Walk Japan launches the Kyoto: Mountains to the Sea tour  exploring Kyoto Prefecture, a bucolic rural region, where the contrast with Kyoto’s urban  landscape could not be more stark. Yet, it is here that much of the sublime foods and crafts the city is famed for have been sourced for over a millennia. 

Kyoto: Mountains to the Sea is a fully-guided, eight-day tour that ventures through Kyoto’s  backcountry; a lovely countryside where the pace of life is still measured by seasons and a  multitude of colourful festivals throughout the year. Here, however, visitors, Japanese and  from overseas, are few and far between. 

The tour follows ancient trails, once vital for commerce and communication, that weave their  way through valleys and over high passes until culminating on the rugged Sea of Japan coast  at Amanohashidate, rightly considered one of Japan’s three classic vistas. En route, it passes  through little-known villages and aside historic temples and shrines, some grand and some  very rustic. Accommodation each night is in Japanese inns, where friendly hosts provide warm welcomes  and mouth-watering meals composed of locally-sourced and grown ingredients such as  Kyoyasai heirloom vegetables, Miyama ayu sweetfish, Tanba buri yellowtail, and saba mackerel. These are the self-same staples that are celebrated in the cuisine of Kyoto City’s  famed high-class ryokan inns and restaurants. 

The Kyoto: Mountains to the Sea tour is an eight-day, seven-night, fully-guided walking tour  for up to 12 participants starting in Kyoto City and concluding at Amanohashidate. Daily  walking distances range between eight to 16 kilometres following mountain trails and quiet  country lanes. A Level 4 tour, it is suitable for anyone who leads a reasonably active lifestyle.  Prices start from JPY430,000 Japanese yen based on double occupancy.  

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