SAKURA IN JAPAN
with Paganels
9 DAYS
24 PEOPLE
3450 EURO
DATES
there are places
26.03.2025 - 03.04.2025
1 GROUP
2 GROUP
04.04.2025 - 12.04.2025
last places
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Travel to fabulous Japan during the cherry blossom season. Get acquainted live with the life and traditions of the ancient country. Enjoy the ancient custom of khanami. Take a walk through the old and not very old streets and temples of the cities of Kyoto, Nara, Tokyo. Admire the legendary spring Fujiyama. Become Japanese even for a moment to bring a piece of the "Land of the Rising Sun" with you in your soul.
Japan is an amazing country that managed to preserve its originality, traditions and ancient customs in the era of the "advancing" Western civilization. At the same time, Japan is considered one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Love for the ancient traditional ways and advanced technical achievements very much distinguish the Japanese from other peoples of Asia and our planet.
Many words immediately evoke associations with Japan in our minds. Samurai, ninja, geisha, karate, sakura, sushi and many other words that we already know well and, pronouncing, we immediately mentally move to a distant, mysterious island region.
Japan is, first of all, a country of traditions, and one of these national traditions is the cherry blossom season or hanami, as they call it. According to an old Japanese legend, the custom of hanami or admiring cherry blossoms extends life to a hundred years old.
At first, this custom of admiring sakura and contemplating its subtle beauty extended only to the elite and the imperial court. He soon became popular among the samurai, and by the beginning of the Edo period - among the common people. In those days, the blossoming sakura was a symbol of the harvest, and its flowering heralded the beginning of the rice-planting season. According to the beliefs of the Japanese, the nature was inhabited by spirits; therefore, offerings and libations were made to the sakura. Later, sake was drunk at offering rituals.
Today, hanami is one of the most beloved folk festivals in Japan. The Japanese believe that the most beautiful sakura grows in Kyoto, Nara and Fuji. We will visit all these places with you.
It is almost impossible to determine the time when sakura begins to bloom. Moreover, the Japanese islands are located both in subtropical and temperate latitudes. In southern Okinawa, sakura often begins to bloom late January - early February; in northern Hokkaido, sakura sometimes blooms only in May. In addition, the duration of cherry blossoms often changes. In a warm year, cherry begins to bloom a week or two earlier, in a cold year for the same period later.
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In the area of Tokyo, Himeji, Kyoto and Fuji - the places where Paganelli will go, the Japanese believe that sakura blooms from March 20 or so (early varieties) to the end of April (later varieties).
The celebration of hanami in Japan is universal. No Japanese would miss the cherry blossoms for any reason. Usually, families or in the company of relatives and friends go to admire the cherry blossoms. The same period is the highest tourist season in Japan, which can only be compared with the November season of red maples. At this time, hotels, local travel companies and other tourism-related organizations inflate prices by 3-4 times the usual.
Therefore, we began to prepare for this trip well in advance and have already booked hotels and everything necessary for us to ensure this trip.
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tickets for high-speed trains;
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private comfortable buses;
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excursions with Japanese-Russian speaking professional guides;
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accommodation in 4* hotels in double occupancy (single accommodation on request for an additional fee);
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entrance tickets to museums and national attractions;
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tickets for the spring geisha concert in the Kamishitaken quarter;
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meals breakfasts and partly lunches;
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services of local guides and the Paganel Studio team.
ITINERARY
Day 1
26.03/04.04.2025
Arrival at Narita Airport (NRT) in Tokyo. Meeting with the guides of the Paganel Studio team. Please note that you are advised to arrive before 13:00 am. Transfer to the hotel will not be set - you will go independently by high-speed train - according to our instructions. While you are at the airport, you can change money at the exchange office, as well as buy a SIM card for constant access to the Internet throughout the entire route during our trip. We will also tell you about the e-Sim option. It is very convenient when moving and in places with no Internet, for example, in cafés and restaurants in Japan, most often there is no Internet.
Hotel check-in at 14:00. We fix ourselves very quickly. Get shower. Toilet. Fen. Elevator - and you are already standing in the hotel lobby and being acquainted with our first local guide. Therefore, we have the first foray into the city for the first tour. Acquaintance with the evening metropolis.
Most tourists begin their journey through Japan with an acquaintance with the capital of the country - Tokyo. For many, the fact that the city of Tokyo does not exist is a surprise: Tokyo is a special prefecture, the so-called Tokyo metropolis, a conglomeration of urban areas and adjacent settlements. In addition to the actual territories on the coast of Tokyo Bay, Tokyo also includes numerous small islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Today we take a stroll through the fashionable Ginza district, which illuminates an ocean of neon signs. Boutiques such as Louis Vuitton, Seiko, GR8 Boutique and many others are located here. Everything is bright, beautiful and very modern!
