Konnichiwa, and welcome to Japan! Upon arrival in Osaka, make your own way to your hotel and check in. With some free time this afternoon before your tour officially begins, it’s the perfect chance to get a head start on exploring the city. For a fantastic introduction to Japan’s culinary scene, consider a visit to Osaka’s covered Kuromon Ichiba Market, a lively hub where vendors sell fresh seafood (including fresh uni, sashimi and more), local produce and street food snacks.
Signature Highlight: Sushi making masterclass with Khanh Ong
Later today, join your fellow travellers (and tour director) for a warm welcome and a wonderful introduction to the journey ahead: a hands-on sushi-making class. A local master shares techniques passed down through generations, including how to roll with precision and achieve the perfect sticky rice, making for an ideal way to make friends among your fellow travellers and break the ice with Khanh, himself eager to show you how he rolls.
Please note: Check-in on Day 1 is at 3pm. To ensure you make the welcome meeting and sushi class, please book your flights to arrive before this time.
Sushi-making masterclass with Khanh Ong
After breakfast, today is dedicated to exploring ‘Japan’s Kitchen,’ the city of Osaka, alongside your expert local guide. Your first stop is the magnificent Osaka Castle, a landmark originally built by samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi as a symbol of a newly unified Japan.
From the castle’s historic grandeur, you’ll dive into the retro charm of the Shinsekai district, a nostalgic neighbourhood where quirky shops and street food stalls lie in the shadow of the iconic Tsutenkaku Tower.
The afternoon is dedicated to Osaka’s premier entertainment and shopping hubs. Stroll through Shinsaibashi-suji, a vast covered shopping arcade that’s perfect for people-watching and finding unique souvenirs. You’ll find yourself awestruck at this 600-metre-long covered arcade that’s been the commercial heart of Osaka for over 380 years, where cutting-edge fashion boutiques stand alongside traditional sweet shops.
Signature Highlight: Dotonbori street food tour with Khanh Ong
As evening approaches, join Khanh and your expert local guide on an expedition to Dotonbori, Osaka’s legendary entertainment district and the beating heart of the city’s culinary scene. This is where Osaka earned its nickname ‘Japan’s Kitchen’ – a neon-lit wonderland where oversized signs of crabs, pufferfish and octopuses tower above streets packed with food stalls, restaurants and revellers.
Walk alongside the Dotonbori Canal as the district transforms into a kaleidoscope of light and colour. The famous Glico Running Man sign – an Osaka icon since 1935 – illuminates the canal, while mechanical dragons and giant chef statues beckon diners into their establishments. This is street theatre at its finest, where the spectacle is as much a feast for the eyes as the food is for the palate.
The best part? You’ll be able to snack on local favourites including takoyaki – Osaka’s famous octopus balls – and crispy kushikatsu skewers. Don’t miss okonomiyaki, Osaka’s signature savoury cabbage pancake, topped with umami-rich sauce and Japanese mayonnaise.
With Khanh by your side, you’ll gain insights into Osaka’s unique food culture and point out the dishes that define this city. Your Japanese favourites await, from takoyaki (octopus balls) cooked on griddles at lightning speed to okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes) sizzling on hot plates. The air is thick with the aroma of grilling meats, sweet sauces and the distinctive scent of bonito flakes dancing atop freshly prepared dishes.
Osaka locals have a famous phrase: “kuidaore” (eating yourself to bankruptcy). Dotonbori embodies this joyful excess like nowhere else.
Signature Highlight: Welcome dinner at Chibo Okonomiyaki Restaurant with Khanh Ong
Tonight gather with Khanh and your fellow travellers for an intimate welcome dinner at Chibo, one of Osaka’s most beloved okonomiyaki specialists.
Settle into your seats as the preparation begins on hot griddles before your eyes. It’s culinary theatre: watch as skilled chefs pour batter, layer ingredients, and flip these hefty pancakes with practised precision. Okonomiyaki – literally meaning “grilled as you like it” – is Osaka soul food at its finest, a customisable dish where cabbage, batter, and your choice of toppings (pork belly, seafood, cheese, mochi) are grilled together, then crowned with a crosshatch of sweet-savoury sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, aonori seaweed and bonito flakes that dance in the rising heat.
