Traditional Maiko and Music Performances and High Japanese Culture – collaboration with the Homma Museum of Art

Meet your English-speaking interpreter-guide at Sakata station and start your high-class culture tour with a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Arrive at the venue to see the magnificent Sukiya-zukuri style architecture, a type of design originally made for the purpose of tea ceremony. Other Japanese fine arts are also practiced in the building like tea ceremony, flower arrangement and Japanese painting exhibitions. When you enter the tea ceremony room, you will have the main role of being the guest receiving the tea, but if you wish, you will also have the opportunity to make your own tea using the tools that tradtional tea masters practice with. 

After your tea ceremony, make your way to the Historical Homma Residence and witness the over 250 year-old building for yourself. See how this historically wealthy family lived with the residence’s unique architectual design elements and interesting additions they added to the residence over time. 

Proceed to the next location, LE POT AU FEU for a quality French lunch course meal. They use ingredients local to the Shonai area, including from the UNESCO recognized City of Gastronomy, Tsuruoka City. 

After enjoying your delicious course meal, move on to the Sankyo-Soko Rice Storehouses Site, where you can see the sleek rice storehouses which used to store the lucrative rice that Shonai produced and exported to other areas of Japan during the Edo period. Nowadays, you can enter part of the storehouse building to be able to purchase the best local souvenirs and products of Sakata.

After shopping, have a tour of the Homma Museum of Art building, the Seienkaku villa and its gorgeous Japanese garden. After listening to the in-depth tour about the fine art the Homma Museum of Art exhibits, view your first traditional Japanese instrument perfomance with a Sakata geiko performing the shamisen with an accompaniment of a maiko performance. Next, koto and shakuhachi performers will take the stage as you listen to their melodic music. After each performance, there will be the opportunity to try out the performer’s instruments on your own. 

Walk to your hotel and check in, then you will have free time until tomorrow’s tour activities. You could have dinner at the hotel restaurant, relax and sleep during your free time.