We will meet you whenever you arrive to bring you the short journey to Kyoto. Just make sure to tell us at which of Osaka’s airports to look for you!!

Our hotel is the much-acclaimed Hyatt Regency, Kyoto where we will stay for 6 nights. Check it out online!!

Kyoto is the old imperial capital of Japan, and as such is blessed with many beautiful buildings and gardens. We will visit the Nijo Castle, Ryoanji and Kinkakuji Temples, enjoy the famous Tea Ceremony and wander through Nishiki Market.

Slightly controversial, but before dinner in our private koshered restaurant (left), we will (hopefully) stop at Beit Shalom, to hear its famous choir sing in Hebrew and Japanese.

We leave you to draw your own conclusions about their “agenda” – our previous guests couldn’t decide!!

Overnight in the Hyatt!!

After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll jump into taxis to bring us to the station for our first experience of the famous bullet trains.

Within no time we’ll be in Hiroshima, to visit the Peace Memorials before transferring by ferry to Miyajima Island, one of Japan’s top three “must-see” scenic spots. A visit to the Mazda factory and/or a cable car ride up Mt Misen will complete this fabulous day’s tour.
Dinner and Overnight: “Our” Restaurant and Kyoto Hyatt

The countryside outside Kyoto is gorgeous. Today we’ll visit a couple of villages, Kibune & Kurama, enjoy a short hike (for those that want), take a dip in a (segregated) open-air onsen hot spring (for those that want), see the temple (for those that want) and have a Japanese obento box picnic lunch.

In the afternoon we’ll come back down to Kyoto to visit the Martial Arts Center.
This evening, at or after dinner we’ll have the honor of meeting a geisha who will tell us about her work and, more specifically, what her work is NOT!!

Dinner and Overnight: “Our restaurant” and Kyoto Hyatt

It’s a short day but we will be able to complete our touring of Kyoto and have a chance to pick up some souvenirs, eg in a paper artist’s studio.

The morning will be devoted to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto, a picture-postcard perfect destination, on the western outskirts of Kyoto surrounded by green-covered mountains on all sides. Remember to bring your camera with you to record the monkeys, the breathtaking views of nature, the famous bamboo grove and Arashiyama district's wonderful architecture.

Shabbat services and meals will be at our Hotel.
There will also be a walking tour of the historic Gion area on Shabbat afternoon. After Shabbat we have to pack but there’ll be some time out ‘on the town’ too and an opportunity to drink the famous rice wine - sake!!

An early morning train will “bullet” us to Tokyo in 3 hours. Your main luggage will go separately as there is only minimal space on board; you’ll need to bring your overnight necessities as the rest of your luggage might only arrive the next day!!

We’ll visit the Meiji shrine with its beautiful classical Japanese gardens, famous for their iris, and Harajuku, regarded as one of the fashion capitals of the world.

Every Sunday, young people dressed in a variety of styles including gothic lolita, visual kei, and decora, spend the day in Harajuku socializing.
The fashion styles of these youths rarely conform to one particular style and are usually a mesh of many!!

Dinner will be prepared by one of Tokyo’s most celebrated chefs in a private space we are making Kosher for the group. Overnight: 5* Tokyo Hilton Odaiba

A day spent in one of Japan’s most beautiful natural regions, with shrines, lakes, mountains and waterfalls.
Nikko, Lake Chuzenji and the Kegon waterfall are all on today’s itinerary along with an easy hike for a couple of hours along the hilly waterside trails.

Back to Tokyo for a sushi-making session before dinner and overnight at the Hilton Odaiba!!

No trip to Japan would be complete without visiting Lake Kawaguchi, one of the five lakes close to Mount Fuji.
Here we will visit the phenomenal Kobota Itchiku museum. Kobota Itchiku (1917-2003) was the artist who revived the lost art of silk dying, used to decorate elaborate kimono. In his early twenties he was so inspired by a fragment of textile exhibited at the Tokyo National Museum that he devoted the rest of his life to recreating and mastering the labor intensive technique.
Exhibited are several of the artist's kimono creations, depicting themes of nature, the cosmos and the seasons. Also on display are parts of his unfinished masterpiece "Symphony of Light", a huge work comprised of 80 kimono that together form of a picture of Mount Fuji. From there we make the short journey to Hakone by bus.
Here the open-air museum blends art with nature, with offerings by Picasso and a host of other Japanese and western artists, in an atmosphere of trees, grass and mountains.
The highlight of many visitors’ tour of Japan, the Hakone Ropeway, is the second-longest ropeway in the world after the Kriens Bahn in Switzerland. Gondolas carrying 13 passengers rise up into the sky once every minute. The large windows of the Swiss-made cabins allow visitors to observe the sweeping panorama of Hakone’s unspoiled natural setting. The magnificent scenery makes it hard to believe that it is so close to Tokyo. Owakudani, one of the stations along the way, offers magnificent views of Mount Fuji and hot springs in what is still an active volcanic region.
Back to Tokyo for a delicious Dinner, a tour of the city by night and another night in the Hilton.

So much to see – we can’t waste a minute. For those who are up for it, there is a 5am visit to the world’s most famous fish market, the one where you see huge fresh tuna being auctioned off for thousands of $$ per kilo.
We’ll see Sumo wrestlers’ “stables”, Ginza, the fancy shopping area and we’ll try out the incredible Rapid Transport system where arrivals and departures are announced in SECONDS, not minutes!!

We’ll also take a breather in the beautiful city gardens and visit Shibuya, Tokyo’s very own version of Times Square.

Transfer to the airport to arrive 2 hours before your departure