Meet in Tokyo

Make your own way to the group hotel in central Tokyo. Meet the group and tour leaders in the hotel lobby at 6pm before a welcome dinner.

Empire and Wartime Experience in Tokyo

Begin at the Imperial Palace, built on the site of the former Tokugawa Edo Castle and seat of the emperor since 1868. Visit Yasukuni Shrine, where the spirits of over 2.4 million war dead are enshrined, including fourteen convicted Class-A war criminals from the Tokyo Trials. The day concludes at the Shōwa Memorial Museum, which documents civilian life during the wartime Shōwa era through personal artefacts and photographs.

The Meiji Period 

Visit the Meiji Jingu Shrine and Museum, dedicated to Emperor Meiji (r. 1868–1912) and Empress Shōken. The museum traces Japan’s transformation from feudal state to modern imperial power, including its military victories over Qing China in 1895 and Tsarist Russia in 1905. The Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery contains eighty large-scale paintings arranged from Commodore Perry’s arrival in 1853 to the emperor’s funeral procession.

Impact of War and Urban Identity in Tokyo

Visit the Tokyo Memorial Hall, commemorating those killed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and the American firebombing raids of 1945. The Centre of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage focuses on Operation Meetinghouse, the deadliest air raid in history: on the night of 9–10 March 1945, over 300 B-29 bombers killed an estimated 100,000 civilians. The Edo-Tokyo Museum places this devastation in the context of the city’s full history. In the evening, attend a performance of Kabuki theatre.

To Hiroshima

Travel by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima. Explore Hiroshima Castle, originally constructed by the daimyō Mōri Terumoto in 1589 and later requisitioned as headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army’s Fifth Division. In the evening, participate in a hands-on okonomiyaki cooking class.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park

On 6 August 1945, the B-29 Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb ‘Little Boy’ over central Hiroshima, killing approximately 80,000 people instantly. The Peace Memorial Museum preserves the physical evidence of that morning. A guided walk through the Peace Memorial Park takes in the Atomic Bomb Dome and commemorative monuments. A Hibakusha family successor lecture deepens this experience, as descendants of survivors share the testimonies passed down to them.

Takehara | Okunoshima Island

Walk through the preserved Edo-period streets of Takehara Historical Townscape, where merchant houses record the prosperity of a town wealthy from salt and sake production. Continue by ferry to Ōkunoshima Island, popularly known as ‘Rabbit Island’, an island with a darker history, as it was a secret Imperial Army facility that produced mustard gas and lewisite in violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol between the early 1930s and 1945. Visit the Poison Gas Museum and wartime ruins.

To Fukuoka

Travel by Shinkansen to Fukuoka, a coastal city on Kyushu island. Explore the Hakata district, one of Japan’s oldest centres of foreign contact with China and Korea. Visit the Kōrokan Ruins Museum, built on the excavated site of a Nara-period diplomatic guesthouse. Continue to the Genkō Bōrui (Mongol Invasion Defensive Walls), constructed along Hakata Bay in 1276 after Kublai Khan’s first invasion in 1274.

Yayoi Culture | Early State Formation in Fukuoka

Visit Yoshinogari Historical Park, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Yayoi period (c. 300 BCE – 300 CE). Reconstructions of moated settlements with watchtowers and raised storehouses bring to life a society transitioning from small farming villages to stratified political communities. Subject to availability, participate in an interactive educational workshop.

Dazaifu

Visit Dazaifu, the former administrative capital of Kyushu. Begin at Dazaifu Tenmangū, dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane (845–903 CE), a Heian court scholar-official exiled here in 901 CE after losing a political struggle with the Fujiwara clan. Explore the surrounding precinct, where excavated government buildings and temple foundations provide direct evidence of how Dazaifu administered western Japan during the Nara and Heian periods. Tonight, enjoy a final debrief followed by a farewell dinner.

Tour Ends in Fukuoka

The tour programme concludes after breakfast.