Circumnavigation of Japan: Cultures & Traditions Cruise

Day 1 - Tokyo

Arrive: Sun 04 May 2025 / Depart: Sun 04 May 2025

Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city's many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theater (in the Edo-Tokyo Museum)

Day 2 - Oarai

Day 3 - Sendai, Japan

Arrive: Tue 06 May 2025 / Depart: Tue 06 May 2025

Sendai is a city in Japan’s Tohoku Region, northeast of Tokyo on Honshu island. The remains of 17th-century Sendai Castle, built for samurai lord Date Masamune on Aoba Hill, overlook the city and include a museum of historic artifacts. The Sendai City Museum focuses on the history and culture of Japan’s Edo period, and displays Masamune’s samurai armor.

Day 4 - Hakodate

Arrive: Wed 07 May 2025 / Depart: Wed 07 May 2025

Hakodate is one of the main cities on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island. Looming over the town is 334m-high Mount Hakodate. The mountain's summit, reachable by aerial ropeway gondola, offers dramatic nighttime views. At its base is Motomachi, a neighborhood of steep streets with Western-style, early-20th-century buildings. A city landmark is the grand Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward, built in 1910.

Day 5 - Akita

Day 6 - Niigata

Day 7 - Sado Island, Japan

Arrive: Sat 10 May 2025 / Depart: Sat 10 May 2025

Sado Island is an island located in the eastern part of the Sea of Japan, under the jurisdiction of Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, with a coastline of 262.7 kilometres. In October 2017, Sado Island had a population of 55,212 people.

Day 8 - Kanazawa

Arrive: Sun 11 May 2025 / Depart: Sun 11 May 2025

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, on Japan’s central Honshu Island. It's known for well-preserved Edo-era districts, art museums and regional handicrafts. Kenrokuen Garden, begun in the 17th century, is celebrated for its classic landscape designs incorporating ponds and streams. Adjacent Kanazawa Castle was built in the 1580s, after the defeat of the Peasant’s Kingdom, Japan's only Buddhist fiefdom.

Day 9 - Sakaiminato

Arrive: Mon 12 May 2025 / Depart: Mon 12 May 2025

Day 10 - Busan, South Korea

Arrive: Tue 13 May 2025 / Depart: Tue 13 May 2025

Busan, a large port city in South Korea, is known for its beaches, mountains and temples. Busy Haeundae Beach features the Sea Life Aquarium, plus a Folk Square with traditional games such as tug-of-war, while Gwangalli Beach has many bars and views of modern Diamond Bridge. Beomeosa Temple, a Buddhist shrine founded in 678 A.D., is at the base of Geumjeong Mountain, which has hiking trails.

Day 11 - Hofu, Japan

Day 12 - Hiroshima

Arrive: Thu 15 May 2025 / Depart: Thu 15 May 2025

Hiroshima, a modern city on Japan’s Honshu Island, was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II. Today, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park commemorates the 1945 event. In the park are the ruins of Genbaku Dome, one of the few buildings that was left standing near ground zero. Other prominent sites include Shukkei-en, a formal Japanese garden, and Hiroshima Castle, a fortress surrounded by a moat and a park.

Day 12 - Miyajima

Day 13 - Kochi, Japan

Arrive: Fri 16 May 2025 / Depart: Fri 16 May 2025

Day 14 - Kobe

Day 15 - Toba

Day 16 - Shimizu

Arrive: Mon 19 May 2025 / Depart: Mon 19 May 2025

Sprawling, semi-rural Shimizu Ward is dominated by forested coastal mountains, with hiking trails and ropeway rides to dramatic viewpoints above Suruga Bay. Miho Beach Park is popular for swimming and water sports in summer, and there are baseball and soccer fields nearby, plus an aquarium at the Marine Science Center. Busy fisheries supply sushi bars and seafood markets with local specialties like sakura shrimp

Day 17 - Tokyo

Arrive: Tue 20 May 2025 / Depart: Tue 20 May 2025

Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city's many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theater (in the Edo-Tokyo Museum)