Khanh introduces you to the evening ahead, sharing his excitement for the week’s adventures. Having spent years exploring the intersections of Asian and Australian cuisines, he brings a unique perspective to Japanese food culture, understanding how migration, tradition and innovation shape what we eat. As the okonomiyaki arrives at your table, still sizzling and impossibly rich, he’ll discuss flavour building, textural contrasts and what makes Osaka’s food scene so distinctive.
Toast to new friendships with cup of warm sake or crisp Japanese beer and prepare yourself for the extraordinary week ahead. By the time dessert arrives, you’ll already feel like part of a community united by curiosity and appetite.
As dishes arrive at the table, this is your chance to ask Khanh questions about his MasterChef journey, share your own food passions, and connect with fellow travellers over the universal language of good food. The restaurant’s vibrant energy and carefully curated menu create the perfect setting for forging new friendships.
Toast to new friendships with cup of warm sake or crisp Japanese beer and prepare yourself for the extraordinary week ahead. By the time dessert arrives, you’ll already feel like part of a community united by curiosity and appetite.
Later, return to your hotel with the warm glow of good company and great food, ready for tomorrow’s adventures.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 2.5 hours
Dotonbori street food tour with Khanh Ong
Welcome dinner at Chibo Okonomiyaki Restaurant with Khanh Ong
Today is an active day of sightseeing, taking you from Osaka to the cultural heart of Kyoto, with a memorable stop in Japan’s first capital, Nara. Upon arrival in Nara, you’ll visit Nara Park, famous for its large population of friendly, free-roaming Sika deer. Here, alongside Khanh, you will explore two key sites: the magnificent Todai-ji Temple – a UNESCO-listed wooden building that houses one of Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statues – and the tranquil Kasuga Taisha Shrine, known for the thousands of lanterns that line its approach.
Signature Highlight: Visit Nara Park with Khanh Ong
Arrive at Nara Park, where over 1,000 free-roaming Sika deer wander freely among visitors in one of Japan’s most enchanting wildlife encounters. The deer have inhabited the park for over 1,300 years; they have always been considered animals close to the gods and today retain that holy reputation.
They’re also extremely cute. Charming and surprisingly polite, the deer have learned to bow to visitors who offer them shika-senbei (special deer crackers sold by vendors throughout the park). Delight in their gentle approach as they nuzzle and bow for a treat – but be prepared, once they spot a cracker, their curious persistence can be quite endearing.
Khanh will join you as you explore this extraordinary park. Beyond the deer themselves, Nara Park encompasses over 500 hectares of lawns, ponds and wooded areas dotted with some of Japan’s oldest and most significant temples. The combination of wildlife, nature and sacred architecture creates an atmosphere that sits at the intersection of peaceful yet playful, ancient yet accessible.
Visit Todai-ji Temple, home to one of Japan’s largest bronze Buddha statues. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is an architectural marvel and a testament to Japan’s rich Buddhist heritage. The Daibutsuden (Great Buddha Hall) is one of the world’s largest wooden buildings, housing a 15-metre-tall bronze Buddha that has watched over Nara since 752 AD.
Continue to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, one of Nara’s most important Shinto shrines. Famous for its hundreds of bronze and stone lanterns donated by worshippers over centuries, the shrine is particularly atmospheric as you wander past its ancient structures hugged by vast forest.
After exploring Nara, travel onwards to Kyoto, Japan’s cultural heart and former imperial capital.
Signature Highlight: Gion walking tour with Khanh Ong
Upon arrival in Kyoto, embark on a walking tour of Kyoto’s most famous geisha district, Gion district. Having preserved its traditional character for over 700 years, this is old Japan at its most atmospheric: winding lanes criss-cross between traditional wooden machiya houses, the clip-clop of wooden sandals on stone still echoes through narrow alleys and, when night falls, lanterns still signal when business are open.
