Let's go to one of the most fascinating countries in the world and experience one of the most beautiful spectacles of nature: Sakura, the Japanese Cherry Blossom. For only a few weeks every year, these beautiful and unique flowers blossom in Japan, creating breathtaking sceneries all over the country. 

But we are not going to stop there! We created an itinerary in which we will visit all of the major cities in Japan, from Tokyo all the way to Okinawa, experiencing all of Japan during its most beautiful time of the year. And we're even going to see an incredible phenomenon of flora and fauna: monkeys bathing in hot springs! 

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are some of the things we will be doing or have the option to do:

- Visit 8 major Japanese cities: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, and Naha.

- Have a chance to see over 10 different cherry blossom occurrences

- Hike at Mt. Fuji.

- Go to Jigokudani Monkey Park, were we will see monkeys bathing in hot springs!

- Watch Sumo wrestling.

- Stay at traditional Japanese ryokans. 

- Visit the. Fuji Five Lakes Area.

- Visit  Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine, one of the classic postcards of Japan .

- Ride the shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train that goes as fast as 200mph.

- Visit Kiyomizu-Dera Temple one of the most important temples of Japan, over 1200 years old. 

- Spend a night in a Buddhist temple.

- Visit  Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.

- See the sakura at night.

- See several castles, including the Osaka Castle and Himeji Castle.

- Interact with the friendliest deer at Miyajima Island

- Visit Hiroshima and the Atomic Bomb Dome, the Peace Memorial Museum, and the Peace Memorial Park. 

- Visit Okinawa.

Here are some of the included places we will be going and things we will be doing (in addition to those mentioned above):  

- Two Tokyo City Tours (fully guided)
- Jigokudani Monkey Park: Entrance to Jigokudani Monkey Park to see monkeys in hot springs.

- Hiking at Mt. Fuji: Hike at Mt. Fuji led by Group Leader

- Saiko Iyashinosato

- Arakura Sengen Shrine
- Sailing Lake Ashinoko: Pleasure boat at Lake Ashinoko.

- Hakone Ropeway
- Bullet Train: Transport by bullet train from Hakone to Kyoto.

- Kiyomizu-Dera Temple
- Ninnaji Temple
- Zen Experience: Zen experience with overnight at Enryakuji Buddhis Temple.
- Osaka Castle
- Himeji Castle
- Hiroshima Peace Memorial

- Naha Beach Tour

PAYMENT TERMS

- A deposit of $600.00 (non-refundable, but movable) starts your reservation. Once you make your deposit, you will need to sign our contract within 72 hours to guarantee your spot. You can read the contract in advance HERE.
 

- You will have until  December 22, 2023 (three months before the trip) to finish making your payment. You can make payments any way you prefer, so long as you are fully paid by December 22, 2023
 

- Your deposit is movable. That means, if you need to cancel your participation in the trip for any reason before December 22, 2023 you may request a credit for 100% of your deposit that can be applied to any 1000 Treks Trip which departs within one year of the departing date of the original trip.
 

- Uplift Financing is available. Low-interest travel financing with low APR, no pre-payment penalty, and no effect on credit. 

FLIGHTS 

Flights are NOT included unless otherwise noted.
 

Flight Guidelines

Shuttles will be provided if you meet the flight guidelines below:
 

Arrival: Arrive at Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) on Friday, March 22 between 12:00 PM and 5:00 PM. Check-in at the hotel is at 3:00 PM.

Departure: Leave Okinawa Naha Airport (OKA) on Saturday, April 6 between 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM. Check-out from the hotel is at 11:00AM.
 

PLEASE NOTICE THAT THE DEPARTURE AIRPORT IS DIFFERENT THAN THE ARRIVAL AIRPORT

IMPORTANT MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

- Trip Physical Level: 3 (With optional level 4 hikes and activities).

- All trips are governed by our comprehensive contract. You should familiarize yourself with it prior to signing up for any of our trips. You can access it by clicking HERE or visiting https://www.1000treks.com/contract/. A link to the contract can also be found at the bottom of all our web pages under CONTRACT.
 

- Travel insurance is required.  
 

- As of the time of this posting American citizens don’t need a visa for Japan. If you have a foreign passport, you may need a visa. Here's the Japanese Embassy website so you can look into that: https://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itprtop_en/index.html 

We also recommend that everyone, regardless of citizenship, periodically check to make sure visa requirements have not changed as 1000 Treks is not responsible for any changes.

