A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan will be offered through Kansas City Kansas Community College next April.
A 13-day trip departing from Kansas City April 5, the trip will include stays in the historic cities of Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone and Tokyo.
“This trip is a one-of-a-kind adventure because most future trips are being reduced to 11 days,” said Alan Hoskins, KCKCC Public Information Supervisor. “In addition, Go Ahead Tours is customizing this Highlights of Japan trip for only our group from Kansas City. The only requirement is that there must be a minimum of 15 travelers.”
Highlights will include the Osaka Castle, once the mightiest in Japan; sake making in Kobe; and the world’s largest bronze statue of Buddha in Nara.
A four-day stay in Kyoto, the spiritual capital of Japan, will include visits to the 17th century Nijo Castle, Golden Pavilion and Todaiji Shrine; the Mikimoto Pearl Island where divers can be observed diving for pearls the old fashioned way; a ride through Japan’s lush countryside to Koga; and a traditional feast of Japanese-style crepe and a performance in Kyoto’s Gion geisha theatre.
From Kyoto, a high-speed bullet train will take travelers to the resort town of Hakone for a cruise on Lake Ashi, stunning lake views of Mount Fuji and the cooking of “Black Eggs” in the hot springs of the Boiling Valley.
Mount Fuji will be one of the stops en route to Tokyo, Japan’s capital city where there will be visits to the Meiji Shinto Shrine, Imperial Palace and Asakusa Kannon Temple, a cruise down the Sumida River and a traditional Kabuki theatre performance.
In addition, optional tours will be available to Hiroshima, which was destroyed by the atomic bomb to end World War II in 1945; Niko, where the elaborate Toshogu Shrine boasts the Three Wise Monkeys (‘Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil”); and Kamakura and its famed Great Buddha and Hase Kannon Temples.
Open to all interested travelers, the cost is $4,404 and includes round trip airfare from Kansas City, lodging, guided sightseeing tours, baggage transfer, daily breakfast buffet, two lunches and five 3-course dinners including wine or beer. A deposit of $300 will reserve a place on the trip with the final payment due Jan. 5, 2013.
Brochures, itineraries and additional information are available by contacting Alan Hoskins at 913-288-7158 or by e-mail to ahoskins@kckcc.edu.
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PHOTO: Kyoto’s historic and magnificent Golden Pavilion and Mount Fuji are among the highlights of a Kansas City Kansas Community College trip to Japan April 5, 2013.
