An Art Lover’s Tour of Japan

14 days from £11,055 for 2023 per person

• Tokyo
• Naoshima
• Kurashiki
• Kyoto
• Hakone

This itinerary is one of Ampersand's Top 10 Cultural Holidays.

We have long been fascinated with Japanese art. The Impressionists’ love of Japonisme is returned in kind, with some of the European masters’ paintings to be found amongst ancient and modern Japanese masterpieces on this tour. 

Start in style with a guided stroll around the boutique stores and side-streets of the Daikanyama area, where discerning Tokyoites pick out the latest designs. After you’ve relaxed and freshened up in your specially designed room at the Park Hotel, explore Roppongi art triangle from the gallery at the top of Mori art tower to the national gallery and Suntory art museum. The nearby Nezu museum is a treasure trove of Japanese laquerware, housed in a stylish modern building designed by Kengo Kuma but with one of Tokyo's most charming traditional gardens alongside.

Head west on the bullet train then off the beaten track down to Naoshima island, devoted to modern art housed in the architecture of Tadao Ando, with sculptures and installations dotted all about the islands. Continue to the picturesque and historically rich old trading town of Kurashiki with its inspired Ohara museum of Western and 20th century Japanese art. There is more classic Japanese and impressionist art to be found in Hiroshima, which you can explore on a day trip from Kurashiki before heading back eastwards by bullet train to Kyoto. There is a wealth of temples and gardens to explore including a traditional townhouse and the chance to try on a kimono, as well as regular fine art exhibitions at the national museum. A private guide and a driver will be on hand one day to make the most of the time in this rich and rewarding cultural mecca.

You’ll then head to Hakone in the foothills of Mt Fuji where the novel and absorbing open-air sculpture museum deserves a couple of hours of your time. Complete the circuit around the national park by mountain railway, cable cars and a boat across the lake before a sumptuous kaiseki multi-course dinner at one of the area’s renowned traditional ryokan.

It's a short ride back to Tokyo from here where you have two more nights to delve into this vast and futuristic city. Two hours' drive but a world away from modernity lies Nikko, with its ornate Chinese-influenced shrines for the Tokugawa shoguns. It completes the full aesthetic experience of Japan and you can't say 'enough' until you've seen it, as an old Japanese saying goes. 

This tour is purely a suggested itinerary: it can be booked as it is, or alternatively used as a starting point for creating your own ideal tailor-made tour of Japan. If you'd like to see some of our other favourite itineraries across Asia, take a look at the Ampersand Favourites and Epic Journeys collections.

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.
Rudyard Kipling