Japan in Depth

Autumn is the month Japan rewards patience. The typhoons of September have passed, the air turns dry and clear, and the koyo, the turning of the maples, moves down from the mountains through October and into the second half of November, so a trip timed properly follows the colour rather than chasing it. It is the quieter of the country's two great seasons, and the temple gardens that are shoulder-to-shoulder in April are walkable again.

Sixteen nights, four bases. Four in Tokyo to arrive and adjust, three in the Japan Alps around Kanazawa and Takayama, five in Kyoto, and the balance on the Seto Inland Sea. Members who want a single obsession rather than a survey give the whole middle week to Kyoto and we build around it.

The days are made of contrasts. Tokyo is early markets, a tempura counter and a private view of a collection; the Alps are Kenroku-en before the gates, the thatched houses of Shirakawa-go and a walk on the old Nakasendo between Magome and Tsumago; Kyoto is temple gardens opened privately and long lunches in the kitchens. On the Inland Sea the pace drops to nothing but the Tadao Ando museums on Naoshima, which reward a slow day and an empty gallery.

The honest logistics point is that the aircraft does less here than usual. Haneda takes any long-range type and sits close to the city, but between Tokyo, Kanazawa and Kyoto the Shinkansen is faster, quieter and more punctual than a private lift, and we route you onto it rather than pretend otherwise. The last leg to the Inland Sea is by car and boat.

Among our preferred hotel partners we use Aman Tokyo and Mandarin Oriental Tokyo in the capital, Aman Kyoto and The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto on the river, and Benesse House on Naoshima for the art.

Ask your advisor about temple gardens opened before public hours, a kaiseki counter booked a year out, and whether to run the trip for the maples in November or the blossom in April.