2023 Tour Sold Out
Embark on a truly extraordinary gourmet experience, guided by celebrity cook and author Adam Liaw, as we explore the hidden secrets that Japan's culinary world has to offer. Janesco has proudly partnered with Gullivers Sports Travel, and Adam Liaw to produce what will be a memorable tour for our exclusive guests who share our appetite for Japanese culture and cuisine.
Tour leader: Adam Liaw
Adam Liaw is a cook, writer and television presenter based in Sydney, Australia.
He is the author of five cookbooks. His latest, The Zen Kitchen, is available in stores now.
His television series, Destination Flavour, has travelled through Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Scandinavia and Singapore, and won the 2016 AACTA award for Best Lifestyle Television Program.
Adam is a regular columnist for Fairfax newspapers’ GoodFood, Sunday Life magazine and The Guardian.
In 2010 Adam won MasterChef Australia. His victory is still the most watched non-sporting television event in Australian history. In 2016, the Japanese government appointed Adam as an official “Goodwill Ambassador of Japanese Cuisine”.
With more than 300K followers, Adam’s social media presence is ranked by Klout as the most influential in the Australian food industry. Follow Adam on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or Twitter.
Adam is also UNICEF Australia’s National Ambassador for Nutrition.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1 Sun 12 March: Australia - Tokyo
21:35 Depart from Sydney by All Nippon Airways’ overnight flight NH880
Day 2 Mon 13 March: Tokyo - Noto [light lunch, welcome dinner]
05:10 Arrive in Tokyo. After clearing quarantine and customs check-in for your connecting flight to Noto, Flight no. NH747 dep. Haneda at 08:55, arr. Noto at 09:50. Travel to Noto Peninsula by chartered coach. Enjoy famous Wajima morning market bustling with locals doing their grocery shopping for freshly caught fish, local fruit and vegetables, and various dried goods as well as locally produced Wajima lacquerware. The market dates back over 1,000 years and draws everyday shoppers and curious visitors as well. We will also visit Yatai Kaikan to see four festival floats which form part of the autumn Takayama festival’s eleven floats (yatai). These elaborately decorated floats, up to 8 meters tall, are several hundred years old and are beautiful examples of Takayama’s legendary craftsmanship. We stay at onsen resort, welcome dinner at hotel. Enjoy experiencing the Japanese life style in a tatami room, enjoy a dip in a hot spring and sleep on futon bedding. Accommodation: Kagaya Aeno Kaze or similar
Day 3 Tue 14 March: Noto - Kanazawa [B, L]
This morning we travel to Kanazawa visiting Kanazawa’s famous Ohmi fish market and having lunch at Café & Brasserie Paul Bocuse. After lunch we step back in time with a visit to Kanazawa’s beautifully preserved historic Chaya Gai Geisha district with its many traditional wooden buildings. This area was established in 1820 as an entertainment district for rich merchants and nobility.
We move on to Kenrokuen Gardens, one of the top three landscaped gardens in Japan. It derives its fame and its name from its beautiful landscaping which embodies the six key principles of Japanese garden design.
After a stroll through Kenrokuen, we check in late afternoon at our hotel for 1 night.
Accommodation: Kanazawa Tokyu Hotel or similar
Day 4 Wed 15 March: Kanazawa - Osaka [B, D]
Morning at leisure.
At 10:45 we transfer to Kanazawa station. This morning we travel for Osaka by train along Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan.
Enjoy the scenery of rural Japan as you speed past rice paddies, farms, lakes and forests. Upon arrival in Osaka we will be transferred by chartered coach to our hotel. Check in for 2 nights. This evening we enjoy dinner at a local restaurant.
Accommodation: Hotel Nikko Osaka or similar
Day 5 Thu 16 March: Osaka [B, D]
Today we set out for some Osaka sightseeing, visiting Osaka Castle and Kuromon Ichiba, a lively covered market stretching for 580 meters in Osaka’s Chuo Ward. Nicknamed “Osaka’s kitchen” because both local homeowners and restaurant chefs get their supplies here, the market is famous for its fresh seafood and has over recent years become a popular tourist destination. So too is Doguya suji, nicknamed “Kitchenware street” by locals, a 150 meter arcade where you can find everything from ceramics, lacquerware, super sharp kitchen knives, and sturdy pots and pans to restaurant supplies like plastic replica food, large paper lanterns, noren split curtains, maneki neko beckoning cats and all kinds of restaurant signage. Dinner tonight is a buffet at the hotel. Accommodation: Hotel Nikko Osaka or similarDay 6 Fri 17 March: Osaka - Naoshima Art Island [B, L, D]
Catch a bullet train to Okayama and catch a ferry to travel to the world renowned art Island of Naoshima in Japan’s Inland Sea. Blessed with nature and attracting worldwide attention for its many contemporary art museums, Naoshima was selected by sightseeing magazine Conde Naste as one of the “seven places in the world you should see next.” We visit the inspiring Chichu museum, both a museum and a work of art in its own right. Check in at Benesse House Naoshima for 1 night. Dinner at the Michelin awarded Terrace restaurant at Benesse house. Accommodation: Benesse House Naoshima
Day 7 Sat 18 March: Naoshima - Takamatsu - Kyoto [B, L]
Morning, we catch an Inland Sea Ferry to Takamatsu, and visit Ritsurin Park which is the largest “National Special Scenic Beauty Garden” in Japan. Made up of 6 ponds and 13 hills beautifully arranged against the green pine trees of the surrounding hills and many stone arrangements the garden evokes the wonderful style of the early Edo era.
Enjoy a famous “Sanuki Udon” noodle for lunch in Kaiseki style at Gou Yashiki.
We then travel on to Kyoto. Upon arrival at Kyoto catch a subway for a few minutes to Shijo station and check in to our hotel for 3 nights.
