Dates: 21 Nov (Fri) – 02 Dec (Fri) 2025 12 days
* Fly Cairns to Kansai direct in 7 hours.

This trip is timed to maximise your experience of Japan’s Autumn colours and is specifically for Cairns Rotarians to meet Rotarians of Ibaraki City, Osaka We will spend 9 nights in Lyn & Will’s two traditional cottages in Ibaraki, midway between Kyoto and Osaka, one night in a Buddhist Temple at the top of a mountain and one night in a compact hotel, right in the middle of Osaka. Having a convenient home base most nights, you will have flexibility. Some can go shopping, while others hike down a mountain or play a round of golf.

As the nights could be getting down to single digits, hot baths at home or a soak in the hot spring down the road go well with drinking hot sake and bargain-priced wine around a bubbling pot of shabu shabu.

Inclusions:

• Fully escorted by Lyn, a bilingual Australian with extensive knowledge of Japan

• All accommodation - most nights in a traditional Japanese home

• An overnight stay in a Buddhist Temple

• A sleep in a tiny hotel (men & women separated)

• All meals

• All transport within Japan – domestic flight, trains, bullet trains, cable car, monorail, bicycles, taxis

• Most sightseeing, activities and entrance fees

• Assistance with planning should you wish to extend your time in Japan.
  
  Cost: AU$4,980 ** All guests must have travel insurance

Itinerary

Day 1 (Friday 21 November 2025)　（S)

Guests travelling from Cairns, Australia depart at 12:25h on JQ 15
Chauffeur to our home base

Day 3 (Sunday 23 November 2025) (B,L,D)

Being the weekend and ablaze with autumn colours, we will join in the many activities that will be happening at Expo Park, site of the 1970 World Exposition and only 3 km from home. As well as seasonal events, the park has Japan’s top Museum of Ethnology, a museum of art and Japanese Gardens. Adjoining Expo Park is Expoland - where we will look around the largest shopping mall and the largest ferris wheel in Japan.

Day 4 (Monday 24 November 2025) (B,L,D)

Being the capital of Japan for most of it’s history and home to over 1,000 temples, Kyoto remains the cultural capital of Japan. It’s also on every tourist’s hit list so we’ll plan carefully and decide together where we want to go. Nishiki Market and Gion are popular with foodies, while others might prefer a 2 hour boat and fabric hunting.

Day 7 (Thursday 27 November 2025) (B,D)

Around 10 a.m, we will head right through Osaka, deep into the mountains of Wakayama and up a cable car to the top of Mt Koya, the birthplace of Shingon Buddhism in Japan. Nestled in amongst towering conifers are many temples and shrines, some with World Heritage status.  We will gain insight into the lives of Buddhist priests as we eat a traditional vegetarian dinner and sleep on futons.

Day 8 (Friday 28 November 2025) (B,L,D)

Early morning, you may like to join the priests in prayer and meditation. Alternatively, you may snuggle into your futon and stay there until breakfast. Mt Koya has many UNESCO World Heritage sites to see and is a photograph’s paradise. Around 10 am, we will head back down the mountain into the bustling city of Osaka. Lyn will show you around her second home with all it’s craziness and introduce you to the many foods Osaka is famous for. We will stay in a tiny hotel tonight in the centre of Osaka - a huge contrast to our night before.

Day 9 (Saturday 29 November 2025) (B,L, D)
No visit to Japan is complete without seeing some deer. We will go to Nara where lots of deer roam freely around a giant buddha who is housed in the largest wooden building in the world. More UNESCO World Heritage sites today.

There’s also a very fancy restaurant in Nara that I’d like you to experience.

Late afternoon, we’ll train back home for a quiet evening.

Day 10 (Sunday 30 November 2025) (B,L,D)

Today we will get to know a few more neighbours who maintain their traditional customs. Nakao-san is a 5th generation sake brewer. He will show us around, explain the processes and lead us through a tasting session. We may also meet a local potter or Japanese sweet maker. Lyn also likes to show people the latest in home design in a display home village about 4 km from home.

Around 4 pm, Ogawa-san will help you to dress in kimono and we’ll do a photo shoot at home.

Day 11 (Monday 01 December 2025) (B, L, D)

Now that the crazy weekend crowds in search of the perfect autumn photos are back at work, we will go to see Katsuoji Temple and Minoh Waterfall about 6 km from our home. Apart from postcard shots of temples, towering maples ablaze with colour and a foot bath for any sore feet, we will snack on tempura maple leaves, yuzu ice cream and other local specialties. Pottery buffs will also love this place. Keen walkers can take on a long hike while others can go by car. .

Late afternoon we will have some time to shop for things you’d like to take home and time to take on some of the challenges in my book Turning Japanese in 101 easy steps.

For our last evening, we’ll invite the Ibaraki Rotarians to join us for dinner in a restaurant.

Day 12 (Tuesday 02 December 2025) (B, L, D)

On this last day, we have until around 4 pm unplanned so you can decide what you want to do and Lyn will help. Those of us leaving Japan for Australia will head to Kansai Airport and depart late evening (JQ 16 to Cairns departs at 9 pm).