Tokyo-based luxury destination management company Xperisus has packaged five private and limited-access cultural experiences across Tokyo, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Hiroshima and Aichi, aimed at helping luxury travel advisors sell Japan beyond the Golden Route.
The company, which works as an extension of advisors’ teams in Japan rather than selling fixed packages, said it can combine the experiences with the classic Tokyo–Kyoto circuit or use them as anchors for regional journeys, handling interpretation, transport, production and on-the-ground coordination.
In Tokyo, guests can join a private two-hour ninja and samurai session at the Musashi Clan Honjin Dojo, led by Suzak, the 19th-generation female head of a shinobi lineage historically linked to the Tokugawa family. The programme covers stealth movement, shuriken and blowpipe practice and iai swordsmanship, with an indicative budget of JPY100,000-200,000 for up to six guests.
In Kyoto, Xperisus has developed a private tea and zazen programme at Enrian, a Rinzai Zen temple in Saga, on the quieter edge of Arashiyama, that is generally closed to sightseeing. In Kanazawa, guests can visit the usually private atelier of Kaga Yuzen dyeing artisan Mr Maida, which carries out all 15 stages of the silk-dyeing process under one roof, as part of the city tourism association’s closed Kanazawa Ichigo Ichie programme.
In Fukuyama, in eastern Hiroshima Prefecture, a denim-making programme with BOLEEGA offers made-to-order garments and factory visits in a manufacturing cluster that includes Kaihara, one of Japan’s leading denim makers. In Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, about 50 minutes from Nagoya, a matcha programme combines a tea-field visit and factory tour at Aoi Seicha with stone-milling and a tea ceremony at the historic Shokoso villa.
Xperisus was founded in Tokyo in 2017, joined Serandipians in 2023 and was accepted into Virtuoso’s preferred-partner portfolio this year.
Regional Japan is drawing more interest from overseas markets, with Traveloka data showing Southeast Asian travellers turning to Fukuoka, and K-pop concerts lifting flight bookings across Asian cities.