Walk along Hanamikoji-dori, Gion’s most picturesque street, where traditional ochaya (teahouses) and exclusive restaurants hide behind bamboo fences and discreet wooden doors. Many of these establishments have operated for generations, catering only to regular patrons with personal invitations. It’s behind those closed doors where geiko (Kyoto’s term for geisha) and maiko (apprentice geisha) entertain guests with classical dance, music and refined conversation.
Kyoto’s geisha culture remains one of the most misunderstood and romanticised aspects of Japanese society. Alongside Khanh, your expert guide will share the fascinating world of geisha culture, from the years of training required to how the system has adapted to modern times while maintaining centuries-old traditions.
The evening is yours to settle into your hotel. For your convenience, your main luggage will be forwarded separately to your hotel in Tokyo. Tonight, please pack a smaller overnight bag with essentials for your stay in Kyoto and your bullet train journey.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 2.5 hours
Visit Nara Park with Khanh Ong
Gion walking tour with Khanh Ong
Today is dedicated to exploring some of Kyoto’s most breathtaking and iconic sites. Before you depart this morning, you will prepare your main luggage to be forwarded separately to your hotel in Tokyo. You will only need your smaller overnight bag for this evening and the bullet train journey tomorrow, making your travel day much easier.
Signature Highlight: Visit Fushimi Inari Taisha with Khanh Ong
Begin at Fushimi Inari Taisha, one of Kyoto’s most iconic sites and one of the most photographed locations in all of Japan. Dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, prosperity and success in business, this sprawling shrine complex features thousands upon thousands of vermillion torii gates that form tunnels winding up the sacred Mount Inari.
Marvel at the impressive main shrine buildings, with ornate carvings and gleaming red paint. But the real magic begins as you pass through the first torii gate and enter the pathway known as Senbon Torii (‘Thousand Torii Gates’); the gates stand so close together that they create one continuous, and deeply mystical, tunnel, interrupted occasionally by smaller shrines, stone fox statues (Inari’s messengers) and rest stations.
Explore one of Kyoto’s most iconic sites together with Khanh.
On arrival at Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, prepare to have your breath taken away: this Zen Buddhist temple is covered entirely in brilliant gold leaf that reflects perfectly in Kyoko-chi, the mirror pond surrounding it. The effect is almost dreamlike, as if someone has photoshopped reality to impossible perfection.
The surrounding gardens were meticulously designed to be viewed from the pavilion’s perspective, with carefully positioned trees, islands and rocks creating a miniature landscape that represents Buddhist paradise.
As you walk the prescribed path around the pond, the pavilion reveals different facets – sometimes brilliant in direct sunlight, sometimes muted in passing clouds, always magnificent. The current structure is actually a 1955 reconstruction after a troubled monk burned down the original in 1950; the restoration utilised even more gold leaf than the original, ensuring this treasure would shine for generations to come.
The journey continues to the Arashiyama district, where you’ll stroll through the otherworldly Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, a magical path surrounded by towering stalks of green bamboo. Adjacent to the grove, you will visit the beautiful Zen garden of Tenryu-ji Temple, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site.
Signature Highlight: Dinner at Kyoto Hoto with Khanh Ong
Tonight, enjoy dinner at Kyoto Hoto, a refined restaurant specialising in ‘dashi shabu,’ or Kyoto-style hot pot. (Shabu-shabu – literally ‘swish-swish’ – is an onomotopeia referring to the sound meat makes while being swished through soup.) The restaurant’s pared-back style – think noren drapes and a tatami floor – echo old-world Kyoto and their hospitality is considered second to none. There’s no finer place to unwind after a day of temple-hopping across Kyoto.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 2 hours
Visit Fushimi Inari Taisha with Khanh Ong
Signature Highlight: Dinner at Kyoto Hoto with Khanh Ong
This morning, get a taste of daily life in Japan as your tour expert local guide takes you via local public transport to the station. Navigating the train and bus fares will be handled for you, ensuring a seamless experience. Board the world-renowned Shinkansen bullet train for the swift journey to the capital; watch from your window as the landscape blurs by at incredible speed, delivering you to Tokyo.