ARRIVE IN TOKYO | GET TRANSFERRED TO HOTEL | FREE DAY | ORIENTATION MEETING | WELCOME DINNER AT AN IZAKAYA

Without a doubt one of the most fascinating cities in the world. Anybody who has ever been to Tokyo will tell you the same thing: there is no city in the world like it. As you arrive, your transfer will be waiting to take you to the hotel where you can relax for the rest of the day, or explore this incredible city.

In the evening we will have our orientation meeting where we will get to know everyone in the group, receive a special gift, and go to our welcome dinner at an authentic Japanese izakaya. 

Accommodations: Sunshine City Prince Hotel (upgraded),  Natural Hot Spring Harvest Hot Spring Dormy Inn (basic), or similar

Meals: N/A

FULL DAY TOKYO CITY TOUR | MEIJI SHRINE | HARAJUKU | SHIBUYA | NAKANO BROADWAY

Our guide will pick us up in the morning and take us on a full day tour of this incredible city, made even more beautiful by the cherry blossoms everywhere. We will visit the incredible Meiji Shrine, a beautiful Shinto shrine built in honor of Emperor Meiji who ruled Japan from the late 19th to early 20th century; Harajuku, a colorful teen district with tons of fun and unique Japanese shops; Shibuya, where we will witness and cross the Shibuya crossing, the busiest pedestrian crossing within the world; and the Nakano Broadway, where we will stop at Daily Chico Ice Cream and have an 8-layer (12 inches) ice cream!

Accommodations: Sunshine City Prince Hotel (upgraded),  Natural Hot Spring Harvest Hot Spring Dormy Inn (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

TOKYO CITY TOUR | SUMO CAMP | SENSOJI TEMPLE | IMPERIAL PALACE GARDEN | TOKYO STATION | DIGITAL MUSEUM

For our second full day tour of Tokyo, we will start by visiting a Sumo camp, where we will get to watch Sumo wrestlers training. From there we'll go to Sensoji Temple, Tokyo's oldest and most popular Buddhist temple. At lunch time we'll head to Tsukiji Fish Market, where we will have a brief tour of the market, and then go to a restaurant right next to the market to have the freshest and best sushi of our lives! 

After lunch, we'll head out to the Imperial Palace, where we will not only witness the beauty of the palace, but also marvel at the cherry blossoms surrounding it. We will also see the Tokyo Station, one of the busiest train stations in the world, with over 3,000 trains departing from it every day, and the second largest station building in the world. 

We will end the day with a visit to the Team Lab Planet Digital Museum, where we will stand in awe of Japanese digital art. 

Accommodations: Sunshine City Prince Hotel (upgraded),  Natural Hot Spring Harvest Hot Spring Dormy Inn (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

FREE DAY IN TOKYO

Today we built in a free day so you can enjoy whatever you want in Tokyo. You can visit a park to enjoy more cherry blossom beauty, go shopping, explore this fascinating city, or relax at a Japanese spa.

Accommodations: Sunshine City Prince Hotel (upgraded),  Natural Hot Spring Harvest Hot Spring Dormy Inn (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

 JIGOKUDANI MONKEY PARK

Today is one of the highlights of our trip. We will leave Tokyo's fast pace life in the morning and drive northwest to the mountains. There we will visit Jigokudani Yaen Koen, a park inhabited by Japanese macaques that on cold days have developed the habit of soaking in hot springs! 

We'll arrive at the park right before lunch, and go see the cute monkeys doing their monkey-in-the-hot-spring thing and take pictures that will make us smile for the rest of our lives. We will have lunch, and then spend time day at the park, which is also gorgeous.

Later in the afternoon, we'll check into our hotel, an authentic Japanese onsen hotel, where we will relax in a hot spring with beautiful views of the mountains. 

NOTE: THE MONKEYS USUALLY ONLY GET IN THE HOT SPRINGS WHEN IT'S COLD. AS WITH EVERYTHING ELSE IN NATURE, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER HOW WARM OR COLD IT WILL BE THAT DAY, SO; ALTHOUGH IT'S ALL-BUT-GUARANTEED THAT WE WILL SEE MONKEYS, WE CAN'T PROMISE THAT THEY WILL BE JUMPING IN THE HOT SPRINGS. 

Accommodations: Utsukushigahara Onsen Shoho (upgraded), Natural hot spring Azuminoyu Onyado Nono Matsumoto (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

MT. FUJI | LAKE KAWAGUCHI | HIKE AT MT. FUJI

Today we have another one of the highlights of the trip: Mt. Fuji! We will leave Nagano right after breakfast and arrive at the Mt. Fuji area late in the morning. 

