The "What's the difference between a Shrine and a Temple anyway?" Tour

About the tour and your guides

Hello! We are Yuko and Alex, the tour guides of this tour and the faces behind Hihumi 1.2.3. Tours. We were lucky enough to buy our dreamhouse in the mountains of Okumikawa in Central Japan in 2023, and since then we've made it our mission to show visitors the incredible things this countryside area has to offer.

We may be more than a little biased about how great this area is, but in any case we've had a great time sharing the local fascinating cultural and spiritual history with our guests. We've found that in the right place with the right atmosphere, nearly anyone can understand Japan's spiritual history, giving their time in Okumikawa and Japan much more depth!

This package tour is our way of sharing the incredible things we've learned about Japanese spirituality from our community, with heaps of hands-on experiences to really give you a taste of the things you can find in Temples, Shrines, and the mix that can still exist between the two.

Whether you're a first time visitor to Japan or a repeater, this package tour will give you background to better understand what you can see in Japan, and who knows, you may want to become a mountain monk yourself!

Itinerary

Day 0, Arrival - 14th October or 11th November

Come to Yuyaonsen (in Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture) at your leisure, arriving before dinner time to check in at the popular Hoo! Hoo! Guesthouse (a guesthouse with private onsen hot spring baths!). Package tour starts at 6pm.

We'll join everyone for an included BBQ dinner of local meat and veges (BYO drinks), before an orientation presentation session to give everyone some background important for the journey ahead.

Day 1, Mountain locals - 15th October or 12th November

We'll travel into the mountains to visit a museum all about a 700 year old festival handed down by mountain monks. It's a great place to see the mix of spirituality that will shape the rest of the tour. Then we'll travel to the Moon (Tsuki Village, literally "Moon Village").

With locals at a local shrine we'll find out what makes a Shinto shrine a Shinto shrine, before an included local chicken lunch at a very popular restaurant that's known for its flair.

At the community hall of the Moon (village) we'll learn from locals with hands-on experiences. First we'll make paper charms used in their centuries old Hanamatsuri ceremony, then we'll work on traditional rice grass sandals commonly used in ceremonies (but we'll use them to climb Mt. Horaiji the old-fashioned way on the final day). Seeing as we aren't all rice grass experts, making sandals from stratch that would survive the climb could take days, so we will have some partially-made sandals that we will finish off. We'll also have the chance to make some rice grass rope and try some of the hard parts of the process.

At the cosy and friendly Danon Guesthouse, the host will show you her passion for cooking with included dinner (and maybe you can even help out), before spending the night the old-fashioned way on tatami floors, in separate men and women rooms.

Day 2, Preparation - 16th October or 13th November

We'll start the day with a zen meditation experience at a charming temple nearby. It will be a great chance to see how zen practitioners find their peace.

To prepare for our big climb the next day, we'll head to the main temple street of Mt. Horaiji for lunch at a local speciality restaurant, followed by hands-on experiences with mountain monks and talented craftspeople.

With modern-day mountain monks (yamabushi) we'll have the chance to play the huge conch shells they use in ceremonies and when in the mountains. For our climb the next day we'll make bamboo horns that are easier to play but still very loud. In the following picture you can see some of the yamabushi group, with some joining us for the bamboo horn experience, and some hiking up the steps at Mt. Horaiji with us the next day if they can!

At a 100 year old school building we'll put together a calligraphy brush made of natural materials with a talented craftsperson, before we visit one of the few remaining inkstone craftsmen to see why certain rocks were so important to monks for thousands of years.

After some time to practice horns, calligraphy, or maybe even chat to the yamabushi, everyone will check into the incredible Unryuso Inn, with included traditional dinner.

Day 3, The big finale - 17th October or 14th November

The big day! Together we'll put on our rice grass sandals, and climb the 1,425 stone steps of Mt. Horaiji the old fashioned way. During the climb we'll see incredible nature while we share the legends of the mountain.

After arriving at the main temple building, we'll take a look inside (only possible with special permission) to see what makes a Shingon Temple special. Also with special permission we'll enter the Toshogu Shrine that enshrines Japan's most powerful samurai and shogun (Tokugawa Ieyasu), seeing the grounds of the normally off-limits Honden hall, and even taking a peek inside.

After a bento box lunch, we'll use the calligraphy brushes we made ourselves, with an inkstone from Mt. Horaiji, to copy a Buddhist sutra, a classic temple activity to gain spiritual merit and make prayers.

Finally we'll choose a great spot on the mountain to all play our bamboo horns together, listening for the echoes and sounds that mountain monks love. Then we'll hike down the back of the mountain, over the cliff dotted with statues, on our way back to Hoo! Hoo! Guesthouse for the night's accommodation and a catered dinner to celebrate the end of our big day.

