Japan Ningyo Tour

Days 1-4: Tokyo Area

Visit the renowned Yoshitoku Doll Company and see doll-making demonstrations by some of the country’s most prominent artists of the URARA Doll Maker collective. Savor a festive Welcome Dinner on a Sumida Riverboat with Japanese artists, collectors, and friends from Yoshitoku.

Visit Yokohama to wander through the Yokohama Doll Museum and nearby Chinatown. We will also have the pleasure of seeing an exhibition by our Kyoto doll maker friend Shimada Koen.

On our last day in Tokyo, we will head north from Tokyo to Koriyama to visit the enchanting original Licca-Chan Castle. Our next stop will be the nearby Deko-Yashiki Crafts Village with its Miharu folk toys such as wooden horses and maneki-neko.

Day 5: Awaji Island

Board a Shinkansen bullet train to Kobe, where we will board a bus and cross over to the large island of Awaji, our home for the night.

In the afternoon, we will enjoy the renowned Awaji Puppet Theatre.

Day 6: The Puppetry of Tokushima

After breakfast, we will cross over to Shikoku Island, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands.

Our first stop will be the prefectural capital of Tokushima, where we will have a performance of wooden puppets (Joruri Ningyo) and visit a museum showing the history of the art of bunraku. After lunch we will make stop at the Awa Odori Kaikan to see a short performance of a dance distinctive to this region.

Later, we will switch to small buses to drive the winding mountain roads to the remote Iya Valley, near the town of Miyoshi.

In the evening, pending confirmation, we will meet local residents at the tiny Arimiya Shrine for a rarely performed Fusuma Karakuri performance, with the narrative provided by exquisitely painted sliding screens.

Day 7: The Mysterious and Remote Iya Valley

We’ll get a little exercise to start the day, crossing a bridge made of wisteria vines, built by exiles from Kyoto 800 years ago.

Next, we will visit Chiiori, a traditional Japanese house restored by American Alex Kerr (subject to availability).

After a lunch of locally made soba, we will make a short stop for a panoramic view of Ochiai village, known for its houses cascading down a steep hillside.

We’ll finish our Iya Valley touring at Nagoro Doll Village where we will gaze at the life-size dolls scattered around the village. They represent past residents of this mostly depopulated town and other notable figures.

Days 8-9: Naoshima

This morning, we will wind our way out of the mountains to the Yotsuya Simon Doll Museum in the seaside town of Sakaide.

From there, we will head to the Kagawa prefectural capital of Takamatsu. There, we will board a ferry for the short ride to Naoshima Island.

We have the rare privilege of staying on Naoshima for two nights in a hotel that doubles as an art museum. This gives us a full day to explore the incredible artistic installations of the Benesse Art Site.

During our stay we will visit the unique Chichu Art Museum, built into a seaside cliff by renowned Japanese architect Takeo Ando. There are only 7 exhibits in the museum, three of which are Monet Water Lily paintings, illuminated only by filtered natural light.

In the afternoon, we will wander through the Art Houses of Honmura village. Over several years, the Benesse Publishing Company invited artists to come to the island to turn an empty house or temple into a work of art. The variety of expressions is amazing!

During our two evenings on the island, we’ll sample gourmet French and Japanese cuisine.

Day 10: Miyoshi in the Mountains of Honshu

This morning, we will take a ferry back across to the main island of Honshu, then drive to the Hiroshima Prefecture town of Miyoshi. There we will visit the museum dedicated to the master puppeteer and set designer Jusaburo, as well as consider the spirit world of Yokai at the Miyoshi Mononoke Museum.

Our day concludes with a Shinkansen bullet train ride to most classical city of Japan, Kyoto, our home for the last three nights of our tour.

Days 11-12: Kyoto

While in Kyoto, witness some or all of the unique creations of Volks Angel Den, and Kondaya Genbei textiles (specializing in elaborate silk obis). We will also visit ningyo displays from Okamoto Shogo (a Kogei Ningyo artist in the Mensho tradition dating to 1704) and Itoh Hisashige. (We visited his Shizuoka museum during our 2019 Bunraku Tour.)

During our final day in Japan, we’ll enjoy a shopping visit to the arts and crafts boutiques of the Shin-Monzen District near Gion and a store with the finest collection of antique dolls.

Conclude our tour with a day with a memorable farewell dinner.

Day 13: Farewell to Japan

For those starting home today, enjoy breakfast, then transfer to the airport for your flights home.

If you have enough time, we invite you to join us for our 2-night extension. We will witness the beauty of the mountains, lakes, and volcanic craters of the Hakone region, finishing with an early afternoon drop-off at Haneda Airport.