Japanese Garden Tour – Escorted Tour - Page 1 Day 1 Depart USA Day 2 Arrive Kyoto Travel by shared shuttle transfer from your Osaka arrival airport to our downtown hotel, the Royal Park THE Kyoto, located in central Kyoto near shopping and restaurants. The evening is free upon arrival. Hotel: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals included: None Day 3 Kyoto Begin an educational and informative journey into Kyoto’s fascinating gardens, religions and culture. We’ll start our tour at DaitokuDaitoku----jiji Zen monasterymonastery, where we’ll join a tea master for an experience of the Way of Tea. One of the monastery’s showpiece gardens is at ZuihoZuiho----in,in, featuring vigorously raked gravel and a fine arrangement of stones and moss. Next is KotoKotoKoto-Koto ---inininin, a temple dedicated to the practice of tea, set in a tea garden atmosphere of bamboo, maples and moss. The dramatic entry and the interplay of the 400-year-old buildings and tea rooms with the gardens is exceptional. On our final garden this morning, we visit the sub-temple, RyogenRyogen---- ininin,in with five dry gardens. Lunch will be on the monastery grounds. Beautifully presented, multi-course Buddhist vegetarian cuisine is served in red lacquer bowls. Later, we’ll visit the home and studio of a calligraphy master and performance artist to see him wield his gigantic brush, literally dancing across the paper to create a masterpiece-in-the-moment. We’ll end the day with a short walking tour of Kyoto’s downtown district, ending at our hotel. Dinner is at your leisure this evening. Accommodations: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals: Breakfast, Lunch Day 4 Kyoto We begin today in Western Kyoto in Arashiyama at TenryuTenryu----jijijiji, one of the oldest gardens in Kyoto, a large scroll garden and classic pond dating from the early 14 th century. The garden was designed by Muso Kokushi, a renowned priest, diplomat, meditation teacher and garden designer. After a short walk through the Bamboo ForestForest, we will have a tour of the HogonHogon----inininin villa, which is not open to the public. We have secured a special appointment that allows our group to explore the main villa building (usually reserved for private temple-related events). Built in the 1800’s, this sukiya-style (tea-ceremony inspired aesthetic) home is an exceptional example of fine wood finishing and exquisite attention to detail. We will begin our visit there with a leisurely guided stroll through the large, mossy green garden. Our guide there will be a master gardener garden historian who acted as staff consultant to the project. After our group lunch, we head for a special arranged visit to Moss Temple gardens, established in the 8 th century. Hear the priests chant the Heart Sutra in the main hall. Participants may choose to try their hand at calligraphy as a focusing exercise before entering the mystical five-acre stroll garden. We leave this area and proceed to an appointment at a private home and studio in the NishijinNishijin textile district. Here we will meet a 5th generation master of gold lealeaffff. In his beautifully preserved, traditional Kyoto-style merchant house, he will introduce you to his intricate process used to create custom obi (sash 9533 Rancho Palmas Dr. Las Vegas NV 89117 * 800-377-7481 * esprittravel.com * CST#1020919 * IATAN 29-678342 Japanese Garden Tour – Escorted Tour - Page 2 belts for kimono ) as well as show us his machiya -style garden which has been featured in Japanese publications. We will return to our hotel before heading out for a group dinner this evening. Hotel: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Day 5 Kyoto For today’s touring, we start at NanNanNanzenNan zenzenzen----jijijiji Zen monastery complex, home to three distinctly different dry gardens. From there, we’ll stroll along the famed Philosopher’s Walk, stopping along the way at a couple of private gardens as well as to see interesting residential entry gates and gardens. We will enter Jodo temple, Honen-in, to see its dramatically-placed, thatched entry gate set in a dimly-lit wild camellia forest. After lunch, we’ll end our walk at 15 th century GinkakuGinkaku----jijijiji, the Silver Pavilion, where we’ll enjoy the juxtaposition of a green garden and pond with abstract sand sculptures. Finally, we have planned a presentation with a Japanese ceramics expert at his gallery, with works representing a wide range of styles, both traditional and contemporary. His gallery is located in a well-preserved sukiya-style house and garden. Hotel: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Day 6 KyKyotootootooto We start today at KiyomizuKiyomizu----deraderaderadera Temple and its panoramic views of the city. There we’ll be guests of the temple priest’s family in their garden and home. The 