Sushi is the best known Japanese cuisine and you should love it! What if you will be able to learn how to make it from the professional sushi chef at a cozy sushi bar in Kyoto? It will not be just a cooking class, but also a learning of Japanese culture and history  by your heart.

You will be picked up at the hotel in the central Kyoto and learn how to handle ingredients and kitchen tools from a young, but passionate chef. After cooking, please enjoy delicious lunch with fruitful conversation with him!

After the lesson, we recommend to enjoy sightseeing nearby the sushi bar as an option. Daitokuji temple which is famous for its beautiful zen rock garden is just 5 minutes walk from the sushi bar.

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Sushi, Sukiyaki, Yakitori, Ramen are of course must-eat foods that represent Japanese cuisines. But local Japanese people do not eat them every day. Are you interested in tasting what locals enjoy? This tour takes you to Nakameguro and crawl several restaurants and bars crowded with local office workers (almost) without foreign tourists.

Nakameguro is a fashionable neighborhood but is full of local color. It is a good residential area and there are many restaurants with cozy and warm atmosphere filled with local people. Do not forget observing your surrounding as you walk through the town, because it is a great opportunity to see how ordinary people are living in Tokyo!

• Meet at Nakameguro station at 19:00
• Crawling restaurants and bars. Enjoy local cuisines among locals!
• Return to Nakameguro station around 21:30

*This tour usually covers Read More

Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama, Daido Moriyama, Yoshitomo Nara, Makoto Aida and Naoki Koide, etc., Japan is home for many talented artists. It will be very interesting experience to put yourself in Tokyo and feel the context that the great art works were created then to see the latest art pieces.

Japan has been produced unique artists in the stream of subculture, and some of them such as Hokusai Katsushika, affected artists in the Western countries since the 19th century. Likewise, artists in Japan today deliver great works and influence on people in the world.

• You will visit 2~5 galleries in Tokyo. This is a fully customized tour to reflect your preference.
• If you are an art collector, please inform us which artists you like and want to see/ purchase.
• If you do not have any names of your Read More

Mashiko town is located at 2hours away from Tokyo and it is a cozy, calm and small town surrounded by hills.  This small town is famous for pottery and thousands of people visit every May during pottery festival.

Mashiko ware is relatively “new” pottery in Japan and people started producing potteries there in the 19th century. Originally the products were for daily usage and transported to the capital of Japan Edo, which is Tokyo today. It was beginning of the 20th century that Mashiko became famous nationwide, when Shoji Hamada settled there and rediscovered the beauty of colors made by local ingredients. Today Mashiko potteries are known with rustic earth colors such as dark vermilion, brown and black. But at the same time, more than 80 potters are Read More

Kyoto has been not only capital of Japan but the center of culture since 794 . Still today, Kyoto is a place where we can see traditions. Having being protected by nobilities and rich merchants, high techniques of crafts such as weaving, several kinds of potteries, metal engravings, golden leaf works, and papers etc. have been transferred from generation to generation. When you visit any of workshop of those traditional crafts, you will be inspired not only by masters’s high skills and techniques  but also by their philosophy and the way of living as a master. We have a list of variety of masters who are happy to show you part of their works in action and to talk with you in person.

• Pottery Masters
  • Kiyomizu Ware
  • Raku Ware
  • Folk Pottery (Successor of Kanjiro Kawai)
• Weaving Read More

On this tour, you will visit the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum and several bonsai gardens in the Bonsai Village in Saitama. The Bonsai Village was open around 1925 as several bonsai farmers escaped from Tokyo after a big earthquake in 1923. By visiting different gardens you will learn different styles and concepts.

As a highlight of the tour, you will meet a professional bonsai master and make a small bonsai under his instruction. His garden and bonsai style have the honorable history of being loved by Prime Ministers, CEOs and loyal family members in Japan.

The tour is not only for guests who have interests in zen spirit or bonsai but also for those who want to use this opportunity to be introduced to the world of bonsai. The tour offers Read More

On this tour, a professional pottery artist who is a living master will help you gain an in-depth understanding of pottery in Japan.

Bizen ware is said to have originated in the 5th century and its simple beauty continues to fascinate us today. The tour will not only introduce you to major pottery styles in Japan and their history but also the way of life of ‘shokunin’ (masters) who produce them.

Tour details:
• Morning: We will visit the artist’s workshop located in the mountain area. He will show you his workshop/kiln and explain to you the way of life of ‘shokunin’, which is a core part of Japanese culture. You can experience making a Bizen ware, which can be sent to you at a later date (additional cost for material/postage).
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Can you believe that sword smiths still exist in modern day Japan? Yes, they do! Master Akihira is one of the most passionate swordsmiths out of about 80 active in Japan. He received his sword smith name Akihira from his master when he finished his many years of apprenticeship.

His workshop is not so far from Tokyo as he values frequent interaction with his clients in order to make swords that are just right for them. With an hour’s ride on the bullet train from Ueno station and 10 minutes’ drive by car, you arrive at his workshop.

Inside the workshop, you will be able see vividly his craftsmanship in action. Depending on when you visit Master Akihira, you will witness how chunk of iron turns into steel, or how the Read More

Now there are some places that serve you a cup of green tea or matcha as a “tea ceremony”. But you will not understand what really is only having a cup of tea without enough explanation. Tea ceremony is a comprehensive art that forms bases of Japanese art. Did you know many other arts like room decoration, flower arrangements, calligraphy, equipment, kaiseki dishes and sweets were invented or improved as tea ceremony was developed? We offer a tour through which you will learn more about tea ceremony and the culture and history behind.

This tour offers you a great experience of tea ceremony as well as learning of tea ceremony at a tea ceremony museum. It perfectly fits for the ones who want to learn deeply about tea ceremony and related arts.

• In the morning, we visit Read More

Sake or rice wine is important beverage to understand Japanese culture and it is produced almost all over Japan. Yes, even in Tokyo. On this tour, we will visit one sake brewery in Tokyo and witness the process of sake making. Once you step into the brewery, you catch the fresh, mellow fragrance of sake. After the tour in the brewery, let’s taste fresh sake and enjoy lunch afterwards.

• Meet the guide at Tokyo station at 10 am.
• Take a local train to the nearest station. During the about one hour ride, our guide will tell you the daily life in Tokyo.
• After walking from the station, you finally arrive at the brewery which was built more than 150 years ago. Enjoy the short lecture and tasting!
• Lunch is available at a restaurant operated by the brewery. Read More