Indepth Cuisine & Culture of Japan Tour – May 16-29, 2019

[Marian Goldberg]

Lovers of Japanese food – and Japanese culture – won’t want to miss the small-group Cuisine & Culture of Japan Tour (May 16-29, 2019) from Esprit Travel. From sushi to Kobe beef, Michelin-starred kaiseki meals to humble train station bentos, this popular tour offers insider perspectives of Japan’s UNESCO-honored cuisine through cooking classes, market and farm visits and meals by top chefs. 

 

Now in its third year, the small-group tour (up to 15 people) covers the gourmet hubs of Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, including: 

• meals at some of Japan’s best-known restaurants for elegant kaiseki cuisine,tempura,
• Kobe beef and more farm-to-table experiences
• market districts for gourmet foods, tableware and kitchen supplies
• a famed depachika, department store food hall 
• a lesson from a master of the Way of Tea (tea ceremony)
• countryside excursions to a farm village and a green tea plantation
• a sake brewery with museum and tasting
• educational visits to galleries for knives and ceramics, with shopping opportunities
• cooking classes for sushi, noodle-making and everyday home cooking
• a guided walk through a Japanese supermarket.

 

The tour also explores Japan’s unique culture, including: 

• specially arranged visits to Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines
• famous gardens of Kanazawa and Kyoto
• textiles at one of the country’s most innovative studios and a dye workshop which grows its own natural pigments
• classical and Pritzker-prize-winning modern 
• natural beauty in a country villa and bamboo forest
• bright lights and big city energy of Tokyo and Osaka

 

The tour is led by noted travel and food writer Andrew Bender. Over decades living or working in Japan, Andy has contributed to over a dozen Japan guide books for Lonely Planet and Frommer’s and written numerous articles about Japan and food for other publications, including the closely-watched annual food and restaurant trends list for Forbes. 

 

This tour is offered by Esprit Travel & Tours, a specialist in insider, small group tours to Japan  for over 25 years Japan.