Asia · Japan
Tokyo to Kanazawa to Naoshima to Kyoto to Mount Fuji — Japan yielding its deepest self to those who arrive without hurry.
About This Expedition
“Japan yields its deepest self slowly, and only to those who arrive without hurry and depart without regret.”
This fourteen-day private itinerary moves through the Japanese archipelago at the pace of the seasons — from the electric modernity of Tokyo to the exquisite craft traditions of Kanazawa, through the luminous art islands of the Seto Inland Sea, through the ancient capital of Kyoto at its most intimate, and finally to the silent grandeur of Mount Fuji, where the crater rim is reached by private helicopter at dawn.
Japan rewards those who have done the groundwork. The sushi counter at Saito — ranked among the ten finest in the world — does not take public reservations. The Tawaraya Ryokan, established in 1709, does not advertise. The Chihiro Art Museum does not issue public guided tours. These are the experiences that Martins Travel unlocks through fifteen years of returning with exactly the right clients, at exactly the right moments.
Every element is entirely private. Every property is personally inspected by our team. The guide who accompanies you has spent thirty years between these cities.
What Is Included
Day by Day
Every day has been sequenced to create a natural rhythm — arriving rested, departing enriched, and never once conscious of the machinery moving beneath you.
“The best journeys are felt in the body before they are understood by the mind.”
Tokyo
There is no more extraordinary hotel arrival in Asia than Aman Tokyo — occupying the top six floors of the Otemachi Tower, its lobby a vast cathedral of Japanese washi paper panels and Oya stone, the Imperial Palace gardens spread below. Day 1 is for resting and orienting: a walk through the palace gardens, an early dinner at the counter of a kappo restaurant in Ginza chosen by your Aman concierge. Day 2: the Tsukiji outer market at 5:30am — the hour when the fishing boats have already unloaded and the wholesale chefs are halfway through their morning. A private sushi counter at Saito in the evening — a reservation that has taken Martins three months to arrange, and is worth every day of the wait. Day 3: teamLab Planets, reserved exclusively for your party in the two hours before public opening, followed by the Nezu Museum gardens in autumn afternoon light.
Aman Tokyo, OtemachiKanazawa
The Shinkansen deposits you in two hours in Japan's finest city that most travellers never visit. Kanazawa was never bombed during the war — its geisha districts, samurai quarters, and Higashi Chaya tea houses survive intact and unhurried. Day 4: Kenroku-en Garden — one of the three great gardens of Japan — at the hour of opening, before the day tourists arrive, followed by a private kaiseki dinner at Miyoshian, whose kitchen occupies the edge of the garden itself. Day 5: a private lacquerware atelier, where a fifth-generation craftsman demonstrates the technique of urushi that his family has practiced since the Edo period; a kaga-yuzen silk-dyeing studio; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, whose permanent collection rivals any in Europe.
Hyatt Centric KanazawaNaoshima Island, Seto Inland Sea
Naoshima is one of the most extraordinary places on earth. Tadao Ando's Chichu Art Museum — buried in a hillside so that it does not interrupt the island's skyline — holds five Claude Monet water lily paintings in rooms flooded with precisely calibrated natural light: the only museum in the world where these paintings can be seen as Monet intended them to be seen. Benesse House is simultaneously museum and hotel; you sleep in a room surrounded by original Hockney, Warhol, and Jasper Johns. On Day 6 evening, the island's fishing village offers a private dinner hosted by the museum's artistic director. Day 7 is for the Setouchi Triennale's permanent installations that dot the island's bays and hillsides — each one a reason to return.
Benesse House, NaoshimaKyoto
The Tawaraya Ryokan, established in 1709, receives fewer than twenty guests each night and has no sign above its gate. Your room — no two are alike — opens onto a private garden that has been tended by three generations of the same family. An early morning Zen meditation session on Day 8 with a private monk at Ryoan-ji is followed by complete silence in the garden of fifteen stones, before the temple opens to the public. The Nishiki Market at 7am. A private tea ceremony in a 16th-century machiya in Nishiki with a tea master who carries certification from the Urasenke school. Day 10: a private boat on the Katsura River at dusk, watching the cormorant fishermen work the water with lit torches — a tradition practiced on this river for 1,300 years.
Tawaraya Ryokan, KyotoMount Fuji
A private ryokan at the base of the mountain — its outdoor hinoki cypress bath directly facing the southern slope of Fuji, which appears at first light as a triangle of rose and grey above the lake. The mountain has its own weather; some mornings it hides entirely. On the morning of Day 13, your private helicopter departs the lakeshore at 4:45am and reaches the crater rim at 5:15, precisely as the sun breaks the horizon in the east. The view from 3,776 metres — over a sea of cloud in every direction — is the single most extraordinary visual experience Japan can offer, and among the finest on the planet. The return to the ryokan takes twenty minutes. Breakfast is waiting on the terrace.
Hoshinoya Fuji, KawaguchikoWhere You Will Stay
Signature Property · Tokyo
Otemachi, Tokyo
The pinnacle of Japanese hospitality — 84 rooms across the top six floors of the Otemachi Tower, with the Imperial Palace gardens below and all of Tokyo beyond. The spa is the finest in the city.
Signature Property · Kyoto
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Established 1709. Eighteen rooms, no two alike, each with a private garden. The guest register includes virtually every head of state, cultural figure, and discreet titan of industry who has passed through Kyoto in the past century.
Signature Property · Naoshima
Naoshima Island, Seto Inland Sea
Designed by Tadao Ando. A museum that is also a hotel — guests sleep surrounded by original works by Hockney, Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Bruce Nauman. The most extraordinary art-hotel experience in the world.
Private Enquiry
This itinerary is a point of departure, not a fixed schedule. We will adapt every element to your preferences, your travel party, and the season of travel. Submit your details and a Martins Travel advisor will respond personally within 24 hours.