Recommended flight :

Departure from Paris Charles de Gaulle on May 27 at 9 :40a.m. (Air France flight AF162)
Arrival at Tokyo Narita airport on May 28, at 5 :55a.m. local hour.
Duration : 13h15 (direct flight)

For those arriving on the recommended flight, welcome at the airport by your La Fugue tour leader and your Fench-speaking guide, followed by a private transfer to the centre of Tokyo.

Lunch at leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or bookings.

Check-in at the Hotel Janu in a Deluxe room from 3pm (early check-in not guaranteed, offered as an option).

At 5pm, meet your French-speaking guide in the lobby of your hotel for a stroll around Asakusa, the ‘old Tokyo’ district, known for its temples including the famous Sensô-ji, its traditional soul and its traditional craft shops along the famous Nakamise street. This is also the place to go to visit the kitchenware shops, frequented by both catering professionals and enthusiasts keen to bring home a typical Japanese souvenir.

Dinner nearby, at one of our selected sushi restaurants.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

At 10am, meet your French-speaking guide and a contemporary art specialist in the lobby of your hotel for a day of visits to artistic Tokyo. Fascinating and gigantic, Tokyo presents travellers with an astonishing mix of styles, from the most modern to the most traditional. We will concentrate on contemporary achievements, foremost among which is the Tokyo Art Gallery, which opened in 2007 and presents temporary exhibitions of Japanese and international art.

Lunch at one of our selected restaurants.

Our discovery of Tokyo continues in the afternoon at the Nezu Museum, a superb contemporary showcase housing ancestral gems such as screens from the Edo period..

Return to the hotel or free time for shopping in the Ginza district, one of Tokyo’s most commercial areas, in the bustling Shibuya district with its famous gigantic pedestrian walkway, or in the Omotesando district, the ‘Champs-Elysées of Tokyo’ with its architecturally impressive boutiques.

Dinner at leisure. We remain at your disposal to provide you with recommendations and/or to make reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

At 8am, transfer to the station. At 8.52 am, you will board the Shinkansen, Japan’s famous bullet train, offering unrivalled speed, comfort and safety (1 hour 28 minutes in first class).

Your destination, far from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo: the Echigo Tsumari Art Field, in Niigata prefecture. On arrival, an English-speaking specialist and your driver will welcome you for an exceptional visit to this site known as ‘the Naoshima of the mountains’. Created in 2000 by Fram Kitagawa, head of Tokyo’s Art Front Gallery, it is still (too) little known and covers an area of 750 km2, making it the largest open-air exhibition in the world. The works of art, integrated into the natural landscape of rice paddies, forests and villages, create an unforgettable immersive experience.

Among them, Tunnel of Light by the unstoppable Chinese architecture firm MAD Architects, created by Ma Yansong in 2004, breathes new life into an ancient passage dug into the Japanese mountains, the Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel. The 750-metre-long infrastructure is now adorned with light, water and mirrors, through five installations punctuated by panoramic views of the valley’s steep slopes.

You will then have the opportunity to visit the Matsudai Nohbutai Field Museum, an integral part of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, which stands out for its concept of fusing contemporary art with the surrounding natural landscape, allowing visitors to explore the works of art in the open air and interact with the environment. The museum’s main building was designed by Dutch architect MVRDV, known for its innovative and environmentally-friendly approach.

Finally, you will have the opportunity to admire The Last Class, one of the emblematic works by French artists Christian Boltanski and Jean Kalman, created for the 2006 triennial and installed in an abandoned school, evoking both a lost childhood and the collective memories of a community in demographic decline.

Lunch during the visits.

At 5.16pm, departure of the return Shinkansen train to Tokyo (1h24 journey in first class).

Dinner at leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

To make your journey to Naoshima as pleasant as possible, you can leave some of your luggage in Tokyo. It will be delivered directly to your hotel in Kyoto. To make your journey to Naoshima as pleasant as possible, you can leave some of your luggage in Tokyo. It will be delivered directly to your hotel in Kyoto.

At 8.30 am, transfer to the station.

