Day 1 (Rendezvous Day): Arrive Tokyo Haneda International Airport and transfer to nearby hotel. Rendezvous with other arriving group members; dinner and night at the hotel.

Day 2 : Depart by Shinkansen bullet train for Nagano northeast of Tokyo. Continue by local train, bus and taxi to the trailhead for Yudanaka Snow Monkey Park. Walk 2 km on a forest trail to see the wild macaques immersed in the natural hot springs. Night in local ryokan.

Day 3: Morning visit to the snow monkeys.Return to Tokyo and fly to Chitose Airport outside Sapporo. Afternoon and evening walking tour of the world-famous Sapporo ice sculptures. Night in Sapporo hotel.

Day 4: Morning walk through Sapporo's exhibition of ice sculptures, then by train to Chitose and overland by private car along the southern Hokkaido coast to Niikapu vilage. Night at small Japanese-style hotel.

Day 5: Drive to Nibutani and visit a few of the only remaining indigenous Ainu villages remaining in Japan. Night at comfortable ryokan in Nibutani.

Day 6:Travel by train to Kushiro Shitsugen National Park in eastern Hokkaido. Night in modern hotel in Kushiro.

Day 7: In the morning travel by private car to the Tsurui-ito Tancho (Crane) Sanctuary near Tsurui village. Observe the healthy population of endangered Japanese Cranes dance on their courtship grounds. Night in Tsurui village.

Day 8: Travel by minivan and train north along the eastern edge of Akan National Park into Abashiri on the Sea of Okhotsk. Night in Abashiri.

Day 9: Day at sea in an icebreaker, plowing the vast ice-bound sea around Abashiri. Fly to Tokyo in late afternoon and overnight at an airport hotel.

Day 10: Morning trains to Tokyo Haneda or Tokyo Narita Airport to board homeward-bound flights.

• T he UNESCO World HeritageSite of Jigokudani and wild macaques soaking in thermal baths;
  
  
• The wintertime charm of old wooden Japanese villages and reflected lantern light glowing on the snow;
  
  
• The glittering modernity of Tokyo by night;
  
  
• The mountainous landscapes of Hokkaido;
  

• The fair-skinned Ainu, Japan's indigenous people, and their artistic and cultural legacy;
  
  
• The ease and comfort of Japanese rail travel;
  
  
• The exciting spectacle of dozens of Japanese Cranes dancing on snowfields;
  
  
• Traditional Japanese-style bathing in hot springs and mineral pools;
  
  
• The culinary delights of Japanese cuisine in its many regional presentations;
  
  
• Cruising through the ice pack on the Sea of Okhotsk
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Japanese Cranes; dancing
on Hokkaido snowfields