Your journey begins when you meet your guide at Shonai Airport. The first stop is lunch at gira e gira, a restaurant serving Italian cuisine made with local ingredients, conveniently located near the airport. After lunch, enjoy some light hiking up Mount Takadate, a small mountain along the coast. Woodlands of beeches and oaks, as well as birdwatching, can be enjoyed here. Your overnight accommodation is a suite room at Isagoya, a ryokan located in the nearby Yunohama Onsen hot springs village. Enjoy an evening of natural hot spring baths, local sake, and seafood at your ryokan.

After breakfast, depart your hotel to observe professional fishermen at work using teichi ami stationary-net fishing and shinkeijime, a traditional technique used to preserve a fish’s freshness after being caught. Then, on to Zenpoji Temple. Experience a stirring kito prayer ritual to the pounding of taiko drums. For lunch, shojin ryori—the cuisine of ascetic monks. Taste and learn about this cuisine as you tuck into your meal alongside the monks themselves. After lunch, view highlights of the temple such as its five-story pagoda, hall of 500 arhats, and Ryuoden Hall where Ryujin—dragon god of the sea—is enshrined. Then, on to Atsumi Onsen. Learn knife handling skills making use of a beautiful yanagi blade under the guidance of Chef Satoshi Saito, head chef of the longstanding ryokan Tachibanaya. Later in the evening at Tachibanaya, enjoy your fill of local sake, seafood, and the half-open-air private bath attached to the bedroom of your lavish suite.

After breakfast, head to Sakata, a port town which historically flourished thanks to its trade with Kyoto and Osaka. After a short stroll through Hiyoriyama Park to take in the view of the port, visit the Homma Museum of Art, a facility associated with the Homma, a wealthy merchant family from days of yore. Museum Director Tanaka himself will take you on a special guided tour of the museum’s Kabukuen Garden and 200-year-old Seienkaku Villa. Sakata is also known for its delicious locavore take on French cuisine. Enjoy a lunch of French cuisine prepared with local fish and vegetables at the popular restaurant Nico. After lunch, visit the Sanko Soko traditional rice storehouses and do some souvenir shopping. Then, on to the Ken Domon Museum of Photography. View photographs of old temples, Buddhist statuary, and other works by Sakata-born Domon that will teach you something about the Japanese spirit. The museum building itself was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, the same architect who led the 2004 redesign of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Immerse yourself in this calm, comfortable space.