At 9.30am, you’ll board the first-class Shinkansen to Okayama, where a private bus will be waiting to take you to Naoshima, by ferry (3h17 by train, then 1h by bus and 20min by ferry). During the train journey, you’ll have the chance to admire Mount Fuji on the horizon.

Light lunch on board the train, a chance to try the famous ‘ekiben’, a combination of the words eki meaning station and ben meaning bento.

In the afternoon, you’ll begin your discovery of Naoshima with a brief visit to the Art House project, one of the oldest art projects on the island, which consists of rehabilitating abandoned traditional Japanese houses and buildings. Among them, the Minamidera house shakes the senses with Backside of the Moon, an installation by James Turrell. The seven houses converted into mini-museums are located in the eastern part of the island, in the small village of Honmura, where there is also the Ando Museum, dedicated to the famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who led the Naoshima rehabilitation project with the help of Japan’s largest education company, Benesse.

At the end of the tour, check into the Benesse House hotel-museum in the Museum building, which has been made private for the Fugueurs.

Dinner at the Issen restaurant, the gourmet address at the heart of the hotel-museum, where you will discover traditional Kaiseki cuisine.

After dinner, in the company of an English-speaking curator, take a private tour of the Benesse House museum, which includes works by David Hockney, Cy Twombly, Alberto Giacometti, Jackson Pollock, Jean Michel Basquiat and Richard Long.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

At 8.30 am, meet your French-speaking guide and your English-speaking expert in the lobby of your hotel for a private tour of the Chichu Museum, one of the most famous museums in the world, which will exceptionally be open to you before public opening time. It’s a museum like no other: almost invisible and exhibiting just three artists. Yet it is a fabulous experience of modern and contemporary art in its own right. The building is once again the work of Tadao Ando. Literally buried in the landscape like a bunker – chichu means ‘buried’ in Japanese – it is almost like entering a sacred place. In one room, the American Walter De Maria has displayed Time/Timeless/No Time; in another, five canvases from Claude Monet’s Water Lilies series, subtly lit by natural light; and finally, three works by the genius of light and space, James Turrell.

Then you’ll most likely be among the first to visit Tadao Ando’s ‘New Museum’, due to open in spring 2025, to coincide with the Setouchi Triennale. Its official name and contents are still being kept secret, but we already know that its three floors, including two underground, will be devoted to internationally renowned Japanese and Asian artists. Transfert en bus et bateau privés vers l’île de Teshima et déjeuner dans un restaurant de notre selection.

In the afternoon, you will visit Teshima Yokoo House, the result of a collaboration between visual artist Yokoo Tadanori and architect Nagayama Yûko. It was created by modifying and renovating an old private house and features a magnificent garden of coloureds stones, a pond, a cylindrical tower and eleven two-dimensional works.

Your visit continues with the Teshima Art Museum, designed by the architect Ryue Nishizawa. This splendid, slender, teardrop-shaped concrete building houses a unique work by Japanese artist Rei Naito, called Matrix. The building does not contain the work, it is the work.

Return to Naoshima by boat and private bus.

Dinner at the Terrace restaurant in the Park building of Benesse House, by the beach and a stone’s throw from Yayoi Kusama’s famous Yellow Pumpkin, the symbol of the island.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.

At 9am, departure from the hotel for a transfer by bus, ferry and Shinkansen train to Kyoto.

At 13:30, lunch in Kyoto at one of our selected restaurants.

After lunch, check-in at the Six Senses Kyoto hotel.

Afternoon at leisure to relax or wander the narrow streets of the pedestrian district of Higashiyama, where your hotel is located, or Gion, famous for its geishas and antiques dealers.

Dinner at your leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel.

At 9.30 am, meet your French-speaking guide in the lobby of your hotel for a day of sightseeing in Kyoto.

First of all, the Kiyomizudera temple, one of the most famous in Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Founded in 778 by the monk Enchin, it is associated with the Hosso sect of Japanese Buddhism. However, the current buildings date from 1633, after being rebuilt by the Tokugawa Iemitsu shogun. Its terrace, supported by hundreds of wooden pillars but without a single nail, juts out over the hill, offering a spectacular view of Kyoto. Kiyomizudera is also famous for its magnificent three-storey pagoda and pure water springs.

