Ancient temples, neon cities, and cherry blossoms from the sea.
Japan from the water is Japan at its most revelatory. The circuits worth taking run twelve to thirteen nights from Tokyo, with double overnights in Kyoto, reached via Osaka, for temple immersion, Kobe for Wagyu at the source, and calls at Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Korea's Busan. The Nebuta Festival sailing in late July catches Aomori's illuminated float procession. Cherry blossom departures in late March and April are the most contested itineraries in ocean cruising, and they sell a year out.
The city of contradictions, Meiji Shrine's forest silence minutes from Shibuya's neon cascade. Tsukiji Outer Market at dawn. The Imperial Palace gardens in afternoon light.
Private sushi omakase at a 6-seat counter in Ginza
On a clear morning, Fuji materializes from the mist as the ship rounds the Izu Peninsula. Shimizu is the gateway, green tea plantations blanket the foothills.
Shizuoka green tea ceremony with views of Fuji
Two nights here. The Fushimi Inari shrine's thousand vermillion gates at dawn, the bamboo grove at Arashiyama in silence, and Gion at dusk where geisha still walk the stone lanes.
Private tea ceremony in a 400-year-old machiya townhouse
The Peace Memorial Park and Museum: essential, sobering, and ultimately hopeful. The ferry to Miyajima Island, where the floating torii gate stands in the Inland Sea.
Miyajima Island at high tide when the torii gate appears to float
Korea's second city, built into the hills above the sea. Jagalchi Fish Market is the largest in the country. The Gamcheon Culture Village is a hillside of painted houses and murals.
Fresh seafood feast at Jagalchi Market followed by Haedong Yonggungsa temple
Japan's window to the world for centuries of isolation. Dutch trading posts, Chinese temples, and a Peace Park that complements Hiroshima's. The harbor approach at dawn is striking.
Glover Garden and the view that inspired Madame Butterfly
Send your dates. We will come back with the sailings worth taking, the cabin to ask for, and what we would arrange ashore.