Zenbu Tours is back from November’s inaugural Shikoku and the Art Islands tour and it took our breath away! Come take a look.
As some of you will know, Zenbu Tours recently returned from Japan where we enjoyed 18 days tasting, breathing and feeling the Shikoku prefectures of Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi and Ehime before blissing out in the Setouchi Art islands of Naoshima and Teshima, bookended by Tokyo glam, a few Michelin stars and convenient airports.
We had an absolute blast. As usual there were plenty of laughs, however different from my regular tours, was us moving hotels more often in order to see as much as possible. For those who don’t know, when we deep dive into a place – like we will on my upcoming Kyoto culinary tour with Chef Peter Gilmore – we tend to unpack at one hotel and settle in, day tripping further afield. Sometimes we pack a small bag for 2 or 3 nights elsewhere, but generally we try to avoid the need to repack more than once!
Honestly I’d assumed that people might only have the opportunity to ‘do’ Shikoku properly once so felt it was important to develop an itinerary where they would enjoy as much as humanly possible – however it turns out my concern was unwarranted as everyone seems very keen to return!
( I have to say, we did really well to move between 8 hotels in 18 days and not leave anything behind. That’s not quite true, I accidentally abandoned a 50th birthday pendant my husband had commissioned and engraved …. ooops. But it’s Japan – and it was found and returned to me the next day. )
The region really is that rich in its own culture and micro-cultures, dreamy landscapes, beautiful people – raw and real – farmers, fisherfolk, artists and craftspeople and unexpected experiences and sites long the way – many in the middle of nowhere.
Above and below I’ve shared a few of my personal snaps from our time together , just in case you need further convincing about how special this tour was and will be in 2024!
Many of you who followed along on instagram ( November 2023) have expressed an interest in joining us in November 2024 and of course we’d love to take you all, however we only have space for a lucky 8 (10 if we have a few couples, it’s all about available rooms – hotels are tricky in Shikoku!).
The itinerary will change very slightly in 2024 (making it even more exciting!) and a reminder that at this stage the price is only indicative (as hotels in Shikoku are a little slower than the mainland when releasing room rates) – HOWEVER we shall have it all finalised very very soon and it shouldn’t stray too far at all from 2023’s price)
Now, I really cannot stress this enough, please do not leave it until the last minute to reserve your spot – we will not be able to add on extra rooms and we don’t want you to miss out!
If you don’t already have the itinerary for Zenbu Higashijima – Shikoku and the Art Islands Tour 2024 please request one immediately through the booking and enquiries form or by emailing me directly at janelawsonfood@gmail.com.