Accommodation: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel or similar
DAY 8 Sun 19 March: Kyoto [B, L]
Kyoto is the spiritual heart of Japan and is home to many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It was the main centre for the evolution of religious and secular architecture and of garden design for almost a thousand years. During our stay in Kyoto we will get to experience this first hand beginning today with a morning sightseeing tour visiting two of its most famous UNESCO world heritage sites, the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) and Zuihou-in Zen temple & Zuihouin rock garden. Kinkakuji is a beautiful Zen temple whose top two stories are completely covered in gold leaf. After a morning of healthy exercise exploring temples and gardens, we will enjoy a Teppanyaki lunch at Tokiwa.
Afternoon, we visit Fushimi Inari famous for its thousands of vermillion torii gates
forming dazzling tunnels as they wend their way up the mountainside. Our next stop is a visit to the quaint 400 year old historic district of Higashiyama and the elegant and impressive Kiyomizu temple. Transfer back to Karasuma Kyoto hotel. Evening is at leisure.
Accommodation: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel or similar
Day 9 Mon 20 March: Kyoto [B, L]
This morning we are privileged to join Adam Liaw for a cooking class. The winner of Masterchef in 2010, he has moved on to write an array of cookbooks and his series on SBS Destination Flavour saw him take home an AACTA award in 2016 for the Best Lifestyle Television programme. In 2016, the Japanese government appointed Adam as an official “Goodwill Ambassador of Japanese Cuisine” so he is going to present us with an amazing opportunity to learn alongside him about one of his greatest passions. After Adam’s cooking demonstration, we will be transferred to one of Kyoto’s most famous Michelin award winning restaurants, Kinobu, where we will enjoy Kaiseki lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Accommodation: Karasuma Kyoto Hotel or similarDay 10 Tue 21 March: Kyoto - Tsumago - Tokyo [B, L, Fairwell Drinks]
This morning we travel to Kiso Valley, with its quaint historical post towns. Kiso Valley is surrounded by Japan’s foremost high mountains, the Ontake mountain range on the west and the Central Alps in the east. Prior to the Edo period, Kiso prospered as a key junction for transportation and as a production area of japanese cypress, the main building material for shrines and temples. We visit the post town of Tsumago, seldom visited by group tours, where cars are banned and signs of modernity such as power lines are hidden to maintain the old-style ambience. After taking some time to soak up the ambiance of real village Japan as we stroll through the narrow streets, we travel on to Tokyo travelling by bullet train. Upon arrival at Tokyo station, catch a local train one stop to Yurakucho/Ginza, the closest station to our hotel. We end our trip with a stay in a 5 star hotel, checking in at The Imperial Hotel Tokyo for 3 nights. Farewell drinks and get together this evening at a private function setting. Accommodation: Imperial Hotel Tokyo or similar
Day 11 Wed 22 March: Tokyo [B]
Day at leisure. Follow your tour escort and enjoy a walking tour of the Imperial Palace Garden.
Accommodation: Imperial Hotel Tokyo or similar
Day 12 Thu 23 March: Tokyo [B]
Day at leisure. Suggested activities
- Visit Asakusa temple
- Meiji Shrine & Akihabara
- Day trip to Nikko or Mt. Fuji
Accommodation: The Imperial Hotel Tokyo or similar
Day 13 Fri 24 March: Tokyo [B]
12.00 pm Check out from the hotel, where your tour ends. Enjoy your last day in Japan with some last minute souvenir hunting in Ginza or an optional half day activity. Your guide can assist you with transfer options for your departure to Haneda or Narita Airports.
Day 14 Sat 25 March: Australia
09:55 Arrive back in Australia
Additional Information
Tour Cost
From $8,850 for economy class package
• Non-refundable deposit of $1,000 payable at the time of booking
• Interim $4,000 payment payable by 90 days prior to departure (12 December 2022)
• Balance payment 52 days prior to departure (Thursday, 19 January 2023)
*Based on minimum 40 people travelling together on the same itinerary above
Tour Inclusions
- Return economy airfare flying All Nippon Airways: Sydney / Tokyo / Sydney
- Japan domestic flight from Tokyo to Noto
- 11x nights in a mix of 3 & 4 star accommodation (5 star hotel only in Tokyo)
- 23 meals (x11 breakfast, x7 lunch, x5 dinner)
- Gourmet restaurants included:
- Michelin Star restaurant - Terrace Restaurant Benesse House on Naoshima
- Michelin Star restaurant - Kinobu in Kyoto
- Café & Brasserie Paul Bocuse Kanazawa
- Gou Yashiki Takamatsu
- All entrance fees and admissions to temples, gardens, castles and museums in the itinerary
- All ground transport including trains and ferries included in the itinerary
- Tour escort
Tour Exclusions
- All Airline Taxes & Fuel Surcharge – valued from approx. $185 - $250 per person
- *Taxes & Fuel surcharges are subject to fluctuate up or down and will be reconfirmed at time of final invoice
- Excess baggage costs over and above limit set by airline
- Meals other than stated
- All services not mentioned under inclusions
- Tipping for tour guide or driver
- Items of personal nature (e.g. laundry, phone calls, room service, etc.).
- Passport and visa costs – please check with this office if you require visas for your tour. If you are travelling on a non-Australian passport please check if you require a re-entry visa.
- Travel Insurance HIGHLY RECOMMENDED– Please contact our team for assistance or quote if required
- All land costs shown are subject to alteration (up or down) due to currency fluctuations. Increases in land and air costs may arise between now and the date of departure. Costs will also depend on availability of flights, hotels, trains, buses etc quoted on. These costs are subject to the group travelling together throughout the tour. Any variation will incur an
amendment fee and may also jeopardise the costs for the rest of the group.