Japan Nature & Art in 12 Days: Osaka, Naoshima, Kyoto to Tokyo

Welcome to Japan's western gateway. Your driver meets you at Kansai International Airport and takes you straight to your Osaka hotel. If you land with energy to spare, an evening stroll under the neon of Dotonbori — takoyaki in hand — is the right first taste of the city.

A full Osaka day: the gold-trimmed keep of Osaka Castle above its moats, then the grazing lanes of Kuromon Ichiba market — grilled scallops, tuna cuts, fresh fruit. In the afternoon the retro streets of Shinsekai under Tsutenkaku tower, and Dotonbori's full glow after dark.

Ride west to Himeji and climb the White Heron — Japan's most complete original castle, a UNESCO site whose white plaster keeps have stood four centuries. Continue to Kurashiki and end the day in the Bikan quarter: white-walled storehouses and willows leaning over a canal that once carried rice barges. Overnight in Kurashiki.

Ferry out to Naoshima, the island that turned itself into a gallery. Inside Tadao Ando's buried Chichu Art Museum, Monet's water lilies hang in natural light; Benesse House scatters sculpture along the shoreline, and Yayoi Kusama's yellow pumpkin waits at the end of its pier. Return to the mainland and overnight in Okayama.

Morning in Korakuen, one of Japan's three great gardens — lawns, a winding stream and tea fields laid out three centuries ago beneath Okayama's black castle. Ride the shinkansen to Kyoto in time for the vermilion torii tunnels of Fushimi Inari, and finish with lantern-lit Gion at dusk.

Walk the squeaking "nightingale floors" of Nijo Castle, graze through the 400-year-old Nishiki food market, then climb to Kiyomizu-dera and stand on its wooden stage above the trees. Wind down through the preserved Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka lanes as the lanterns come on.

The trip's headline foliage day. Arashiyama's hillsides turn to embers over the Togetsukyo bridge; walk the quiet Sagano lanes and the bamboo grove before the crowds thicken. In the afternoon, a reserved visit to Saiho-ji — the moss temple, where a hundred shades of green carpet the garden floor (advance booking required; we arrange it).

A slower Kyoto day. Morning coffee along the Kamo river, then the Philosopher's Path under its canal-side maples, ending at the Silver Pavilion of Ginkaku-ji — or, in peak foliage, Eikando's famous illuminated maples. The evening is yours in Gion; we can book a counter dinner or a tea-house introduction on request.

Ride the shinkansen along the coast to Mishima and climb into the Fuji Five Lakes. A cruise on Lake Kawaguchi puts the whole mountain above the water on a clear day. Check in at an onsen ryokan: tatami rooms, yukata, kaiseki dinner and a hot-spring bath under the peak.

Autumn morning on the north shore: the Momiji Corridor's canal-side maple tunnel, then Oishi Park where flower beds frame Fuji across the lake. Stop at Oshino Hakkai's eight spring ponds — water so clear you count the fish — before the drive into Tokyo.

Tokyo through its calmer doors: the Nezu Museum's bamboo-walled approach and garden of stone lanterns (the vermilion halls of Nezu Shrine nearby, if you prefer shrines to galleries), then the outer stalls of Tsukiji and a proper sushi lunch. At sunset, the open-air deck of Shibuya Sky above the scramble.

Through the Kaminarimon gate to Senso-ji for a last incense blessing, then the choice is yours: a hands-on sushi session, or shopping from Nakamise street to Ginza. A private transfer delivers you to Narita or Haneda for the flight home.