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Option A - Tour Dates for tour commencing June 12th 2009
Study Component Schedule
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Study Length
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Arrival*
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Commence
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Holidays**
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End Studies
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10 weeks
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MAR/31-APR/01
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APR/02
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APR/10, MAY/03-05, JUN/05
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JUN/11
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8 weeks
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APR/14-15
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APR/16
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MAY/03-05, JUN/05
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JUN/11
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6 weeks
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APR/28-29
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APR/30
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MAY/03-05, JUN/05
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JUN/11
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4 weeks
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MAY/12-13
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MAY/14
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JUN/05
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JUN/11
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2 weeks
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MAY/26-27
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MAY/28
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JUN/05
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JUN/11
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*Arrival - there is an airport transfer available on arrival for the study component.
**Public/Institute holidays affecting classes are listed here in full.
Proposed Tour 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)/Notes
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Depart+
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Return+
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Lunch+
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1
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June 12th
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Day trip: We start with a visit to Okutono Jinya and drink tea in a 300 year old samurai barracks,
and stroll through the moss garden, before heading to one of the key reasons for Japan's emergence as a modern economy.
At Toyota Motor Corporation we walk through their superb
Kaikan, learning about the processes involved
before heading to a Toyota Motor Factory for
a birdseye view of thousands of robots and an exceptionally sophisticated production system. On our return journey we visit historic Daijuji -
the ancestral temple of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Matsudaira
clan, with its unique pagoda and artworks. Our next destination is another
center of excellence, however instead of the 21st century technologies of
Toyota, the methods used by
Hatcho Miso are ancient and the product
unchanging throughout the centuries.
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0900
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1730
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Yes
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|
2
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June 13th
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Overnight trip: We begin a tour of the Kansai region with a visit to
Mimurotoji temple in Uji, with its ancient buildings and vast hydrangea gardens. From here we head to the port city of
Kobe, where we will explore the old
foreign settlement of Kitano with
it's winding streets & historic buildings such as the old
Chinese consulate and the US Consul's
Moeginoyakata. These buildings date from
the 18th century treaties that re-opened Japan to the world after the long period of seclusion under the rule of the
Tokugawa Shogunate. We will visit a sake brewery and Kobe's historic chinatown -
Nankin-machi, before heading to our final
destination, Himeji. At this time of year the
magnificent Himeji castle is floodlit. We will have a look around, and then those who are still genki will find a
nice cosy bar.
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0730
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N/A
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No
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3
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June 14th
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In the morning we will visit the massive and world heritage listed
Himeji Castle. This is the
most extensively preserved castle in Japan, never damaged by war (including WWII) and one of only four castles in Japan
that are designated as national treasures. Rebuilt from 1600 by Ikeda
Terumasa, many famous figures including Senhime and
Miyamoto Musashi, the master of two-sword fencing are closely associated with Himeji Castle. From here we will head to the
vast hilltop monastery complex of Shoshazan. This is
one of the most important pilgramage sites in western Japan, almost completely intact, and yet due to its relative isolation it is
rarely crowded. You may have
seen some parts of it before since it was where many of the scenes of the movie "The Last Samurai" were filmed as there are
scores of original buildings in the monastery complex and very little evidence of modern life. Our
final destination today is the city of Nara, the first
permanent capital of Japan (710-794). In Nara we will (assuming traffic is kind) visit
Todaiji, home of Nara's famous great Buddha, the
Nara Park area with
the sacred deer and Kofukuji.
|
N/A
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2030
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No
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4
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June 16th
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Today we drive deep into the forested valleys of the Oku-Mikawa area.
Our first destination is very remote, a
Senmaida, consisting of more than
1000 small rice fields in an painstakingly constructed terrace. We will then hike through verdant forests to Horaiji, a 1300 year old temple that also
has a brilliantly preserved Toshogu shrine in a grove of 350 year old cedar trees towering above us.
From Horai we will visit the Nagashino battlefield & its museum, learning about the famous battle that occurred here in 1575, before heading down the valley to the
the mysterious Toyokawa Inari shrine, dedicated to a fox-riding god called Toyokawa Dakinishinten. The legend of
Dakinishinten dates from the 15th century, and was believed by samurai warriors such as Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa
Ieyasu. Millions of people visiting this shrine every year as it is one of the three major Japanese Inari gods.
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0900
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1730
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Yes
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5
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June 17th
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Day trip:
Today we drive into Gifu Prefecture, stopping at Kawashima Aqua to visit the large new freshwater fish aquarium & its
gardens. This multistoried aquarium is one of the largest of its kind in the world, and includes not only fish but other
denizens of the Nagara River valley habitat.
We then head to Gujo Hachiman. This small town is mostly famous for its "iron" Obon dances during the summer,
but equally interesting for its heritage value. Its extremely cool.
The late English born writer Alan Booth, a long term
resident of Japan, appropriately described Gujo Hachiman in his book "Looking for the Lost" as
as being "like an Edo-era stage set", and the kind of town foreigners dreamed about - albeit one where you half
expected a Japanese film director to leap out and scream "Lights! Camera! Sutaaaaato!" You can be the judge......
We will visit the mountaintop castle, and then walk through the narrow streets and laneways looking at some fine temples,
shrines and shops. Gujo is a town famous
for its folk dancing, but also for an unusual craft. Many restaurants in Japan have (inedible) food displays in their front
windows to attract customers, and Gujo is one of the main producers of these "food" samples.
One of the shops we will visit is a workshop (sampuru koubou) that produces and sells the plastic food
models that you often see outside restaurants throughout Japan.
Made primarily from wax,
plastic etc, we will have the opportunity to make our own food samples - its a very unusual souvenir.
On our return journey, weather and time permitting, we will make a quick visit to Showa Mura, a new theme park aimed
at preserving aspects of life in Japan during the Showa Period (1926-1989), including not only the great depression and
subsequent war, and "economic miracle", but detailed displays of how ordinary people live, worked and played.
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0800
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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
