Japan's Southern Treasures

Welcome to Osaka, Japan. Upon arrival, transfer to your hotel for a one-night Special Stay. This evening enjoy your Club Floor benefits before meeting your Tour Director for your briefing and then heading to the lively entertainment area of Dotonbori and Hozenji Yokocho food alley for your welcome dinner. (D)

Drive to the Kirin Beer Factory in Kobe for lunch, tasting and a tour of the factory. Travel by Shinkansen to Okayama visit to the 300-year-old Korakuen Garden, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Continue to Kurashiki and check into your hotel for a two-night stay. (B/L/D)

Take the ferry from Uno Port to the artistic island of Naoshima - known for its modern art museums, architecture, and sculptures including the famous giant pumpkin created by Yayoi Kusama. Visit the many sites and experiences of the Art House Project, a collection of abandoned houses, workshops, a temple and a shrine that have been converted into art installations.

After lunch at Benesse House, visit Lee Ufan Museum, a semi-underground structure resulting from the collaboration between internationally acclaimed artist Lee Ufan and architect Tadao Ando. Later visit Chichu Art Museum, constructed in 2004 as a site rethinking the relationship between nature and people. Return to Kurashiki for the night at your leisure to walk around the atmospheric canal area. (B/L)

Return to Okayama before travelling by shinkansen to Kitakyushu. Upon arrival tour the Yawata Steel Works before checking into your hotel for the night. Take the cable car up Mt. Sarakura to enjoy dinner overlooking Kitakyushu, the view recognised as one of the three best night views in Japan. (B/L/D)

Begin the day with a visit to the TOTO museum which leads visitors through the history of TOTO and its famous products. Continue to Moji Port District for lunch. Moji Port developed into a hub for international trade with China and other countries when it opened as an international trading port in 1889.

Drive to the historic town of Dazaifu, established in the late 7th century and served as the administrative centre of the entire island of Kyushu for over 500 years. Check in to your Special Stay ryokan for the night your hotel is a decentralized hotel that renovates buildings from the late Edo and Meiji periods that are scattered around Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine.

Enrich: Enjoy an evening and after hours visit to the atmospheric Dazaifu Tenmangu shrine accompanied by one of the resident priests. (B/L/D)

Head to one of the main tea growing districts of Kyushu, Hoshina village known for its high-quality tea. Here at the Hoshino Tea Museum, partake in some lessons about tea culture, from grinding the tea leaves through to how to correctly drink Matcha Tea. Continue to Tao Open Air Theatre in Aso Kuju National Park for lunch at Tao House.

Enrich: Take your seat in this open-air theatre overlooking the picturesque expanse of the Aso mountains and endless grasslands to witness a live performance on their 'Skyward Stage' by the world-renowned taiko drumming entertainment group DRUM TAO.

After the performance, drive to Konokoe Yume Suspension Bridge, Japan’s longest and loftiest pedestrian bridge, before continuing onto Beppu and your Special Stay hotel for the next three nights, your hotel is perched in the foothills overlooking Beppu. (B/L/D)

Visit the Kannawa District, the location of some of the Seven Hells which are renowned hot springs that are too hot to bath in with very different appearances. You will visit three of the seven, the colbolt blue Umi Jigoku (Sea), Oniishibozo Jigoku (Muddy) and Kamado Jigoku.

Afterwards take a short walk to the Beppu Kannawa Jigoku Onsen Museum. Then stroll around the streets of Beppu observing how the geothermal steam vents have shaped the layout of the town. Today’s lunch is a local specialty at Mushichiarou restaurant, where your lunch is cooked using the geothermal steam of the region using specially designed and manufactured pots made from stainless steel. (B/L/D)

Freechoice: The Beppu Sand bath is a unique experience only possible in Kyushu. For centuries, Japanese have travelled from all over the country to experience the health benefits of the geothermally heated sand that is said to refresh your entire body. You’ll be given a yukata to change into before being covered in geothermally heated sand (42 °C). Close your eyes and listen to the sound of the waves as the warm sand relaxes your muscles. Alternatively visit the Nagai Bamboo Factory where you can explore the whole process from washing, cutting and shaving the bamboo material to making bamboo products.

Head down from the mountains and drive to Kitsuki, Kyushu’s little Kyoto, to visit Japan’s smallest castle and its surrounding Samurai District. After lunch continue into the forests in Kunisaki Peninsula to visit Monjusenji Temple reputed to have been opened in 648. (B/L)

Enrich: Witness the Gomataki Fire Stick ritual, where a sacrificial fire is kindled and consecrated by a monk before invoking divinities and making offerings of your prayers written on sticks.

Continue to Futago-ji Temple located on the slopes of Mt Futago. It was established in 718 as the centre of ancient worship by devotees of Rokugo Manzan, a religion that combined elements of Buddhism, Shintoism, and ancient mountain worship. Devotee monks would trek through the peninsula's mountains in prayer, chant and meditation. Return to your hotel for a night at leisure to try the hotel’s deluxe onsens.

Drive to Yufuin onsen where on arrival enjoy a 30-minute rickshaw ride around town and Lake Kinrin. Then walk along the main street, Yunotsubo Kaido which boasts charming cafes, restaurants, museums. Continue to Kuju Winery located at the foot of Mount Kuju. Established in 2002 the winery is now Japan’s largest and produces their own original wine at its 5-hectare vineyard.