In the evening, you can enjoy Japanese cuisine in one of the city's many restaurants. Perhaps on this day we will organize an evening of acquaintances and presentation of expedition T-shirts. If the program makes it convenient to hold the meeting on another day, the group leader will inform you about it additionally.
Free time.
We spend the night at the comfortable Daiwa Roynet Hotel Ginza Premier 4*.
Meals are not included.
At the beginning of the trip, each participant will be provided with headphones for sightseeing. Please treat this gadget with care. At the end of the trip, the headphones must be returned. The penalty for loss is 100 euros.
Day 2
27.03/05.04.2025
In the morning we wake up. Breakfast at the hotel. We pack our bags and make a check-out. With our suitcases we gather in the lobby to meet with the group leader, load our belongings into a comfortable bus and leave for the second excursion to Tokyo. We will see the Asakusa district, the Sensoji Buddhist temple, the Kaminarimon thunder gate, the Nakamise shopping street, and also meet our faithful dog Hachiko at the busiest and most famous intersection in Tokyo - Shibuya.
During the tour we will have lunch
Next, we go to one of the oldest and most cultural districts of Tokyo - Asakusa with the Nakamise shopping street and Sensoji Temple with its majestic gate of thunder "Kaminari-mon".
Sensoji is Tokyo's oldest temple, founded in 645. Back in the Middle Ages, the temple became a landmark card of the city and remains so to this day, attracting millions of tourists from all over the world.
The magnificent “Gate of Thunder” Kaminarimon with a huge paper lantern, a five-tiered pagoda and the Nakamise shopping street leading to the temple will help you imagine life in the Japanese capital before the appearance of skyscrapers and shinkansen.
Nakamise Street is an ancient shopping street in the Asakusa area, which, according to legend, is as old as dates back several hundred years. A street stretching for 250 meters, dense on both sides lined with small shops selling traditional sweets and souvenirs, leads from the “Gate of Thunder” Kaminarimon to the main territory of the Sensoji Buddhist temple. Here you can watch Tokyo's ningyo-yaki sweets being baked, taste crunchy traditional crackers, and experience the bright and lively atmosphere of the usually staid Japanese capital.
Then we head to the famous intersection near Shibuya Station - the busiest intersection in Tokyo and one of the busiest in the world. The green light of the traffic light turns on from four sides at once and several hundred people, and during rush hours the figure can reach up to 1000, simultaneously rush in all directions, managing to dodge each other with careless ease acquired over the years. The intersection is loved by directors for its picturesque but orderly crowd of people and is known all over the world for its TV series, feature films and advertising videos.
Near Shibuya station there is also a monument to the faithful dog Hachi, who met his owner, a professor at the University of Tokyo, every day in the same place. After the sudden death of the professor, the dog continued to come to the station every day for 9 years in anticipation of the owner’s return, first becoming a symbol of fidelity in the eyes of local residents, and then of all Japanese. In 2023, the Hachiko monument was exactly 100 years old.
After the tour, we return to our bus and move to the Fuji Kawaguchiko area. If we are lucky enough to have a cloudless sky, today we will have a date with Mt. Fuji, the favorite mountain of all Japanese artists and poets. At this time of year, it is already dressed in white and is dazzlingly beautiful in good weather. While we are traveling, we are actively conjuring the weather.
Our hotel is located near the most famous Japanese mountain. So today we will be in the company of the Great Fujiyama, who is also tired and wants to rest a bit.
*Mount Fuji may not be visible during cloudy weather.
Overnight at the comfortable Hotel
(Meals: included breakfast and lunch)
Day 3
28.03/06.04.2025
After breakfast, we collect our bags, take them to our private bus, load ourselves and go on a beautiful guided tour of the most picturesque areas of Mount Fuji. Ideal reflections of the mountain in local lakes often become the object of a photo hunt for Japanese who know good places.
Her graceful silhouette looks especially picturesque against the backdrop of cherry blossom petals near the Tureito Pagoda.
This is probably the most famous angle in the world with sakura and Fujiyama! Of course, you have seen him many times, but now you can take such a picture yourself. And if you are lucky with flowering, it will blow up your Facebook or Instagram :)
Very close to Fuji is the Shiraito waterfall, poetically called "White Threads". The streams of water merge into a single symphony that sounds different in clear and rainy weather. Against a dark background, the white strands of the waterfalls look even whiter and more elegant, the perfect place for great photos!
In the middle of the day, we have a delicious Japanese lunch.
