Japan's standards). 

#4 Amazing Cuisine

From high end omakase, to bentos on the bullet train, to just about the best egg sandwiches on earth at 7-11 (yes, you've read that right, great food at convenience stores is a thing in Japan), you will not only eat well, you'll be oh-so-gobsmacked by the plating and presentation.  

#3 Channeling your inner Dora 

Everywhere you turn, you're presented with a myriad of options, all equally tantalizing.  And you can't go wrong.  Japanese cities are safe, and so much fun to explore.  You'll happen upon tucked away warrens, unexpected shops, and tempting food stalls.  On our tour, you'll have free time to go exploring to discover your own Japan--perhaps even finding Misuyabari, the 360 year old (!!) family owned sewing needle and notions store we happened upon in a Kyoto courtyard!

#2 Hands-on Workshops

When I started dreaming of the Japan Craft Tour, I knew hands-on workshops had to be the focus--because when you're making something and working with your hands, there's the potential to create connections with the craft, its history and the craftsperson who's sharing that knowledge.

But for that magic to happen, we needed to find the right people--people eager to connect and share. Because relationships build a deeper understanding, even with a language difference.

You can be certain that every workshop, every visit, every interaction will be with remarkable artisans/craftspeople/business owners who represent the best of their trades, but are also some of the most heart-felt, generous and kind people you would ever hope to meet.  You can see videos of all our 2023 workshops on my YouTube channel.

#1 Early Bird Pricing

I get it.  Travel is expensive--especially travel that focus on niche categories.  On the other hand, I sincerely WANT people to visit Japan and have their Best. Trip. Ever.  There are barriers to visiting Japan--the language, the distance, the UNKNOWN!  Tetsuya (my partner in crime, I mean travel) do our darndest to mitigate those barriers (well, except the distance thing--it's hard to physically move a country!) 

Our group is small (fewer than 8), to take advantage of all Japan has to offer in a personal yet unobtrusive way that's respectful of both your goals for travel and our hosts' generosity.  We travel with heart. 

I say all of this to encourage you to take advantage of our early bird pricing (which ends 2/29) if you are considering this trip.  It saves you $1000 (which is a lot of yen you can use on the other side).  Deposits are due on or before 2/29.  The remaining payment is not due until August.  I hope we can travel together!

Take advantage of early bird pricing!