400-year old scroll garden, called the “GardenGarden of tthehe MoonMoon,” uses traditional design to create a greatly expanded sense of space. After free time for strolling in the area, we will meet for a Kyoto-style tofu lunch. Next, we’ll stop at a craftsman wooden house, the former home and studio of potter Kawai KKanjiroanjiroanjiro. From there, we head to Sanjusangendo HallHall, a 900-year old structure that holds one of Asia’s most significant collections of statuary in Japan’s longest wooden building. Finally, we visit ChishakuChishaku----inininin Temple with its garden that overhangs a pond. Sample some of the exquisite cuisine that Kyoto has to offer while on your own for dinner tonight. Hotel: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Day 7 Kanazawa We start our day at ShisendoShisendo, the Hall of the Poet Hermits, the former home of a samurai which was later converted to a Soto Zen temple. After exploring the highly complex, yet deceptively simple transitional entry area, we enter to find a rustic, sukiya-style home and scroll garden. Next, we proceed to RengeiRengei----jiji Temple, where the temple’s abbot will introduce us to his scroll garden and invite us in for tea in a special tea room overlooking a natural stream. Often overlooked, this stunning garden and temple inspired architectural genius I.M. Pei. From there, we head to the mountain town of OharaOhara, just outside Kyoto, which offers us an experience of rural life in Japan to visit to a simple farmers market and a natural plant dye studio. Lunch is at Wappado, a restaurant run by a master chef and his wife, who grow much of their own organic produce and rice in Ohara. The meal is served in their restored old farmhouse. After lunch there will be free time to browse. You can visit Jakko-in, a Buddhist nunnery with a rustic garden, and stroll neighborhoods with large farm houses, vegetable gardens and rice paddies intermingled. At this time of year, the rice fields are flooded and the new growth can be seen and all of the small vegetable plots are filled with greens. We will regather to visit SanzenSanzen----inininin Temple, a 9533 Rancho Palmas Dr. Las Vegas NV 89117 * 800-377-7481 * esprittravel.com * CST#1020919 * IATAN 29-678342 Japanese Garden Tour – Escorted Tour - Page 3 1000-year old country temple and its two gardens (an exquisite gem that you often see in photographs.) before returning to downtown Kyoto. Hotel: Royal Park THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Day 8 Kyoto At 800-year old TofukuTofuku----jiji Zen monastery, you can see monumental Sino-Japanese-style buildings, dramatic bridges spanning the river gorge and stark stone and sand gardens that present many photographic opportunities at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the gardens within the sub-temples were designed by Mirei Shigemori. We travel to Fushimi Inari Shrine to explore part of the long tunnel made up of 10,000 orange torii gates that wind their way through the hills. Next, we will return to Shijo for free time for lunch. After lunch, we will have a walking tour of the historically preserved Gion district, home to one of the five communities of geisha in Kyoto followed by a presentation at a bamboo shop. For our group dinner tonight, we’ll dine in a restored 19th century manor house with a garden designed by Jihei Ogawa, lit up for our enjoyment at night. Hotel: Royal Park Hotel THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 9 KyotoKyoto/Kanazawa/Kanazawa Day Trip Today, we leave early by train, north to Kanazawa. Kanazawa was ruled by the Maeda family for three centuries after the first lord Toshiie Maeda entered Kanazawa Castle in 1583. Since the Kaga Clan invited many artists and craftsmen to this area, it achieved a high level of craftsmanship that continues to flourish to this day. Today it is a bustling small city. We start our touring at Nomura Garden at the home of a former samurai, in the Nagamachi Samurai quarter. After a light lunch, we visit the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Traditional Arts & Crafts to have a tour that highlights the arts of the area. We end at KenrokuKenroku---- enenen gardens, a large municipal park containing a very famous, meticulously maintained strolling garden that also dates back to the feudal era. We will return by train to Kyoto late in the afternoon. Hotel: Royal Park Hotel THE Kyoto Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch Day 10 Kyoto Starting at RyoanRyoan----ji,ji,ji,ji, we’ll see the 500-year-old garden which is actually a very early example of abstract installation art, then walk on to MyoshinMyoshin----jijijiji monastery’s Taizo-in. There we’ll view a private garden designed by famed painter, 16 th century Kano Motonobu, guided by Daiko Matsuyama-Osho-sama, vice-abbot of Taizo-in.