Home Plans Explore Japan Blog Contact Client login

Toyama · Kanazawa · Noto

THE HOKURIKU COAST

When
Winter / Spring
Planning fee
USD 3,500 for your groupSignature
How long
8 days

Japan's craft coast, eight days of glass, gold, lacquer, and some of the finest seafood in the country.

Glass workshops in Toyama, samurai streets in Kanazawa, and a peninsula where the wind decides what grows.

Day 1

Toyama: Glass, Medicine and Mountains

Shinkansen from Tokyo to Toyama. Visit the Toyama Glass Art Museum. Afternoon at a traditional medicine store. Overnight at a ryokan with views of the Tateyama range.

Day 2

Gokayama: Hidden UNESCO Village

Day trip to Gokayama, a UNESCO World Heritage village receiving a fraction of Shirakawa-go's visitors. Lunch with a local family in a 300-year-old thatched farmhouse.

Day 3–4

Kanazawa: Japan's Second Cultural Capital

Two full days in Kanazawa. Kenroku-en at dawn. Private workshop with a Kaga Yuzen silk dyeing artisan. The Higashi Chaya geisha district. Day two: 21st Century Museum, samurai district, and a kaiseki counter with eight seats.

Day 5–6

Noto Peninsula: The Edge of Japan

Drive up the Noto Peninsula. Wajima morning market. Private tour with a lacquerware master whose family has practiced the craft for twelve generations. Stay in a renovated fisherman's house at the tip of the peninsula.

Day 7–8

Kaga Onsen + Departure

Return via the Kaga Onsen resort towns. Long soak in a ryokan with a private outdoor bath. Final morning at Yamanaka Onsen. Shinkansen back to Tokyo or bus to Osaka.

Highlights

  • Toyama Glass Museum

    One of the finest glass art collections in Asia, in a building by Kengo Kuma.

  • Kenroku-en at Dawn

    One of Japan's three great gardens, before the crowds arrive.

  • Wajima Lacquerware

    A private workshop with a twelfth-generation lacquer master.

  • Noto Coast

    Japan's most dramatic coastline, known to Japanese travelers, virtually unknown abroad.

This is a sample itinerary. Every STAYGO trip is written from scratch.

You pay hotels, ryokan, restaurants and guides directly, at their own rates. We add no markups and take no commissions. The Signature planning fee is USD 3,500 for your group, for a journey of 7–14 days. Longer or more complex journeys are planned as Bespoke.

During the trip, you reach us through the STAYGO app and WhatsApp. We agree our response hours with you before you leave.