Shizuoka 5-Day Add-On Itinerary: Samurai Culture, Mt. Fuji & Hidden Japan

Your trip begins with an express train from Tokyo to Shuzenji Onsen, a hot spring town tucked into the forested hills of the Izu Peninsula. This is one of Izu's oldest and most atmospheric onsen towns, with a history stretching back over 1,200 years. On arrival, you'll head to Yoshiwara Kannon Hall, a sacred woodland shrine surrounded by 33 stone Buddhas with views across to Mount Fuji. Here, a local craftsman guides you through carving your own wooden Jizo charm, a Buddhist guardian deity believed to protect travellers. The technique is rooted in a 1,500-year-old tradition. (D)

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This morning, a private guide takes you into the wasabi fields of Izu, one of Japan's most important wasabi-growing regions. The crisp mountain water that feeds these terraced fields has flowed down from the surrounding hills for centuries. At the Izu Wasabi Visitor Center you'll grate fresh wasabi root and taste it as it was meant to be eaten, nothing like the paste you find elsewhere. The morning continues with a hands-on tofu-making workshop using locally sourced ingredients. The afternoon is yours to explore Shuzenji at your own pace. (B,D)

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Today you travel by train to Shizuoka city, where your private guide takes you up to Kunozan Toshogu Shrine, the original burial site of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogun who unified Japan and founded the dynasty that ruled for over 250 years. The shrine sits high above the coast and is reached by ropeway or a climb up ancient stone steps, with sweeping views over Suruga Bay below. The building itself is extraordinary, a riot of lacquer, gilded carvings and colour that reflects the immense power and wealth of the Tokugawa era. (B,D)

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A full day by private vehicle exploring the cultural heartland of Tokugawa Japan. You'll visit a working tea farm in Shizuoka, the prefecture that produces more tea than anywhere else in Japan. Tea was central to samurai culture, a practice tied to discipline, mindfulness and refinement. From here, the route continues to Fujisan Hongu Sengen Shrine at the foot of Mount Fuji, the most important of over 1,300 shrines dedicated to the mountain, and then to the Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre, where the mountain's spiritual and geological story is told in full. (B,D)

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Your final day is the most hands-on of the trip. A private transfer takes you into the mountains outside Shizuoka to Suishamura, a working 250-year-old thatched farmhouse that has been in continuous use since the Edo period. You'll spend the morning catching fish in the river, chopping firewood, and cooking rice over an irori, the sunken open hearth that was the heart of every rural Japanese home. It is a rare window into daily life as it was lived for centuries. After the experience, a private transfer returns you to Shizuoka station to continue your journey. (B)