ITINERARY

Air & Land arrangement ex. Australia Passengers

21:45 Depart from Sydney by All Nippon Airways’ overnight flight NH880.
Flight details: ANA flight NH880 dep. Sydney at 21:45, arr.
Haneda at 05:20 on 09 NOV.

05:20 Arrive at Haneda Airport, Tokyo. After clearing quarantine and customs please make your own way to Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel and check in for 2 nights.
We suggest a taxi. The hotel is a short taxi ride away from Haneda Airport. The price is typically A$55-65. A standard taxi can hold 2 passengers plus luggage.

Tour Itinerary for all members Day 1 ~ Day 12

Please make your own way to Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel. See suggestion above. Official check in time at hotel is 15:00 and please check in for 2 nights.

Breakfast at hotel. Morning, you will be transferred to Yokohama by chartered coach to enjoy the quilt show.

<< International Quilt Festival Yokohama 2026 >>

On your return from Yokohama to Daiba, enjoy shopping at Nippori textile town. Transfer back to hotel by chartered coach. Evening at leisure.

After an early morning domestic flight from Tokyo to Naha on Okinawa Island, we will explore Kokusai Dori Street. Okinawa was once a separate kingdom and the dyeing method used for the decorative clothes of royalty from that period is called Bingata. Keep an eye out for these colourful fabrics as you shop. We will also enjoy a hands-on experience of Okinawa coral dyeing. Enjoy Shopping at Naha Fabric market, where you can find many beautiful traditional Okinawan Bingata designs. Check in at hotel in Naha.

Enjoy a full day tour, starting with a visit to The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, one of the largest aquarium tanks in the world and home to two 8 – 9 meter whale sharks. We will also visit Ryukyu Mura, a re-creation of an Okinawan village that allows visitors to experience the local culture, performing arts and nature first-hand and The Naha Traditional Craft Centre.

This morning we fly to Fukuoka on the southern-most of Japan’s 4 main islands, Kyushu. We will visit a Kasuri indigo dye textile workshop which is over 200 years old and one of the few weavers that continue to use traditional, indigo-dyed hand-woven methods. Enjoy another hands-on experience in indigo dying work. This unique program condenses the three months it usually takes to complete the 30 steps required to make Kurume Kasuri all into one day and is a great learning experience for those who love textiles and want to learn more about the principles behind Chikugo Kasuri. We transfer to our hotel in Nagasaki located a short walk from the historical precinct of Dejima. The hill-bound port city of Nagasaki saw the beginning of trade with the Portuguese in the 16th century and still has reminders of this romantic past, such as Glover Garden and historical western-style houses.
Check in at Hilton Hotel for 2 nights.

Enjoy a full-day tour of Imari & Mikawachi-cho, two famous pottery villages.
Travel on to some old porcelain villages in the Imari region. One of these villages is Arita, the cradle of porcelain manufacturing in Japan, a quiet town among the mountains of the western part of Saga. Ri Sampei, a potter from Korea, discovered a fine-quality white porcelain mineral nearby in Mt. Arita-Izumi-yama leading to the development of the pottery village. You will be transferred to another village Mikawachi-cho and visit master potter’s workshop. On returning to Nagasaki we will visit Dejima, a fan-shaped artificial island built in 1636 to house Dutch traders during Japan’s 300 year isolation of the Edo period. It played an important role in bringing Western technology and culture to Japan during that time and the buildings and landscapes have now been restored and can be visited as a historical site. Transfer back to hotel.

This morning we travel to Osaka on the main island Honshu by Bullet Train.
In the afternoon we visit Osaka’s textile wholesale town Senba for more fabric shopping. We return to the hotel and check in for 1 night. Osaka, now the 3rd largest city in Japan, has a long history as a mercantile centre stretching back thousands of years and is a vibrant, brash city which has become known in recent times as a culinary wonderland. We will be staying tonight in the heart of Osaka and this evening we will take an evening walk, escorted by our guide, around the colourful and famous Dotonbori area and have the opportunity to try delicious local street foods. Dotonbori is the biggest “downtown” precinct in Osaka. Advertising displays such as a neon sculpture of a famous sweet, huge moving crab and octopus shaped boards, moving dolls and boards shaped like animals, etc. battle for the attention of passers-by. Why not try Osaka’s soul food Kushikatsu or Okonomiyaki savory pancake at local restaurant.

