Travelling in Japan can be challenging: not only because some regions are quite inaccessible, but also because to the western eye, much feels quite alien. Visiting by ship with expert guides both on board and ashore enables you to enjoy perhaps the best and most varied perspective on this extraordinary land.

On expedition cruises to Japan, you can expect an interesting mix of cultural visits and exploration of rich traditions and heritage, as well as time spent exploring some of the tiny remote islands of the Japanese archipelago, each with endemic wildlife and extraordinary natural beauty.

To learn more about Japanese culture you might visit private homes or traditional businesses, shop in local shops or cook with local people. Alongside that, you learn so much from visiting gardens and castles, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, all of which help you to understand more about the history of a land that isolated itself from the rest of the world for hundreds of years.

You might also get to see snow monkeys or flocks of Japanese cranes , foxes, deer, and seals or even Steller's sea eagles if you venture further north.