Spring 2027 · 13 Days / 12 Nights · Limited to 12 participants
I’m inviting a small group to join me for a slower journey through Japan, exploring the connections between Buddhism, landscape, architecture, gardens, traditional arts, and everyday life.
This is not a conventional sightseeing tour or a formal Buddhist pilgrimage. Buddhism provides the connecting thread, but the journey is open to anyone interested in experiencing Japan more deeply.
We will travel from Tokyo and Kamakura to the Fuji Five Lakes, the historic post town of Narai-juku, Kyoto, Nara, and finally Mount Hiei, where we will stay overnight at temple accommodation associated with Enryaku-ji.
Along the way we’ll experience Buddhist temples and gardens, tea, traditional arts, historic neighborhoods, Japanese cuisine, and distinctive traditional accommodations. We are deliberately allowing more time in each place rather than trying to see as much as possible. There will also be opportunities for photography, conversation, personal exploration, quiet reflection, and, for those interested, meditation.
Photography will naturally be part of the journey, although this is not a photography workshop. I’ll be available for anyone who wants to talk about photography or images, whether they use a camera or simply a phone.
I’ve traveled internationally since I was thirteen, and travel and encountering other cultures have remained central to my life ever since. Many Ocean readers may already know my work from the early days of the Vidyadhara’s sangha in Boulder, when I photographed Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and many of the teachers he invited to teach.
I began practicing Tibetan Buddhism as a student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1973. Over the decades, photography and the Buddhist path became deeply intertwined. My work has taken me throughout Asia, including India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, and has given me the opportunity to spend time with Buddhist teachers, practitioners, and communities.
Japan is a place I have only visited twice, but its art, aesthetics, temples, gardens, and contemplative traditions have stayed with me for decades. This journey is an opportunity to return with a different perspective—not simply as a tourist, but as a photographer and longtime student of Buddhist culture.
The journey is being developed with Towaka, a Japan-based destination management company that specializes in creating carefully planned, small-group experiences in Japan.
Early registration: $8,900 per person, double occupancy. In addition I am offering Ocean members a $250 discount.
The full itinerary and information are here.
Warmly,
James Gritz