Arriving in Tokyo is an experience in itself. Step into a dazzling world of towering skyscrapers and vibrant energy that serves as the nation’s powerful economic and cultural hub. Your introduction to this incredible city showcases its many faces. Find a moment of tranquillity with a visit to the grounds of the Imperial Palace, the serene green heart of the city.
Signature Highlight: Explore Tsukiji Outer Market with Khanh Ong
From the Imperial Palace, head to the Tsukiji Outer Market, a lively maze of over 400 stalls and shops that embodies the spirit of Tokyo’s seafood culture, a labyrinth of narrow lanes packed with vendors, restaurants, and food lovers from all over the world.
Khanh’s in his element here. This is where Tokyo’s top chefs shop for ingredients, where locals come for the freshest seafood, and where food culture meets tradition in the most delicious way. With Khanh by your side, you’ll learn which stalls to visit, what to look for in quality seafood, and why some vendors have lines stretching around the corner.
Sample incredibly fresh sushi and sashimi at Tokyo’s traditional standing counters. Try tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette) from vendors who have perfected their technique over generations each bite sweet, savoury and remarkably fluffy and watch vendors expertly shuck oysters, scallops and prepare uni (sea urchin).
Beyond seafood, the market offers a cornocupeia of Japanese products, including pickles, seaweed products, high-end kitchen knives that cost more than a plane ticket, ceramic tableware, green tea, and countless other culinary treasures. Khanh will share his chef’s perspective on ingredient selection, sustainable seafood choices, and how Japanese fish markets have influenced culinary traditions worldwide.
Continue to the upscale Ginza district, Tokyo’s premier shopping and entertainment district, home to historic department stores, luxury boutiques and the Kabuki-za Theatre. Ginza is where Japanese refinement reaches its peak: every storefront is polished, every display window is a work of art and every detail is carefully considered.
Stroll down Chuo-dori, Ginza’s main boulevard, where international flagship stores stand alongside historic Japanese department stores like Mitsukoshi and Wako. The architecture alone is worth the visit, with traditional buildings that survived World War II rubbing shoulders with ultra-modern glass towers designed by world-renowned architects.
Window shop at boutiques from Chanel, Hermès, Louis Vuitton and a host of other luxury brands. Even if you’re not buying, the window displays are miniature works of art, changing with the seasons and showcasing Japanese attention to detail. The basement food halls (depachika) of department stores like Mitsukoshi deserve special mention – prepared foods, sweets and ingredients are meticulously arranged; the eye wateringly expensive fruit selections are legendary.
Ginza also represents Tokyo’s culinary elite. Small sushi counters, exclusive kaiseki restaurants, intimate tempura bars and modern French establishments all hide on the towers’ upper floors, accessible only by reservation (often, only through personal introductions).
Check in to your Tokyo hotel and reconnect with your forwarded luggage. Spend the evening at leisure, perhaps exploring your neighbourhood or unwinding after a big day of travel and sightseeing.
Travel time: Bullet train – approx. 2 hours
Explore Tsukiji Outer Market with Khanh Ong
rToday is a full-day exploring Tokyo with Khanh and your expert local guide that showcases the city’s incredible diversity, from ancient history to modern pop culture. Begin in Asakusa, one of Tokyo’s most traditional districts, untouched by the firebombs of World War II. Stroll along the vibrant, lantern-lined Nakamise-dori – a bustling market street that has served pilgrims for centuries – leading to Senso-ji, Tokyo’s oldest and most significant Buddhist temple.
Senso-ji is Tokyo’s oldest significant temple and remains a vital spiritual site, with its iconic Kaminarimon Gate and giant red lantern welcoming millions of visitors each year. The temple grounds buzz with activity – worshippers purifying themselves with incense smoke, students writing prayers on wooden plaques, and visitors collecting temple stamps in special books.
