A Vinegar Hill Pottery Journey · 8 – 22 May 2027

Japan, through the hands of its makers.

Fourteen days walking alongside the master craftspeople of Tokyo, Mashiko, Kanazawa, Echizen, Kyoto, Tokoname and Kamakura — a small-group pilgrimage curated for the creatively curious.

14Days

7Regions

10+Master craftspeople

May2027 departure

— Journey Highlights

Eleven moments to look forward to

01

Tokyo, through an insider’s lens

From hidden street-food gems to the artistic legacy of Senso-ji and the refined beauty of Nezu Shrine — a side of the city most visitors never see.
02

The living craft traditions of Mashiko

Working alongside master potters and creating your own piece in a private ceramic workshop inspired by the legacy of Shoji Hamada.
03

Exclusive access to Kanazawa’s finest artisans

From delicate Kaga Yuzen silk painting to exquisite lacquerware, meet the masters preserving centuries-old techniques.
04

In the footsteps of samurai

Walk Kanazawa’s atmospheric Nagamachi district, with a rare visit inside a beautifully restored samurai residence.
05

A traditional tea ceremony at Kenroku-en

The ritual of tea, taken within the serene setting of one of Japan’s three most celebrated gardens.
06

The ancient kilns of Echizen

One of Japan’s six historic pottery centres, where traditions have remained unchanged for centuries.
07

A ryokan stay at Amanohashidate

Refined hospitality overlooking one of Japan’s most iconic coastal landscapes, with an unforgettable multi-course kaiseki dinner.
08

Behind the scenes with master craftspeople

From swordsmiths to silk weavers and sake brewers, gaining rare insight into Japan’s cultural heritage.
09

Kyoto’s timeless beauty, curated

Explore Zen gardens including Ryoan-ji, walk through the bamboo groves of Arashiyama, and visit the historic Nijo Castle.
10

A private perspective on Japanese garden design

Guided in Kamakura by an award-winning Japanese landscape designer — an experience few travellers ever access.
11

A journey designed for creative minds

Seamlessly blending culture, craftsmanship and immersive experiences, with every detail thoughtfully curated.

— Prologue

An invitation, not an itinerary

There is a particular hush to a Japanese workshop at dawn — the click of a wheel, the soft fold of fabric, the smell of pine ash on hot kiln bricks. This journey is built around those quiet, deliberate hours: time spent at the elbow of the people keeping Japan’s craft traditions alive. We travel slowly, in a small group, with the kind of access that comes from long friendship rather than a guidebook. Expect to leave with clay still under your fingernails — and a way of looking at the world that you’ll carry home in your work.

CH · I

Tokyo ·

An insider’s Tokyo

We begin where most visitors only skim the surface. From a small-group street-food tour through the back lanes of the old shitamachi to the artistic legacy of Senso-ji and the refined beauty of Nezu Shrine, the first chapter of our journey opens onto a side of the city few travellers ever see.

Evening street-food tour: izakaya, yakitori carts, hidden kitchens
Ryogoku, Tokyo’s historic sumo district, with its stadium museum
A morning walk through Yasuda Garden, koi ponds and stone lanterns
Sumida Hokusai Museum, dedicated to the woodblock-print master
Lantern-painting workshop at Atelier Sougeikan, an Edo-era studio
Nezu Shrine’s vermilion torii, then Yanaka and Asakusa’s Senso-ji

CH · II

Mashiko ·

In the shadow of Shoji Hamada

A day trip north from Tokyo by private coach into the spiritual heartland of mingei — the folk-craft movement Hamada built with Bernard Leach a century ago. We step inside his former residence, climbing kiln and workshop, then take to a wheel ourselves, working alongside a master potter to throw a piece in his lineage.

Private session at the Shoji Hamada Memorial (Sanko-kan Museum)
The Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art (Mashiko Togeikan)
Walking Jonaizaka — the pottery street — at the artisans’ pace
A hands-on Mashiko-yaki pottery class in a working studio

The potter is only a witness. The clay decides; we do our best to listen.

CH · III

Kanazawa ·

The city of quiet luxuries

Kanazawa was largely spared the bombs of WWII, and with them, its samurai districts, geisha houses and centuries-old artisan studios. We walk the cobbled lanes of the Nagamachi district to the Nomura-ke Residence — where freshly brewed matcha is served on the second floor over a tranquil garden — and take a traditional tea ceremony within Kenroku-en, ranked among Japan’s three finest gardens. Then comes the heart of the chapter: rare, private studio time with two of the city’s most celebrated artisans, chosen by you.