Check out from the hotel and transfer by charted coach to Kyoto. On the way, we visit the ancient capital Nara to visit Todaiji temple, which was once the largest wooden structure in the world. The Great Buddha Hall is the Main Hall (Kondō) of Tōdai-ji. Built first in the Nara period it has been destroyed twice by fire, first in 1180 and again in 1567. We then travel on to Kyoto and enjoy another hands-on experience of creating silk scarf by the method of Itazome at Kyoto Shibori Museum. Check in at Karasuma Kyoto Hotel for 2 nights.

Early morning, we visit Kiyomizu Temple, nestled in a mountain to the east and overlooking the city. Part of the fun of visiting Kiyomizu temple is the approach to the temple along the steep and busy lanes of Kyoto’s old atmospheric Higashiyama district, as you share the winding and narrow lanes with pilgrims and local Japanese tourists. After exploring Kiyomizu region, we visit the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) now a beautiful Zen temple but once the retirement villa of the Shogun Ashikaga in northern Kyoto, and whose top two storeys are completely covered in gold leaf. Afternoon, you will enjoy another hands-on experience making a small table centre. Mid-afternoon, we return to the hotel. Rest of the day is free at leisure.

We travel to Ise Shima Peninsula which is home to Japan’s most sacred Shinto shrines, the Ise Shrines, and is paradoxically now a popular leisure resort area. Cross the Ujibashi bridge over Isuzugawa River at the entrance of Naiku. The bridge is said to separate a sacred realm from the everyday world. Also visit the old streets of Okage Yokocho and experience delicious local food . Okage-yokocho is a re-creation of the buildings on the road to the Ise Jingu that date back to the Edo Period and the Meiji Period. The area is lined with restaurants and souvenir shops that are distinct to Ise Shima. Mid-afternoon we arrive at Hojoen, a hot spring onsen resort and check in for 1 night. Perhaps take a dip in the Onsen before dinner. Enjoy a traditional multi-course Onsen meal this evening.

This morning we travel to Kiso Valley with its quaint historical post town of Tsumago where cars are banned and signs of modernity such as power lines are hidden to maintain the old-style ambience. Kiso is surrounded by some of Japan’s highest mountains, the Ontake mountain range to the west and the Central Alps to the east. Steep mountains and clear streams have been fostering Japanese cypress production for over 300 years. Prior to the Edo period, Kiso Valley prospered as a key junction for transportation and as a production area of Japanese cypress, the main building material for shrines and temples. Traditions and cultures in the Kiso Valley post towns have remained unchanged for centuries. After exploring Tsumago, we head back to Tokyo by Bullet Train. Check in at Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba Hotel for 1 night.

Today is our last day in Japan, so you might wish to do some last-minute souvenir hunting or an optional half day activity.
The official hotel check out time is 11:00 am
Airport transfer is not included. We suggest a taxi if your airport is Haneda. The trip from Daiba to Haneda Airport is 20 minutes by taxi and typically costs A$55-65. A standard taxi can hold 2 passengers plus luggage. If your departure airport is Narita, the Airport Limousine Bus is a good economical option and has luggage storage beneath the passenger cabin. The trip takes around 90 minutes and costs around A$30/person.

Air & Land arrangement ex. Australia Passengers

Airport transfer is not included.
Please make your own way to Haneda Airport Terminal 2.
22:45 Depart from Haneda/Tokyo by All Nippon Airways’ overnight flight NH879.
Flight details: ANA flight NH879 20NOV, dep. Haneda at 22:45, arr. Sydney at 10:30 on 21NOV.

10:30 Arrive in Sydney. Interstate travellers proceed to connecting flights.

Air & Land package prices 2026

*taxes and fees are subject to change

International & Japan domestic flights – by All Nippon Airways
Australian domestic flights – by Virgin Australia Airlines
Interstate travellers fly to Sydney on 08 Nov 2026 to join the tour flight to Japan.
The inflight service on Virgin Australia Airlines
is not included in the tour & air package deal.
Travelers wishing to request any services on Virgin Australian Airlines flights can organize them individually on the Virgin Australia website after the group tickets have been issued.

EXCLUSIONS

Your travel insurance. Please have your personal travel insurance cover to protect yourself. Passengers are responsible for securing any necessary visas, health and vaccination certificates and any medical tests required by Governments or airlines. Food other than that specified in the itinerary. Beverages. Airport transfers.

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