A Beader's Tour of Japan Led By Olya Yampolsky September 16 - 30, 2024

• Arrival at Haneda International Airport at 3:25pm
•  Meet your transfer driver holding a sign with the group’s name in the arrivals area
• Private transfer to the hotel in Tokyo

Hotel New Otani Tokyo Garden Tower, 4-1 Kioi-cho, Tokyo, tel: +81-3-3265-1111

•  Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby to depart by private coach for the day’s touring
• Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, for the best of Japanese alternative fashion - Takeshita Dori, a
  street lined with shops filled with Japan’s latest hip trends - Design Festa Gallery,
  Omotesando, Tokyo’s Champs Elysees - Cat Street, a street lined with trendy shops that
  connect the areas of Omotesando and Shibuya - Aoyama, an affluent center for art,
  architecture, dining and shopping - Prada Building, Sunny Hills, a pineapple cake shop
  built by the famous architect Kengo Kuma – Shibuya, for the famous, busiest crossing in
  the world along with an array of young adult culture
•  Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant

• Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby to depart by private coach for the day’s touring
•  Drive to Shirakawago, roughly 1.5 hours
• Shirakawago Village Tour: Ogimachi Castle Ruins Observation Deck, medieval Japanese
  castle ruins that overlook the gorgeous surrounding landscape and collection of gassho-
  zukuri farmhouses below - Shirakawa Kaido Street, a quaint street with traditional
  buildings, home to many snack stalls and souvenir shops - Wada House, a 200 year old
  thatched roof farmhouse continuously inhabited by same family - Myozenji Temple &
  Museum, a rare temple with many thatched roof buildings
• Drive to Takayama, approximately 1 hour
• Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant

Takayama Green Hotel, 2 Chome-180, Takayama, tel: +81-5-7733-5500

• Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby to depart by private coach for the day’s touring
• Drive to Kiso Area (Approx 2 hours)
• The old Nakasendo Road between the two towns, once traveled by merchants in the Edo
  Era (1603-1868) as they made their way to Edo, which is now called Tokyo
• Continue to Nagoya (Approx 2 hours)
• Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant

Nagoya Marriott Associa Hotel, 1 Chome 1-4 Meieki, Nagoya, tel: =81-52-584-1111

• Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby to visit all or some of the following local sites:
• Visit the Hiroshima Peace Park dedicated to the lives lost in 1945 to the atomic bomb
  dropped here
• Visit the Genbaku Atomic Domb, the remains of a building that survived the bomb
• Visit Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
• Visit the Peace Memorial Museum
• Visit Orizuru Tower with beautiful views of the city
• Visit the Shukkeien Garden, a landscaped garden brought back to life after the war
• Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Hiroshima

• Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby
• Depart for a short walk to the railway station (4 min)
• Bullet train to Kyoto (40 minutes)
• On arrival meet your drive and board your private coach for the days touring
• Kyoto City Tour: – Nijo Castle, the Shogun’s castle, a window into the culture and
  history of Kyoto – Kinkakuji Temple, the Golden Pavilion, Kyoto’s iconic site with
  interesting history – Ryoanji Temple, famed for its unique Zen garden – Nishiki Market,
  the historic food market of Kyoto with traditional, typical and modern flavors to try –
  Gion, the famed geisha district to learn about this tradition which is kept alive in Kyoto
• Enjoy dinner with a Kyoto Geisha at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Kyoto

Hotel Nikko Princess, 630 Takahashicho, Kyoto, tel: +81-75-342-2111

• Meet your guide at 9am in the hotel lobby to depart by private coach
• On the way to Nara, stop at Fushimi Inari Taisha, famed for the thousand brilliant red
  torii gates
• Continue to Nara and visit the Kasuga Shrine, known for its beautiful stone and bronze
  lanterns – Deer Park, inhabited by deer believed to be messengers of the gods –
  Nigatsudo & Sangatsudo Halls, with unique traditional architecture and a view of the
  park – Todaiji Temple, one of the largest wooden structures in the world – Isui-en
  Garden, a typical Japanese garden incorporating the nearby hills as its backdrop
• Enjoy dinner at a local restaurant
• Overnight in Kyoto

• Breakfast at hotel. Half-day City Tour (Coach Tour with briefing by Tourist Guide):
• Suntec City + “Fountain of Wealth”
• “Esplanade by the Bay” (Structures look like the King of Fruits – “Durians”)
• Former City Hall & Parliament House
• Chinatown + Chinese Temple (20-min stopover)
• Little India + Arab Street + Haji Lane
• Lunch at own expense
• In the afternoon: visit to National Orchid Garden, Singapore Botanic Gardens – a 158-
  year-old haven of tropical greenery, it is the city’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Dinner @ Hooters, Clarke Quay – a historical riverside quay in Singapore, located within
  Singapore River. It is a unique, conserved historical landmark located close-by to the
  mouth of the Singapore River
• Overnight at hotel in Singapore.

• Breakfast at hotel. Shopping @ Orchard Road / Bugis Street

• Lunch at own expense

• Afternoon: Visit to Sands SkyPark Observation Deck

• Dinner @ Hopscotch Restaurant

• Spectra Show @ MBS

• Overnight at hotel in Singapore.