Spoil Your Senses on a culinary tour from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Japan Real Food Tour
Pack your chopsticks and celebrate thousands of years of food artistry by diving into one of the world’s most elegant, eclectic and harmonious cuisines.
Spend your time spent seeing the sights and scouting out prized eating and drinking spots. Watch yakitori sizzling in front of you in Shinjuku’s Memory Lane, eat fresh-off-the-boat sashimi and learn to make soba noodles in a hands-on cooking class. Glimpse a geisha drifting through the alleyways of Gion while in Kyoto and experience a charming obanzai dinner of Kyoto-style home-cooked dishes. Stay in a traditional ryokan in Takayama and eat vegetarian shojin ryori (monastic fare) with monks in Koyasan. If you’re looking for a trip that tantalises the tastebuds as well as your sense of adventure, this Japan Real Food Adventure ticks all the boxes.
Why you'll love the Japan Real Food Tour
- Food is taken seriously in Japan. From the station tonkatsu restaurant to the highest end sushi, Japanese people take pride in the cooking and presentation, and any bad meal is incredibly rare
- Tasting the succulent Hida beef in Takayama is the definition of a melt-in-your-mouth moment
- Exploring the unexpected underground foodie treasure trove that is a depachika (department store food court)
- Staying alongside the brothers of a monastery in Koya-san and discovering shojin ryori – vegetarian buddhist food that seeks enlightenment through perfection in cooking
- Experiencing the simple pleasures of obanzai ryori – the traditional home cuisine of Kyoto – in a cooking class
- Snacking on awesome and adventurous street food in the unofficial culinary capital of Osaka
Is the Japan Real Food Tour for you?
- This trip aims to give you an exciting, diverse and well-rounded experience of Japan’s cuisine. Come with an open mind and open mouth, and you won’t be disappointed!
- This itinerary is a great overview of Japan, however there is a lot to take in – especially in Tokyo and Kyoto. If you wish to spend more time exploring these cities, beyond what is included in your itinerary, we recommend extending your stay at the start and/or finish of your trip. We are confident you won’t run out of things to see or do!
- At the monastery in Koyasan, you’ll get to experience traditional bathing facilities. If you’re not into communal bathing though, it’s just one night so you won’t be far off your next shower.
- In some destinations you may be staying in a ryokan, which is a Japanese-style inn. It’s a great taste of tradition, however not everyone finds futon mattresses on the tatami mat floor, tiny bathrooms and proximity to other guests as comfortable as more western-style hotels and beds.