Japan 2018 Fall Foliage Tour

We came to Owakudani, also known as the “boiling valley”,  an active volcanic area of Hakone, south of Tokyo, to see Mt. Fuji from a boat on Lake Ashinoko, a crater lake formed by the volcanic eruption in 1170. However, the weather did not cooperate and clouds obscured the shy mountain and we were forced to entertain ourselves with other...

My next garden tour will be an exclusive 13-day adventure to Japan to see spectacular fall foliage colour, visit picturesque temple sites, famous and historic locations as well as enjoy seasonal festivals and other cultural highlights. If you've never been to Japan, this is the perfect tour for you - rich in content and diversity, safe; well-planned; professionally guided and designed...

I am head over heels in love with Japan. I don’t know why this happened now rather than the first time I visited this most excellent country four years ago. But I am now irrevocably smitten. I cannot stop saying how wonderful Japan is. I have been in a perpetual state of admiration ever since I set foot in...

To start our first full day in Kyoto, we went to Ryoan-ji Temple, mainly to see the beautiful and famous raked gravel and stone courtyard garden. The garden measures only 25m from east to west and 10m from south to north and contains 15 stones, or at least you are asked to see if you can see 15 stones as...

In January, I will be announcing details of the long-awaited fall-foliage tour to Japan. This will probably be a 12 day trip to Japan in November to see the fabulous fall foliage colours in major centres, such as Kyoto, Takayama, Hiroshima and Kanazawa as well as the beautiful island destination of Miyajima. The tour will start in Tokyo and will visit...

What new and upcoming garden tours do I have planned for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019? In May, I will return to Italy for the ninth time to lead a very special Islands and Lakes Garden Tour, starting in Lugano and moving quickly to the Milanese lakes. You can see details here. From there, we will head to Sardinia...

Giant dahlia at house in Kyoto Over the years, I’ve seen dozens of dahlias, big and small, in all sorts of gardens here and abroad. But I was surprised to see this gigantic dahlia growing in gardens in Japan recently. The one in the photos here was growing at...

Before going to Japan for the second time, I have been practising my origami skills. I love the way a simple square coloured piece of paper can be magically transformed by a series of crisp folds into an object of surprising elegance and beauty. In Japan, I am hoping to learn a few more paper-folding skills. But in preparation, I have...

My Japan tour got under way with a walking tour of the Kabukicho area of Shinjuku followed by a fun welcome dinner at a yakitori restaurant. Kabukicho is the entertainment district, sometimes compared to Amsterdam’s Red Light area, but with a lot less accent on “love shops” and more emphasis on restaurants, bars and nightclubs. This is partly why Kabukicho...