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13/02/2026

For years, we have explored Japan's extraordinary culture, crafts, cuisine, and hospitality, tailoring bespoke trips for discerning travelers seeking the magic of the most remote regions and finding new perspectives in familiar places. 

Now, we invite you to join us.
Introducing Small Group Journeys.

Intimate by design, our collection offers deeply curated, expertly crafted, and passionately driven trips through Japan's profoundly rich yet lesser-known regions.

Link in bio to explore the collection.

For years, we have explored Japan's extraordinary culture, crafts, cuisine, and hospitality, tailoring bespoke trips for...
13/02/2026

For years, we have explored Japan's extraordinary culture, crafts, cuisine, and hospitality, tailoring bespoke trips for discerning travelers seeking the magic of the most remote regions and finding new perspectives in familiar places.

Now, we invite you to join us.
Introducing Small Group Journeys.

Intimate by design, our collection offers deeply curated, expertly crafted, and passionately driven trips through Japan's profoundly rich yet lesser-known regions.

Link in bio to explore the collection.

Happy New Year to all!As we reflect on a fulfilling 2025, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who journeyed wit...
09/01/2026

Happy New Year to all!

As we reflect on a fulfilling 2025, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who journeyed with us. Our trips spanned the entirety of Japan, from urban cores to the most remote pockets of the countryside.

If last year was about breadth, for 2026, our resolution is all about depth. We are doubling down on traveling deeply, learning deeply, and connecting deeply to the places and people who define them. Travel, done well, is about doing things sustainably and pursuing quality over quantity and substance over spectacle. And to that end, we have some exciting developments that put this resolution into practice, and we cannot wait to share them with you.

While it is the year of the horse, we chose to feature a Japanese phoenix, or houou (鳳凰), in the image above. It is a symbol of peace and good fortune—something the whole world can benefit from.

For the past year, we have been in the field, navigating mountain roads, meeting craftspeople, tasting local flavors, an...
19/12/2025

For the past year, we have been in the field, navigating mountain roads, meeting craftspeople, tasting local flavors, and turning dreams of traveling Japan into realities for travelers who want to explore as we do. We stepped away from the noise to focus on what we do best: unearthing the exceptional and the beautiful wherever we find it.

As 2025 draws to a close, we wanted to share the very best of what we found; not as a list of the most famous places in Japan, but as a curation of the stays, people, and crafts that moved us.

From a Tokyo icon to a category-defining ryokan in Kaga. A hospitality visionary in Kamakura to a food activist in Takayama.

Read the full selection via the link in our bio.

And if this list sparks an idea for your next journey, we are here to weave the best of Japan into an itinerary designed just for you.

18/12/2025

For the past year, we have been in the field, navigating mountain roads, meeting craftspeople, tasting local flavors, and turning dreams of traveling Japan into realities for travelers who want to explore as we do. We stepped away from the noise to focus on what we do best: unearthing the exceptional and the beautiful wherever we find it.

As 2025 draws to a close, we wanted to share the very best of what we found; not as a list of the most famous places in Japan, but as a curation of the stays, people, and crafts that moved us.

From a Tokyo icon to a category-defining ryokan in Kaga. A hospitality visionary in Kamakura to a food activist in Takayama.

Read the full selection via the link in our bio.

And if this list sparks an idea for your next journey, we are here to weave the best of Japan into an itinerary designed just for you.

In many parts of Japan, the arrival of winter is signaled not by the calendar date, but by the appearance of hanging per...
21/11/2025

In many parts of Japan, the arrival of winter is signaled not by the calendar date, but by the appearance of hanging persimmons under the nokish*ta (roof overhangs). These are hoshigaki, made from astringent persimmons that are inedible in their raw state. By peeling and hanging them to dry in the cold, dry breeze for weeks, they undergo an amazing transformation from bitter to sweet. This is the patient wisdom of the countryside at work, minimizing what could easily go to waste by sustainably harnessing wind and time.

越前和紙 | EchizenwashiThe town of Echizen in Fukui Prefecture has been a center of sustainable handcrafted washi paper for ...
01/09/2025

越前和紙 | Echizenwashi
The town of Echizen in Fukui Prefecture has been a center of sustainable handcrafted washi paper for over 1500 years. While that is hard enough to fathom from afar, visiting a paper production facility allows for true understanding of a process that is much more than the sum of its parts.

Witnessing washi in the making is a concert of sorts, with sounds and rhythms unique to this water-rich process. The steady back-and-forth rhythm of a pair of craftspeople working in sync, moving the large "suki keta" frame steadily back and forth through water, above water, filtering water to reveal a delicate sheet nearing final form.

Connecting this physical process to its spiritual roots, the nearby Okamoto Otaki Shrine--itself a divine work of masterful carpentry--is dedicated to the goddess of washi. Indeed, theirs is a tradition of beauty, harmony, and utility.

On the slopes of the Tachikui mountains in the city of Tamba-Sasayama are kilns that have been continuously produced sin...
01/07/2025

On the slopes of the Tachikui mountains in the city of Tamba-Sasayama are kilns that have been continuously produced since medieval times. This tradition, known as Tamba ware--one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns--has been praised by luminaries such as Bernard Leach and Soetsu Yanagi. Indeed, an authentic culture of craft remains in Tamba to this day.

For such a singularly illustrious ceramics heritage in a country renowned for its crafts, Tamba feels completely hidden from view, like an uncontacted tribe in a far-flung remote location. However, Tamba, located in east-central Hyogo Prefecture, is an easy trip from travel hubs such as Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. The small city of less than 50,000 keeps its doors wide open to anyone who enters, whether visiting the local castle ruins, the Museum of Ceramic Art, or today's potters themselves. 

We've come to know this place and its makers well. If you're curious to visit this mist-shrouded mountain town on your next trip to Japan, let us know! We'd be glad to bring you there.

The wonderful city of Toyama, with its eponymous bay on its north side and massive Tateyama mountain range to its south,...
28/05/2025

The wonderful city of Toyama, with its eponymous bay on its north side and massive Tateyama mountain range to its south, is a worthwhile visit and an excellent base from which to begin an adventure through Japan's Hokuriku region. From the Kengo Kuma-designed Glass Art Museum to a delightful, well-preserved Edo-era port town, Toyama is a city that beckons, with few foreign travelers who answer the call.

At just two and a half hours from Tokyo via bullet train, Toyama is a radical departure for leisure and adventure. That is, radically refreshing. Excellent food, crafts, cultural history, and natural beauty--stay tuned as we reveal more about this region soon!

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