After enjoying the extraordinary views of all these picturesque points, we get to the Shizuoka station, transfer from the bus to a comfortable Shinkansen bullet train and drive to the city of Kyoto. Check-in at the hotel where we will spend the next 4 nights. Dinner. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast and lunch)
Day 4
29.03/07.04.2025
And we have a new beautiful spring day in Japan and in the program for today: the Golden Pavilion of Kinkakuji, the Rock Garden of the Ryoanji Temple, as well as the concert of the famous Japanese geishas of the Kamishitaken quarter.
After breakfast, we board a private comfortable bus waiting for us, meet with a local guide and set off to explore the amazing city of Kyoto.
Kyoto is the capital of Japan from the end of the VIII to the middle of the XIX century, the most important cultural and religious center of the country, a place of preservation of traditions and crafts. In Kyoto we will visit the most famous places that have become symbols of the Old Capital.
Kinkakuji Temple - "Golden Pavilion" - the most famous of the symbols of Kyoto. Built at the end of the 14th century and completely covered with a layer of pure gold, the temple is reflected in the water of the pond at its foot and sparkles in the sun like a real jewel.
The nearby Ryoanji temple attracts visitors from all over the world with the mystery of its "rock garden", promising enlightenment to those who solve it. Lunch during the tour.
After that, we go to see the famous Kamishitaken quarter, where geisha and young students - maiko - live and work.
They can often be found on the street here, dressed in traditional outfits and with traditional hairstyles and makeup. Kamishichiken is one of the five active geisha kartals in Kyoto and the oldest of them.
The quarter is located to the east of Kitano-Tenmangu Shrine, and at the end of March, geiko and maiko dances can be enjoyed on the stage of the Kamishichiken-kaburenjo theater during the Kitano-odori festival.
After the show, we return to the hotel. Free time. Dinner. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast and lunch)
Day 5
30.03/08.04.2025
We wake up slowly. Breakfast in the hotel. We do not touch things and suitcases, but we only take cameras, jackets and umbrellas with us, just in case, and your best mood. Today we again have a very unusual and beautiful day; we will be able to communicate with perhaps the most interesting inhabitants of the Japanese islands - the cute deer of the ancient capital of Nara.
Meet our local tour guide in the lobby of the hotel. We sit down in a private bus waiting for us and go to Nara.
Nara is an amazing city. We have never seen a city before in which 1200 deer live instead of street dogs and cats. Once a year, the city authorities gather the deer together and cut their horns, because, begging for cookies and crackers from walking people, the deer strive to kick your ass. If the horns are not cut down, then instead of enjoying communicating with animals, you will be stabbed and injured.
Nara was the capital of Japan in the 8th century. The place from where the spread of Buddhism began throughout the country, and in our time is the most important religious center.
The Todaiji temple complex is considered the largest wooden structure in the world. Its heart is a bronze Buddha statue “Daibutsu”. Around the temple lies a park that combines the territory of Todaiji with other temples and shrines located nearby into a single complex.
Tame deer roam freely around the park; they can be fed with crackers sold there.
Adjacent to the deer park is Kasuga Taisha Shrine, one of the most important Japanese Shinto shrines. It is famous for ancient bronze and stone lanterns, installed and suspended throughout a rather large area.
- Lunch during the tour.
Return to Kyoto. Dinner. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast and lunch)
Day 6
31.03/09.04.2025
Today we have a free and therefore very busy day, in which it is IMPORTANT to do everything.
Of course, you can spend this free day lying in bed and doing nothing, or you can use our advice and have time to see, feel, and photograph a lot. We take a camera, a jacket, beautiful clothes for pictures, and a good mood with us. We go to the station, independently buy a ticket for a local train (early) and go to one of the most picturesque areas of Kyoto - Arashiyama. We are going for the incredible beauty of the bamboo grove, known to many photographers. The main thing is to rush in early so as not to stand in the crowd of others eager to take a photo here.
Further, we do not lose pace and do not freeze; we go back to the station (it is not far from the grove) and rush by train to another iconic place in Kyoto and all of Japan - Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is just incredible.
Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto is one of the most beautiful places in Japan! It is known mainly for the myriad Torii Gates that were donated by the faithful. The gate is located along the road to the temple, which leads into the wooded mountain to Inari-san, where the main building of the temple is located. It takes about two hours to walk to the temple along this alley. On the way to the top, passing through the torii, you will see small chapels, graves and statues of foxes, which are the messengers of this god. To feel this place in full, you do not need to run to the very top.
An hour will be enough for you to take all the most successful pictures, take a walk, and then, without losing pace, go down to the railway station and return to Kyoto by train to sit by the flowering trees on the lawns, go to local cafes, buy souvenirs. And you can also have all the girls of our group to change into traditional Japanese kimonos and go for a walk along the ancient streets of the city with such an incredibly beautiful company.
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It is very beautiful, stylish and interesting. The process of dressing in a maiko takes place in a real salon run by geisha. All clothes (kimono, garters, jewelry, embroidered silk belt) everything is authentic and the process of turning from paganelka into a real maiko takes about an hour.
