The Alpine Peaks & Hidden Samurai Valleys

• Your duffel — A soft-sided Finders & Keepers Safaris duffel, sized for domestic flights and easier than a hard case on train platforms, ferry jetties and old-town lanes.
• What is inside it — A wide-brim sun hat, a lightweight packable rain shell for tropical downpours, and a foldable day pack for temple mornings and market afternoons.
• Yours to keep — The bag and everything in it is a gift, not a loan.
• Packing around it — Slip-on shoes save time at temples, where you remove them repeatedly, and one set of clothing covering shoulders and knees is essential for religious sites.

Cherry blossoms (late March–early April) and autumn colours (November) are the most popular — and most crowded — times to visit. Your itinerary is timed to make the most of seasonal highlights where included.

• Early starts — The best of this journey happens at dawn — before the heat, the crowds and the haze. Your guide will confirm what time you will be collected from your hotel.
• Tailoring this journey — If you would like this package with more or fewer days, arranged for a group, a family or a solo traveller, or with add-ons, reach out and we will tailor it for you.
• Route changes — Your guide or driver may alter the route in certain circumstances, but every destination set out in the itinerary will be covered.

• Passport — Valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date, with at least two blank pages for stamps.
• Visa exemption — Japan waives the short-stay visa for 74 countries and regions, including the UK, the EU, the US, Canada and Australia, generally for 90 days.
• Visit Japan Web — Filing immigration and customs in advance through Visit Japan Web produces two QR codes and takes you through the fast lanes at Narita and Haneda. It is free and saves a long queue.
• Medication is taken seriously — Japan prohibits several medicines sold over the counter elsewhere, including many pseudoephedrine decongestants and codeine painkillers. Bringing them in, even in hand luggage, is a criminal matter, and larger quantities of prescription drugs need a Yakkan Shoumei import certificate arranged in advance.
• We handle the paperwork — We complete and submit your visa, eVisa or travel-authorisation applications on your behalf. You supply the documents once; we do the filing, track the approval and hold the confirmations for you.
• Where you must appear in person — A few consulates insist on biometrics or a short interview that nobody can sit on your behalf — China requires fingerprinting for some nationalities, as do European and United States visas. We still prepare the entire file; we simply book you a single appointment and brief you beforehand so one visit settles it.
• Before you travel — Entry rules change frequently and without much notice. Your specialist confirms the current requirements for every passport in your party at the time of booking, and checks them again before you fly.

• Once confirmed, you travel — When your departure date is confirmed, it is guaranteed. We do not cancel, merge or reschedule a confirmed departure for commercial reasons, however the final numbers fall.
• What confirms a departure — A departure becomes confirmed once the agreed number of travellers has been reached and paid for in line with the agreed payment schedule. Places held without payment do not count towards it.
• If the minimum is not reached — Where a group departure has not reached its agreed numbers, we tell you early rather than late, and you choose: move to the next available date, continue at a revised small-group rate, or take a full refund of everything you have paid.
• Solo journeys — Solo and tailor-made itineraries carry no group minimum at all. Your dates are confirmed the moment your deposit is received.