29 MAY – 10 JUNE, 2026 (Booked out, but waitlist possible)
Join Asian Studies professor Livia Kohn on a wonderful study tour covering the temples, gardens, and museums of Japan. Enjoy impressive culture, beautiful scenery, amazing art, delicious food, and steaming hot tubs while learning first-hand about Japanese culture, religion, and lifestyle.
June 1: Leave your home country to fly to Japan.
June 2: Arrive in Osaka, either Kansai (international) or Itami (domestic).
June 3: Learn about shrine Shinto and visit a major Buddhist temple, walking through the traditional neighborhood of Gion.
June 4: Explore another major Shinto shrine and a great Zen institution with a lovely rock garden, appreciating the religious culture.
June 5: Undertake a pleasant hike along a gorgeous river valley in the western mountains, then learn about whiskey making in a local distillery.
June 6: Visit the imperial palace and residence of the shogun.
June 7: Explore two amazing museums, one on the shores of Lake Biwa, the other in the spectacular mountains of Shiga Prefecture.
June 8: Have a day completely off to explore on your own, visit more sights, get a massage, or connect with local friends.
June 9: Take an excursion to Mount Hiei in the northeast with its major temple complex, then enjoy a vigorous hike along mountain ridges back down to the city.
June 10: Visit Nara to see Todaiji Temple with its giant buddha, relax among the tame deer, wander through gardens, and explore museums, parks, and shrines.
June 11: Go to the suburb of Fushimi to see the shrine to the fox deity, walking through tunnels of orange Shinto gates, then learn about the making of Sake.
June 12: Stroll through the botanical garden and relax in the spectacular scenery of the Silver Pavilion, then visit the Handicraft Center and maybe a local museum.
June 13: Onward. By train to Osaka to fly home or continue further explorations of Japan.
COST
US $1750 per person, including hotel, pilgrimage items, daily lunches, as well all transfers, bus/train fares, and entrance fees. Single supplement: $150.
For a more detailed itinerary and information, or to put on notice when further trips are scheduled, please contact liviakohn@proton.me or call/text 727-501-6915.
YOUR GUIDE
Livia Kohn, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University, where she began teaching in 1988 after spending ten years in Kyoto, Japan. She has written thirty-six sole-authored books and over a hundred articles, translated five works from the German, French, Chinese, and Japanese, and edited twelve multi-authored volumes as well as twenty issues of the Journal of Daoist Studies. She serves as the executive editor of Three Pines Press, gives various lectures, and runs Daoist workshops as well as hiking trips to Japan.
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