Nagamachi Samurai District & the restored Nomura-ke residence
Tea ceremony with a master, inside Kenroku-en Garden
Choose two from a programme of five master artisans:
- Kaga Yuzen — kimono silk dyeing in pigments drawn from nature
- Shikki — Kanazawa lacquerware in black, red and gold leaf
- Kintsugi — mending broken ceramics with seams of gold lacquer
- Wagasa — the few remaining makers of traditional paper umbrellas
- Kaga Nui — feudal-era embroidery on high-quality silk textiles

CH · IV

Echizen · Tango

Where the old kilns still breathe

One of Japan’s six ancient pottery centres, Echizen has changed less in a thousand years than most places do in a generation. From here we move along the coast to Amanohashidate — “the bridge to heaven” — where we stay in a refined ryokan, dine on a multi-course kaiseki, and the next morning press deeper into the Tango region for a slow day among swordsmiths, weavers and brewers.

Fukui Prefectural Museum of Ceramics & Echizen pottery village
Amanohashidate Viewland and the famous “matanozoki” sandbar view
Ryokan stay at Monjusou, with a traditional kaiseki dinner
The swordsmiths of Tango: forging katana from tamahagane steel
Mother-of-pearl silk weaving at the Tamiya gallery — a craft of one master
A generational sake brewery using a UNESCO-recognised brewing method

CH · V

Kyoto · Tokoname · Kamakura

A curated Kyoto, and the long road home

Kyoto is too easily reduced to its postcards. We approach it sideways — four contrasting gardens on the eastern side, the raked stone of Ryoan-ji before the crowds arrive, Nijo Castle’s nightingale floors, and the bamboo groves of Arashiyama. From there to Tokoname, the first of Japan’s six ancient kilns, and finally to Kamakura — where an award-winning Japanese landscape designer guides us privately through the principles of garden-making.

Four gardens of east Kyoto: Nanzen-ji, Tenju-an, Murin-an & Heian Jingu
Nijo Castle, Ryoan-ji and Kinkaku-ji on a single, well-paced day
Arashiyama’s bamboo path and the Togetsukyo bridge
Tokoname pottery town: Manekineko Street & Dokanzaka Hill of clay pipes
A half-day of hidden gardens in Kamakura with a prize-winning designer
Farewell dinner before our return flight

Master craftspeople

The makers we meet

Tango ·

Swordsmiths

Watch a katana take shape in the forge of a master who still works to ancient specification.

Kanazawa ·

Kintsugi

Try the centuries-old craft of mending broken ceramics with seams of gold lacquer.

Kanazawa ·

Wagasa

The dwindling guild of artisans crafting the umbrellas Japan has used for 400 years.

Tokyo ·

Lantern painting

An Edo-era studio where you’ll paint a washi lantern with brush and ink.

Tokoname ·

Manekineko Street

Whimsical beckoning-cat sculptures line the open-air gallery of Japan’s oldest pottery town.

Kanazawa ·

Kaga Nui embroidery

Inside the studio of one of Japan’s last masters of feudal-era silk embroidery.

Kanazawa ·

Shikki lacquer

A studio visit with one of the lacquer artists keeping a 400-year tradition alive.

Kanazawa ·

Kaga Yuzen

Vibrant kimono silk painting in dyes drawn from flowers, minerals and the seasons.

A glimpse ahead

A photographic prelude

Two women in kimono walking a Kyoto street

Hostess preparing futon in a tatami ryokan room

Your invitation

Travel with us · 8 – 22 May 2027

Places are limited and the journey is shaped around the pace of the makers we visit. Use the form below to request the full day-by-day itinerary or register your interest — we’ll be in touch personally with every enquiry.

£6,705 per person, excluding international flights — based on a small group of ten travellers and two people sharing. If fewer than ten of you join us, the per-person price will rise modestly so the journey can run as we've designed it.

Japan, through the hands of its makers.

Eleven moments to look forward to

Tokyo, through an insider’s lens

The living craft traditions of Mashiko

Exclusive access to Kanazawa’s finest artisans

In the footsteps of samurai

A traditional tea ceremony at Kenroku-en

The ancient kilns of Echizen

A ryokan stay at Amanohashidate

Behind the scenes with master craftspeople

Kyoto’s timeless beauty, curated

A private perspective on Japanese garden design

A journey designed for creative minds

An invitation, not an itinerary

An insider’s Tokyo

In the shadow of Shoji Hamada

The city of quiet luxuries

Where the old kilns still breathe

A curated Kyoto, and the long road home

The makers we meet

Swordsmiths

Kintsugi

Wagasa

Lantern painting

Manekineko Street

Kaga Nui embroidery

Shikki lacquer

Kaga Yuzen

A photographic prelude

Travel with us · 8 – 22 May 2027