At that point we will split the group briefly into two: The Fujikawaguchiko group, and the hiking group. The Fujikawaguchiko group will be dropped in town to walk around, go to a coffee shop, and enjoy a relaxing time in the city of Fujikawaguchiko. The hiking group will drive to the Yoshida trailhead and do a short hike at Mt. Fuji. There is a lot of snow at Mt. Fuji starting at a fairly low altitude in March, so we won't be going very high. However, just having the chance to hike at Mt. Fuji will be amazing!

We will reconvene at lunch time, have lunch together, and in the afternoon we will visit Saiko Healing Village Nemba (healing village). 

We will spending the night at another authentic Japanese onsen hotel.

NOTE: DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS, MT. FUJI MAY BE CLOSED TO TRAFFIC; IN THIS SCENARIO, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HIKE THE MOUNTAIN, SO , WE WILL DO A HIKE IN THE AREA WITH SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF MT. FUJI. 

Accommodations: Hotel Mystays Fuji Onsen Resort or similar

Meals: Breakfast

ARAKURA FUJI SENGEN SHRINE | HAKONE | SAILING LAKE ASHINOKO | HAKONE ROPEWAY

We hope you are not getting tired of seeing incredibly beautiful natural places, because today we head out to gorgeous Hakone, another beautiful lake town with epic views of Mt. Fuji and, when we are there, blooming cherry blossoms.

We will start the day visiting Arakura Fuji Sengen Shrine, in Fujikawaguchiko. The shrine is one of the classic postcard snapshots of Japan, with a beautiful pagoda surrounded by, you guessed it, cherry blossoms, AND Mt. Fuji in the background. 

After that we head out to Hakone. There we will go sailing on Lake Ashinoko with noteworthy views of Mt. Fuji and the entire locale. We'll proceed to Hakone Ropeway, Japan's longest ropeway over Owakudani, an active sulfur volcano. 

At the end of the day we will go to our best onsen yet, where the upgraded package rooms will have a private onsen bath in each room!

Accommodations: Hakone Parks Yoshino (upgraded), Hakone Onsen Ryokan Yaeikan (basic), or similar.

Meals: Breakfast

BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO | YASAKA SHRINE | MARUYAMA PARK |  KIYOMIZU-DERA TEMPLE |  KIYOMIZU ZAKA | SAMURAI AND GEISHA MAKEOVER

We leave the phenomenal Fuji area by taking a shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train, to Kyoto, one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Japan. 

In Kyoto we will visit the incredible Yasaka Shrine and Maruyama Park, one of the most beautiful places to see the cherry blossoms in the entirety of Japan. The park, during the sakura, is called The Sea of Cherry Blossoms. We'll continue to the famous Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, one of the oldest (1,200 years old) and most celebrated Buddhist temples in Japan. 

We'll finish the day with free time at Kiyomizu Zaka, a picturesque stone-paved street with traditional Japanese shops. There we will be able to shop, as well as join a traditional Tea Ceremony. We will also have the opportunity to dress in traditional Japanese attire, where the men will dress in Samurai Kimono, and the ladies will have a makeover to dress as Geishas! 

Accommodations: Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kyoto Hachijoguchi (upgraded), Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto-Hachijoguchi (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

KYOTO | NINNAJI TEMPLE | ENRYAKUJI TEMPLE | BUDDHIST MONK LED MEDITATION | SPEND THE NIGHT AT THE BUDDHIST TEMPLE

Today we will visit Ninnaji temple in the morning, where we will see the Omuro cherry blossoms, a different variety of blossoms. 

For the afternoon and rest of the day, we will have a very special day, in which we will be guests at a Buddhist monastery. It will start with lunch, followed by a monk led Zazen (Zen meditation). We will then have free time at the monastery until dinner, and after dinner we will get to spend the night at the monastery!

Accommodations: Enryakuji Temple Shokubo

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

ARASHIYAMA BAMBOO FOREST |GEISHA EXPERIENCE | NINJA EXPERIENCE | NIJO CASTLE | TOJI TEMPLE LIGHT SHOW

We'll start our day with a visit to Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. A forest of bamboo trees measuring as tall as 80 feet, covering an area of almost 4,000 acres, the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest is nothing short of surreal, and it's one of the most Instagrammable locations today.  

We'll stop for lunch, and after lunch time, we will have two of the coolest experiences of our trip. First we will have a Geisha experience, where we will have a tea ceremony led by a real Geisha (or Maiko, an apprentice Geisha). Then we will have an optional Samurai Experience, where we will get to wear armor, learn sword fighting skills, and get to practice our Samurai skills!