The next day, 18th October or 15th November, the package tour ends at 10am after check out from Hoo! Hoo!. All there is to do is continue your holiday in Japan, leaving from Yuyaonsen Station!

Inclusions/exclusions

Included in the tour

• Breakfast on days 1, 2, and 3, and the Saturday before check out at the end of the tour.
• Lunch on days 1, 2, and 3.
• Dinner on days 0, 1, 2, and 3.
• Accommodation on days 0, 1, 2, and 3.
• Guided tours on days 1, 2, and 3, with an orientation session on day 0.
• Experiences as described in the itinerary above.
• All transport (taxi) used during the package tour, for example between accommodation, experiences, and restaurants.
  
• Licenced tour conductor (Yuko) will be present during the guided tour parts of the package tour. 

Not included in the tour

• Alcohol or any bottled drinks (except when stated in the tour guidebook)
• Snacks and other food outside of the meals included as described in the guidebook.
• Transport used to arrive or depart from the tour area before or after the package tour (bus, train, taxi, etc.)

Guest requirements

• Moderate to good fitness, with some basic hiking experience. Not suitable for those with joint pain
• Not suitable for children, we apologise but we cannot offer the tour for children
• Not suitable for those with strong allergies to animal hair (for brush making experience)
• Valid travel insurance
• Sturdy hiking/walking shoes, water bottle

Small group tour considerations

As a small group tour, guests from different groups will travel together and stay in accommodation together when necessary. This package tour runs best as a small group tour, but unfortunately the accommodation in the mountains often doesn't have the capacity to allow for private rooms for each guest, we apologise for any inconvenience. In any case we'd love our guests to be able to bond through the experiences and time spent with locals as a group.

Booking cutoff	33 days before the start of the tour
Maximum guests possible	8 guests total
Minimum guests to run the tour	2 guests (guests who have started a contract with us will be notified 33 days before the start date about any possible changes in this case)
Accom. restrictions	Depending on the number of guests booking together within the full tour group, we will need to ask guests to share rooms. For this package tour, most nights are spent in highly-rated guesthouses with great friendly atmosphere, where room sharing is more normal. For the second night of the package tour, men and women will need to sleep in separate shared tatami (traditional flooring) rooms.

 

Price

Special introductory offer: ¥100,000 per guest. This price is discounted from the regular price of ¥150,000 per guest, as a 'monitor tour' (see below).

Solo travellers pay the same rate, please see the Accommodation Restrictions information above.

This introductory price is only possible through the support of a grant from Aichi Prefecture, and is limited to the 2 tours run in 2025 (October and November). As conditions of these introductory tour, we will be gathering your feedback at the end of the tour (more on this below), and taking photos for promotional use in future. Prices for tours run after this introductory period will raise, and during the introductory period, the price is subject to be decreased slightly if necessary.

Payments can be made by bank transfer (using wise.com) where possible, or by credit card through our website.

Monitor-tours: Our October and November 2025 tours are considered 'monitor tours' (in Japanese-English), where we are running the tours at a cheaper price in order to gather feedback about the tour and evaluate our services. As monitor tours, we require feedback in the form of a group interview on the final night of each tour, after dinner, roughly lasting an hour. We will be asking for your feedback and feelings about the tour, what you felt about the experience, and what could be improved. These group interviews are considered as a condition of the tour contract, we thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Where does the tour run?

The start and end location for the tour is Yuyaonsen, a small hot spring village in Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture. The JR Iida line to Yuyaonsen Station runs from Toyohashi (which has Tokaido Shinkansen access). To reach Yuyaonsen by train from Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto it generally takes between 3-4 hours. From Nagoya it generally takes about 2.5 hours. You can find a pin on Yuyaonsen Station at this Google Maps link.

Booking process

1. Contact us through the contact form on this page, by email, or our 'contact us' page. We'll need to know which tour (October or November) you'd like to join.
2. We will send you information about the tour to double check, our terms and conditions, and a guest agreement that everyone you represent will need to sign.
3. On receiving the signed guest agreement, we will send you links for payment of the 50% deposit.
4. On receiving your 50% deposit payment, you start a travel contract with us, we confirm your booking, and we send through a (very) informational guidebook for your package tour.
5. By 14 days before the start of the tour we require payment of the remaining 50% of the tour price. We'll send you links for making this payment when it suits you.

Cancellations, terms and conditions

Please see our cancellations page for more information. Our terms and conditions for offered tours (PDF) must be agreed to by all guests.

Travel agency information

Registration No.	Aichi Prefecture Governor's Registered Travel Agency Regional No. 1548
Name	Hihumi 1.2.3.
Address	17-1, Ogouchi, Shimoyoshida, Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture
Telephone	0536-29-0204 / +81 90-6295-0693
Contact person's name	Yuko Balson (Regional Travel Service Supervisor)