Lunch in a teppanyaki restaurant, a famous Japanese cooking method where food is grilled on a heated iron plate. In this restaurant, nestled in a traditional wooden house called a machiya, you will have the opportunity to taste Wagyu beef, a Japanese meat with a unique marbling.

Your afternoon will begin with a visit to Nijō Castle. Built in the early 17th century, it is one of the most important examples of Edo period castle architecture. This 27.5-hectare moated site in the heart of Kyoto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its magnificent Japanese gardens, refined architecture and historical significance.

Your day’s sightseeing concludes with a visit to Kinkaku-ji temple, also known as the Golden Pavilion, one of Japan’s most iconic temples. Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this Zen Buddhist temple is famous for its pavilion covered in gold leaf, which is beautifully reflected in the surrounding lake.

Back to the hotel by 4.30pm.

Dinner at your leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and check out.

Your luggage will be transferred directly to your hotel in the west of Kyoto.

At 9:30 am, meet your English-speaking guide in the lobby of your hotel for a day of sightseeing in Nara, Japan’s first permanent capital from 710 to 794. The city, around 1 hour’s drive from Kyoto, is famous for its Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, cultural treasures and a park with free-roaming deer.

In the morning, in the company of one of the temple monks and your guide, you will visit Todai-ji temple, a major Buddhist temple founded in the 8th century and the largest wooden building in the world, known for housing the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world, called Daibutsu and measuring around 15 metres high.

Nearby, you will visit the Isui-en Garden, a remarkable traditional Japanese garden created in 1899, at the start of the Meiji era, by a wealthy silk merchant named Hoshino Kintaro, whose aim was to design a garden that would harmonise the natural elements with the famous views of Nara.

Lunch in one of our selected gourmet restaurants.

In the afternoon, you will visit Horyu-ji temple, a Buddhist temple founded in the early 7th century by Emperor Yōmei and sponsored by Empress Suiko. This temple is the oldest wooden structure in the world. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for its historical, cultural and architectural significance.

Return to Kyoto in the late afternoon and check into your Tanigasumi double room at the Hoshinoya hotel in Arashiyama, a picturesque district to the west of Kyoto.

Dinner at your leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel served in your room.

You will begin the day at 10am with a tea ceremony in a traditional teahouse called an ochaya. The ceremony will be performed by a maiko, a geisha apprentice who wears more colourful kimonos than geisha and perfects her skills in the traditional Japanese arts of dance, song, music and the tea ceremony. This ceremony, or chanoyu in Japanese, is a tradition deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Performed with grace and precision, it embodies the art of hospitality and Zen meditation.

To extend this moment of relaxation, in the company of your French-speaking guide, you will have the chance to visit the garden of the Imperial Villa of Katsura, considered to be a masterpiece of Japanese garden architecture. Designed in the 17th century by Prince Toshihito and his son, Prince Toshitada. It features elegant pavilions, arched bridges and tranquil ponds.

Lunch in one of our selected restaurants.

In the early afternoon, you will visit the Fukuda Art Museum in the company of a curator and your French-speaking guide. Opened in 2019, this museum is dedicated to Japanese art and houses an impressive collection of works ranging from the Edo era to the modern era. Its magnificent setting, close to the famous Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, the Katsura River and Togetsukyo Bridge, makes it a cultural destination not to be missed.

Around 3pm, return to the hotel or free time to explore the Arashiyama district with its lively shopping street and bamboo forest (the third largest forest in Japan!).

Dinner at your leisure. We remain at your disposal for recommendations and/or reservations.

Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel served in your room and check-out.

At 8 :15a.m, private transfer to Osaka airport.

Recommended flight :

Departure from Osaka airport (KIX Kansai international) on June 6th at 11 :30a.m.  (Air France flight AF291)

Arrival at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, on June 5^th at 19 :25p.m., local hour.

Duration : 14h55 (direct flight)