New connections, future promises and shared experiences are all to be found on a tour in Japan, writes food writer and former chef, Jane Lawson.
After three decades exploring Japan, living in both Tokyo and Kyoto, it seemed natural to Jane Lawson to launch Zenbu Travel, offering tours to this culturally rich country. She decided access to the finest traditional and contemporary restaurants was imperative. As was connecting with any authentically food-related place or person: farmers’ markets, pickle makers, miso, soy and sake breweries, kitchen-tool and tableware craftspeople, yuzu, tea and wasabi growers, home cooks and teachers.
Lawson also wanted her tours to include exhibits, performances, storytelling, cultural experiences and surprises. Zenbu Travel caps guest numbers to eight to fit, physically and philosophically, within the framework of high-end Kappo (counter) and Ryotei (Kaiseki) establishments. This guarantees groups are welcomed into interesting local haunts including rustic izakaya and fragrant yakitori joints, or private homes where space is at a minimum and atmosphere a premium.
© Meera Freeman Photography
The Japanese trip of a lifetime
Zenbu Travel aims to create the quintessential ‘trip of a lifetime’. All guests depart feeling satiated, inspired and a little bit in love with Japan. In January, Lawson was joined in Kyoto by a handful of returnees, travelling with Lawson for the fourth or fifth time, as well as some new clients.
“It’s always a delicate dance finding the right tempo of inclusivity and wonder when the group is wearing distinctly different lenses, but my fear swiftly evaporated; these like-minded lovers of life, and all it has to offer, were an excellent fit.”
Kyoto
Welcome drinks and dinners in the beautiful hotel helped familiarise the group before they slipped into the itinerary’s flow. In the private dining room, a Zen-like space overlooking a raked rock garden that transforms with the seasons, they journeyed through an expressive menu of Kyoto delicacies accompanied by local ceramics, sake, narrative and humour.
© Meera Freeman Photography
Highlights of Kyoto
A grounding first week was spent wandering picturesque neighbourhoods, willow-lined canals and Zen temple gardens, pausing in cosy cafes peddling jazz, and drinking in breathtaking mountain views from the Kamo River. Exploration of Edo-period curves, timber shophouses and secret symbols etched on walls in Gion (the Geisha district) were interjected with artful restaurant experiences presenting wobbly handmade tofu, finely marbled wagyu and an abundance of Kyo-yasai – Kyoto’s celebrated vegetable varieties. There were day trips to alpine villages and sacred cities where guests caressed artisan pottery and antique textiles, fashioned ink blocks and fine-haired calligraphy brushes and contemplated ethereal shojin ryori (Buddhist vegan cuisine).
Nature experiences
At the halfway mark they boarded a lavish train with butter-leather recliners – bound for coastal Mie and neighbouring Aichi prefectures. In-built massage features and a visual feast of windswept bonsai, seaweed farms and fishing boats lured sleep, but that night’s Kashikojima sunset and sea-faring tales by an octogenarian pearl diver as she grilled lobster and abalone over the hearth, were worth staying awake for.
Forest-bathing, seaside shrines and immaculate sashimi suppers were linked by picturesque drives, deep discussion and blossoming friendships. Guests sampled Mitarashi dango (sweet soy glazed rice dumplings) at a market stall one day, rejoiced over an exquisite French-Japanese degustation the next, and giggled over tonkatsu (deep-fried crumbed pork) with red miso sauce – hard not to when sporting adult-bibs emblazoned with dancing pigs, or devouring fist-sized strawberries at $30 a piece.
© Meera Freeman Photography
Back in Kyoto, the pace slowed, brushing against the city’s eternally evocative textures with deeper observance, absorbing its energy and inhaling the heady perfume of hand-crafted incense. Guests somewhat reluctantly readied themselves for farewells.
“We took one last traipse through a snowy bamboo forest, chatted all things mystical Japan and attended an incredibly sleek, cutting-edge tea ceremony – new even for me. That’s the thing I love most about Japan, I’ll always be a novice. Delight can be found anywhere in this deeply fascinating country but learning how to truly appreciate what’s in front of you is the ultimate gift.
Find out more at zenbutravel.com
© Meera Freeman Photography