Next, visit Tokyo Skytree, one of the world’s tallest towers at a dazzling 600+ metres above the city. Ascend to the observation decks for panoramic views stretching across the sprawling cityscape; on a clear day, you might even spot Mount Fuji in the distance, rising beyond the urban sprawl. After lunch at your leisure, find a moment of peace at the Meiji Shrine, a beautiful oasis dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, surrounded by a tranquil forest in the middle of the city.
Signature Highlight: Harajuku & Takeshita Street with Khanh Ong
Alongside the ever-fashionable Khanh, venture into Harajuku, Tokyo’s epicentre of youth culture and street fashion, where creativity runs wild and self-expression knows no bounds. This is where trends are born; it’s where Tokyo shows its playful, colourful utterly unique face to the world, in complete contrast to the solemn grounds of Meiji Shrine (located just across the road).
Takeshita Street itself is a narrow pedestrian lane lined with fashion boutiques, sneaker stores, photo booth centres, crepe shops and hidden candy dens. It’s the world-famous capital of kawaii (cute) culture: shops sell rainbow-coloured wigs, platform sneakers, oversized hoodies with cartoon characters, accessories that light up and blink and fashion pieces that defy easy categorisation.
But Harajuku is more than just Takeshita Street’s controlled chaos. The backstreets reveal independent boutiques showcasing emerging designers, vintage shops filled with carefully curated streetwear, and tiny cafes serving elaborately themed desserts. On Sundays, Yoyogi Park adjacent to Harajuku becomes a gathering place for alternative fashion tribes – gothic Lolitas in elaborate frilled dresses, rockabilly dancers and cosplayers in full costume.
The parallel to food culture isn’t hard to see – just as Tokyo preserves centuries-old sushi techniques while inventing molecular gastronomy, Harajuku honours its roots while constantly reinventing what’s possible. It’s this dynamic tension that makes Tokyo endlessly fascinating.
From Harujuku, head to Yokyo’s iconic Shibuya Crossing, the world’s busiest pedestrian intersection. Watch as hundreds of people cross simultaneously in all directions when the lights change – a mesmerising display of organised chaos that has become one of Tokyo’s most captured sights.
Signature Highlight: Farewell dinner at Gonpachi restaurant with Khanh Ong
This evening, gather with Khanh and your fellow travellers for a farewell dinner at Gonpachi, a legendary Tokyo restaurant that has cemented its reputation as a cultural icon since opening in 2002. It’s also got Hollywood cred: on visiting, director Quentin Tarantino was so captivated by the space that he recreated it for the famous fight scene in Kill Bill: Volume 1. The restaurant’s dramatic interior features soaring ceilings, traditional wooden beams, paper lanterns casting warm light, and an open robata grill where chefs work with theatrical flair.
The menu embodies Japanese dining culture, with attention to seasonal ingredients, respect for tradition balanced with creative interpretation and the concept of omotenashi (wholehearted hospitality); the restaurant specialises in robatayaki (fireside cooking), where locally sourced ingredients are grilled over binchotan charcoal, producing a perfect balance of tenderness and char. Each dish captures the essence of Japanese cooking elevated to art.
Seated together around the table with Khanh, this is your chance to reflect on the week’s highlights, hear his own favourite discoveries, and compare notes on which experiences resonated most deeply. Having guided you through Osaka’s street food scene, explored Nara’s sacred deer park, wandered Kyoto’s geisha district, navigated Tsukiji’s market stalls, and discovered Tokyo’s contrasts from Ginza to Harajuku, Khanh has been your bridge between observation and understanding throughout this journey.
Return to your hotel for a final night in Japan, carrying the warmth of good food, good company, and the bittersweet knowledge that all great journeys must eventually end.
Travel time: Driving – approx. 3 hours
Harajuku and Takeshita Street with Khanh Ong
Farewell dinner at Gonpachi restaurant with Khanh Ong
After one final breakfast, it’s time to say sayonara to Japan. Make your own way to Tokyo International Airport (HND) or Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) for your onward journey.