We will follow that with a visit to Nijo Castle, our first castle of Japan. Nijo Castle was built in the 1600's as the residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the  first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867), and it's an illustration of how powerful the shogun (warlords) were in the that era, having been even more powerful than the emperor. 

In the evening we will go to Toji Temple, one of Japan's most famous pagodas, which, during the sakura, illuminates the flower blossoms providing a different viewing perspective and experience. 

Accommodations: Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kyoto Hachijoguchi (upgraded), Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto-Hachijoguchi (basic), or similar

Meals: Breakfast

OSAKA | OSAKA CASTLE | UMEDA | NAMBA

Today we say goodbye to Kyoto and get transferred to another one of Japan's major cities: Osaka.

We'll start our Osaka day by going to see its most famous landmark: the Osaka Castle. One of the three main castles of Japan, built in 1620, the Osaka Castle is not only breathtaking, but its flower blossoms are also some of the most beautiful. After the castle, we will visit Umeda, the city center of Osaka, and Namba, the bustling commercial district of the city. 

Accommodations: Sotetsu Grand Fresa Osaka Namba

Meals: Breakfast

KOBE | KITANO LJINKAN STREET |  NADAGIUKU SAKE BREWRY | HIMEJI CASTLE

We leave Osaka in the morning and head out to Kobe. We will arrive in Kobe later in the morning and see Kitano Ijinkan Street, a neighborhood of homes built 150 years ago when Japan opened up for foreigners but they were only allowed to live in certain areas. This is one of the most well-preserved foreign settlements with many mansions for us to go back in time and experience! Because of the western influences, the houses on Ijinkan Street (literally meaning "foreign residences") are different than the Japanese-style houses we see that era. 

After Ijinkan street we'll have free time for lunch. We will be in Kobe, the home of Kobe beef, quite possibly the best beef in the world, so those of us who eat meat will have a chance to enjoy authentic Kobe beef in Kobe!

After lunch we will continue to our next destination: Himeji. In Himeji we will visit Nadagiku Sake Brewery where we will get to taste authentic Japanese sake in Japan. We'll end the day with a visit to Himeji Castle, Japan’s best preserved feudal castle, also considered by many to be Japan's most beautiful. 

Accommodations: Hotel Nikko Himeji

Meals: Breakfast

HIROSHIMA | MIYAJIMA ISLAND | ATOMIC BOMB DOME | PEACE MEMORIAL MUSEUM | PEACE MEMORIAL PARK

After breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Hiroshima. We'll start our visit to Hiroshima by visiting the beautiful Miyajima Island. Miyajima is famous for its torii gate, which at high tide appears to be floating on the water. We will arrive on the island close to 12:00 PM, when the tide is low, and actually be able to walk on the sand to the gate and take pictures at the tori gate. 

We will spend a couple hours in Miyajima, and by the time we leave, the tory gate will be partially submerged, so we will get to see the gate with and without water. Another very cool thing about Miyajima is that it has wild deer that have grown so accustomed to humans that they let you pet them!

We'll leave Miyajima mid-to-early-afternoon, and visit sites related to the atomic bomb. We will see the Atomic Bomb Dome, the Peace Memorial Museum, and the Peace Memorial Park. 

Accommodations: Daiwa Roynet Hotel Hiroshima Ekimae or similar

Meals: Breakfast 

FLY TO NAHA, OKINAWA | FREE DAY IN NAHA

After breakfast, we will transfer to the airport and board a domestic flight to Naha, the capital of Okinawa. We'll arrive in Okinawa early in the afternoon, and have the rest of the day free to go to the beach, the hotel pool, and/or explore Naha on our own.

Accommodations: ANA Intercontinental Manza Beach Resort (upgraded), Rizzan Sea Park Hotel Tancha Bay (basic)

Meals: Breakfast

NAHA BEACHES | KOKUSAI STREET

For our last day of this amazing vacation, we will beach hop the beautiful beaches of Okinawa. We'll leave after breakfast and drive to different beaches, stopping and spending time at the beaches we enjoy the most. We'll be back mid-afternoon and relax at the hotel. 

In the evening we'll go out to Kokusai Street, the main street in Naha, and have an Okinawan farewell dinner.

Accommodations: ANA Intercontinental Manza Beach Resort (upgraded), Rizzan Sea Park Hotel Tancha Bay (basic)

Meals: Breakfast

DEPARTURE

After 16 unbelievable days, enjoying some of the most memorable places of our lives, it is now time to say "sayonara" to beautiful Japan. 

Accommodations: N/A

Meals: Breakfast