After lunch here, enjoy some wine tasting and a tour before driving through the grasslands of Aso Kuju National Park to Mt Aso Nakadake Crater to view inside Japan’s most active volcano (access permitting). Continue your drive to Kuma Valley for a two night stay. (B/L/D)

Freechoice: Choose from e-bike tour of the Hidden Valley of Spirits where you embark on an exhilarating adventure. Alternatively try a Local Cuisine Cooking Adventure at the hotel where you discover the art of creating umami (means “delicious savory taste” in Japanese) through traditional fermentation with Secchan.

After lunch visit the Kuma shochu brewery, the oldest shochu distillery in the Kuma Valley with a history dating back 350 years. (B/L)

This morning at the treasured Shinguzenji Temple, discover your inner warrior and try the Taisharyu Samurai and sword experience, a style of traditional martial arts that was founded in the late 16th century by the legendary samurai Marume Kurando, who hailed from the Sagara domain. Drive to Kumamoto, one of Japan’s less visited gems.

After lunch upon arrival, move to Suizenji Jojuen Garden, built by the Hosokawa family in 1671. Explore the artfully manicured gardens and enjoy some traditional Japanese sweets and matcha tea at the garden’s teahouse with a view. Ride the Kumamoto City Tram (streetcar) service to your hotel for the next two nights. (B/L/D)

Freechoice Dining: With your Tour Director, explore the local nightlife in the surrounding streets and alleyways around Shimotori Arcade with a meal at Yokobachi, an Izakaya restaurant. Alternatively dine at Suncielo, an Italian restaurant that offers authentic courses made with local seasonal ingredients at ANA Crown Plaza Hotel.

Spend the morning exploring the iconic Kumamoto Castle, now reopened after repairs from the devasting earthquake in 2016. This castle played a pivotal role in the Seinan Civil War which occurred a few years after the Meiji Restoration, during which the famous samurai Saigo Takamori led an uprising in Kyushu against the new government who had troops garrisoned inside the castle. The Uto Turret is one of the few structures that survived the siege of 1877.

After lunch, learn about the art of creating the traditional Japanese sweets called ‘wagashi’ in a hands-on class at the 230-year-old sweet shop Kitagawa Tenmeido. The remainder of the day is at your leisure. (B/L)

Drive back into the countryside of Kyushu to the small town of Yamaga, home to one of the 17 remaining traditional Kabuki theatres left in Japan. Walk throughout this theatre to understand the backstage workings of this traditional art.

Enroute to Nagasaki, a stop in Kashima means a visit the sake brewery Onyado Fukuchiya - Hizen Hamashuku, where the sake "Nabeshima" was born. It is a post town which still retains its appearance from the Edo Period and has been selected an area of historical value and important traditional buildings preservation district of the country. On arrival in Nagasaki, check into your boutique hotel for the next two nights. (B/L/D)

Freechoice: Over time, Nagasaki’s growth has been shaped by many diverse foreign powers. Explore the footprint of Christianity left by European powers. Alternatively, visit Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum and reflect on a more tragic and modern notoriety.

Enjoy your afternoon at leisure before meeting up to venture by cable car to Inasayama Observatory at the top of Mt Inasa to take in the sweeping vista of the city, another of Japan's three best night views. (B/D)

Leave Nagasaki and cross through the countryside of Saga Prefecture to Fukuoka, stopping into the world-famous pottery village of Arita en-route. Arita was where porcelain was first made in Japan and a visit to the Kyushi Ceramic Museum will help you gain an understanding of the character and history of Kyushu ceramics. After walking the old streets of Arita continue to Karatsu for lunch and a visit to the Karatsu Hikiyama Exhibition Hall, which houses a collection of 19th century floats used in the annual Kunchi Festival.

Later arrive at your hotel in Fukuoka, your luxury hotel for the next two nights in the centre of the city. This evening your Tour Director will take you down to Fukuoka’s open air food stalls (Yatai), located walking distance to your hotel, to help you choose your own meal of Yakitori, Oden or Hakata Ramen dinner. (B/L)

Fukuoka is the capital city of Fukuoka Province and most populous city on the island. Begin your exploration of the city at Shofuku-ji, the oldest Zen Temple in Japan before seeing the sixth century Kushida Shinto Shrine. Next, wander through the Hakata Machiya Folk Museum where you can witness first-hand the prestigious Hakata-ori woven textile being made and displays on daily life in the Meiji and Taisho eras.

Freechoice: Drive to Yanagawa, dubbed the ‘Venice of Kyushu’ for a Kawakudari boat ride and visit to Yanagawa Ohana, the villa of the Tachibana family, which ruled Yanagawa from roughly 1600 – 1868. Alternatively visit Fukuoka Tower and Fukuoka castle ruins in Maizuru Park.

Gather tonight for your farewell dinner. (B/L/D)

Depart today with treasured memories of your wonderful time in Kyushu, Japan.

The itinerary is a guide only and may be amended for operational reasons. As such Scenic cannot guarantee the journey will operate unaltered from the itinerary stated above. Please refer to our terms and conditions for further information. (B)