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Tour dates & itinerary for tour commencing January 26th 2007
Proposed Schedule (this may change, please refer to notes below)
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Day
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Date
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Destination(s) - Click for info
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Depart+
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Return+
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Lunch+
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1
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JAN/26
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Early today we head to Okutono Jinya and drink
tea in a old samurai barracks with a beautiful Japanese garden, before heading to one of the key reasons for Japan's emergence
as a modern economy. At Toyota Motor we walk through their superb Kaikan,
learning about the processes involved before heading to a Toyota Motor Factory
for a birdseye view. On our return journey we visit historic Daijuji - the ancestral
temple of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Matsudaira clan, with its unique pagoda and artworks. In the evening we head through the alps and make our way to
Nagano.
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0820
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N/A
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Yes
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2
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JAN/27
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In Nagano City our
first destination is the famous Zenkouji, one of the
major pilgrimage centers in Japan and home to the "Key to Paradise".
From Nagano City we'll head to
Jigokudani Onsen and fascinating
Yudanaka Snow Monkeys - enjoying
the walk through the snowy forest on the way. We stop for a soak in a nice outdoor onsen before making our way to
Matsushiro.
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N/A
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N/A
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No
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3
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JAN/28
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In the historic castle town of
Matsushiro we enter the Sanada residence and the incredible underground
WWII Imperial Headquarters carved out of the rocks beneath the mountains by forced labour (primarily Koreans who endured severe hardships) during the 10 months leading up to Japan's unconditional surrender in August 1945. We still do not know how many people died digging the headquarters, and during the long walk through the underground tunnels its hard to come to grips with how many more lives would have been lost had the war continued. From Matsushiro we move to
Matsumoto, an old but prosperous town centered on
Matsumoto Castle - one of the few castles in
Japan designated a national treasure. In addition to the castle we'll visit the magnificent
Japan Ukiyoe Museum, which houses the Sakai
Collection of ukiyoe works before making our way via Komagane back to Aichi in the evening.
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N/A
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2100
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No
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4
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JAN/29
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We head to the ancient capital of Nara, visiting
Kofukuji, and walking through
Nara Koen with its sacred deer to Kasuga Taisha. From here we head across to Nigatsudo and the world heritage listed Todaiji, the largest wooden structure in the world and home to Nara's famous daibutsu. If the weather is wet we'll visit the Isuien Garden & the Neiraku Museum. If it is dry we'll drive to the top of Wakasayama which gives us a fantastic view of the Yamato plain stretching from the outskirts of
Osaka northwards to the southern outskirts of
Kyoto.
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0730
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1930
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No
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5
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JAN/30
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We first visit
Takisanji with its perfect
Kamakura period
architecture and magnificent
gate built in 1267 by Mitsunobu Fujiwara,
also taking time to get a close look at the beautiful
Toshogu built by the 3rd and most
powerful shogun of the Edo period
Tokugawa Iemitsu. We then drive to the old post town of Goyu,
a station on the old Tokaido linking Kyoto with Edo, made famous in Ukiyoe prints such as those by the artist
Utagawa Hiroshige.
Here we can walk along a preserved pine tree lined
stretch of the old road, stopping by a 300 year old inn and the small town's fascinating shiryokan.
In the afternoon we visit Horaiji-san - a
1300 year old temple set amongst the cliffs and if the weather is fine we'll hike up to Oku-no-in for the spectacular views (if the weather is wet we will instead visit one of the increasingly rare senmaida). We finish the day with a visit to the Nagashino Castle Ruins and the
Shitagahara Battlefield and Museum - a turning point in Japanese history where
Oda Nobunaga and
Tokugawa Ieyasu defeated the cavalry of the Takeda clan in 1575.
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0820
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1900
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Yes
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+Departure from/Return to Okazaki times given using 24 hour clock (ie 0800 = 8am, 1830 = 6.30pm)
+Lunch - Yes/No indicates whether lunch is included or not.
Return = N/A means an overnight stay, usually in a ryokan or minshuku, where evening meal/breakfast is always included.
Discounts: As this is an off-season tour (the usual number of participants is 5 or less), it is possible to obtain
a discount of 5000 yen off the program fee (in addition to the accommodation discounts offered through the "early bird" pass) if payment is completed more than ten weeks before program commencement.
Notes:
In the week before a tour commences, a briefing will be held for the participants. If the number of students
participating is 9 students or less (which is usually the case in the off season), then the actual destinations, or the
order in which they are visited, can often be altered to reflect the specific interests of the group members.
Please also note that the schedule may need to be changed in the event of inclement weather/typhoons etc, or the unforeseen closure
of any given destination. Appropriate alternative destinations are chosen only after consultation with you.
To help ensure that students can budget for expenses accurately, Institute staff will either purchase food (usually
bento and drinks) for you to eat or find a reasonably priced restaurant (maximum cost 1000 yen - with Yamasa paying for the
remainder of your food bill) if due to traffic/weather conditions we are delayed by more than one hour on the days we
return to Okazaki accommodation.
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C O M M U N I T Y M E M B E R S