Photo cards will be the brightest for a lifetime about visiting Japan.
Dressing up in a maiko is a very interesting and fun activity. However, there are still some interesting alternatives for what to do on a free day in Kyoto. For example, get a lesson in playing the traditional Japanese drums "wadaiko" or learn the art of owning a Japanese sword - a katana. You will have to pick one ;)
We return to our hotel for the night. Dinner. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast)
Day 7
01.04/10.04.2025
We have a good breakfast. We collect our suitcases. Farewell to Kyoto. A guide and a bus are already waiting for us at the hotel. We load up and go on our way. Today we have beauty and beauty again!
On this day, we will visit the most beautiful castle in Japan, familiar to many from Akira Kurosawa's film "Ran". Opened after many years of restoration, the White Heron Castle, as it is often called, Himeji Castle is rightfully considered the most beautiful Japanese castle, where many historical films were filmed and filmed.
The castle was built at the end of the 16th century and has survived to this day in its original form, bypassed by military and natural upheavals. Now this labyrinth of walls and moats at the foot of the castle towers retains the atmosphere of the Japanese Middle Ages.
At the foot of the castle is a complex of gardens Cocoen. Each of its many gardens follows one of the traditional Japanese landscape design styles and emphasizes the perfection of the castle towering on the horizon with its thoughtful beauty and harmony. Lunch during the tour.
After the tour, we unload from the bus at the railway station and board the high-speed bullet train to Hiroshima. Upon arrival there, check-in at the hotel. Dinner. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast and lunch)
Day 8
02.04/11.04.2025
Breakfast. We collect things. We check out at the hotel. We leave luggage at the hotel. We take cameras and a good mood with us. Meet our guide. We get to the port, and from there transfer by ferry to the island of Miyajima.
On the island of Miyajima, there is a Shinto shrine on the water - Itsukushima-jinja, a UNESCO world heritage site, whose large red torii gates rise above the water surface and can only be approached at low tide. The landscape of Miyajima is recognized in Japan as one of the three most beautiful.
Itsukushima Shrine is one of Japan's most famous Shinto shrines, located on Itsukushima Island, better known as Miyajima Island. The architectural complex of the sanctuary is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The grandiose torii gate, marking the entrance to the sacred territory of the temple, is set right in the sea and at high tide seems to be floating in the water.
At low tide, the waves clear the passage to the gate, allowing those who wish to come into contact with majestic building. Lunch during the tour.
We hand over the headphones and return to Tokyo.
It will also be interesting to walk around the territory adjacent to the temple, feed the clinging deer from your hands, they here, as in Nara, roam everywhere and everywhere. Watch a service in a Shinto shrine, sit in local cafes and restaurants, and enjoy the freshest oysters with traditional hot sake.
Having walked a lot, we return by ferry to the port, and from there we get to the hotel. We pick up our suitcases and from the Hiroshima station on the evening shinkasen we go to Tokyo.
Late arrival at the familiar Tokyo station. We check into the hotel, and then we run to the last joint farewell dinner at the nearest good restaurant, where we will taste excellent sushi or shabu shabu, or the famous A5 beef.
Overnight at the hotel. Rest.
(Meals included: breakfast, lunch)
THE COST
2890 Euro
Day 9
03.04/12.04.2025
Parting with spring Japan.
Unfortunately, everything comes to an end, and the time has come to return home. The suitcases are already ready, many hundreds of photographs have been taken, there are many pleasant memories of the country, new friends and the spring trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. Someone else will stay for a day or two to hang out in Tokyo. Everyone has a different departure time, so we have an independent transfer.
Shinkansen from Tokyo Station leave every half an hour for Narita.
We wake up in the morning. We have breakfast. We say goodbye to each other and guides. Tears of parting.
Sadness...
We will transfer to the airport on our own. Flight home.
(Meals included: breakfast)
We are unique
For many years, we have been traveling the world to our small planet's most remote and unusual places. We do not use the services of domestic travel agencies. The trips we invent and carry out are always unique and have their unique zest, charm, and adventurous spirit.
WHY WITH PAGANEL?
Creation
The first thing that interests us is creativity in everything. During the expeditions, we shoot a lot of videos, take pictures, write stories, draw pictures. If you are interested in a creative approach to life and travel, then WELCOME... we are very happy to meet you!
Interest
By joining our team, you join a kind of club-family, which already consists of several hundred people who are interested in discovering the world with us.
Since most of the expenses for the organization of the trip are air tickets and travel documents for other types of transport, accommodation, excursions, services of local companies and guides, etc. are not refundable in case of your cancellation of the trip. We simply have no way to return it.
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