Zen Wellness Japan Itinerary:
6 Days in Hakone Onsen & Koyasan Temple Stays

Day 1

Welcome to Your Zen Wellness Retreat

Where You’ll Stay

Gora Kadan, Hakone  5*

Gora Kadan rests where an imperial retreat once welcomed members of the Kan’in family set against the quiet embrace of Hakone’s mountains. The ryokan’s low wooden structures and slate-tiled roofs seem to fold into the surrounding landscape, as though time has slowed to a pace more natural than the hurried rhythm of modern life. A stillness lingers in its courtyards and along stone-lined pathways, broken only by the soft trickle of water and the whisper of cedar trees in the breeze.

The interiors draw guests into a dialogue between past and present. Tatami-matted rooms open onto private gardens, their sliding shoji screens framing views like living scrolls. Suites with open-air onsen baths allow for restorative soaking beneath the sky, where the rising steam merges with the mountain mist. Furnishings are minimal yet purposeful, their beauty found in simplicity. Every detail is considered, designed to calm the mind and draw attention inward.

For in Gora Kadan, the world outside fades, and one is invited to rediscover what it means to truly rest.

Morning - Midday

Your private chauffeur will be waiting the moment you arrive at Haneda or Narita Airport. From here, a smooth 2 to 2.5-hour drive leads into the forested hills of Hakone, where you’ll settle into your wellness retreat for the next two nights: Gora Kadan.

Once the private villa of the Kan’in Imperial family, Gora Kadan is a traditional ryokan (a Japanese-style inn) reimagined with world-class luxury. You’ll feel the calm immediately with its gardens designed for contemplation to create an atmosphere where every detail slows the pace of life. Many suites feature a private onsen, a natural hot spring bath drawn from mineral-rich waters that Hakone is famous for. This is perfect for restorative soaking right at your doorstep.

After a seamless check-in, step out for lunch at Itoh Dining by Nobu, just a short walk from Gora Park. This restaurant specializes in Wagyu beef prepared teppanyaki-style—grilled before you with precision . Each dish is an elegant introduction to the Japanese way of balancing flavor with restraint.

Afternoon

A private transfer takes you to the Hakone Open-Air Museum. Sculptures and installations unfold across open fields, forested paths, gardens, and mountain backdrops, allowing for a slow-paced exploration. You’re free to wander and simply absorb how art and nature converse.

Evening

Return to Gora Kadan for the highlight of any ryokan stay: kaiseki dining, Japan’s multi-course culinary tradition. Served in-room or in elegant tatami banquet halls, each course celebrates the season. Expect delicate mountain vegetables and fresh river fish, all plated as works of art. Afterward, retreat to your suite’s private onsen bath that is naturally heated mineral waters drawn from Hakone’s volcanic springs. As you soak, feel the quietness of the mountains that settles around you. Sleep comes easily after.

Overnight: Hakone

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 2

The Art of Mindfulness

Morning - Midday

The Hakone Hachiri trail is your introduction of what the day holds. Guided through tall cedar forests once walked by travelers of the Tōkaidō Road, the experience of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is less about distance and more about presence. Two to three hours here move with quiet flow, the air cool and fragrant, each moment drawing you deeper into the natural flow of Hakone.

From these hushed paths, the journey lifts skyward. A cable car ride carries you through forested slopes to Sōunzan, where the Hakone Ropeway begins its sweep across the volcanic valley of Ōwakudani. Below, sulfur vents send up curling plumes of steam, the ground marked by mineral springs and the promise of kuro-tamago, black eggs said to lengthen life. The gondola drifts onward, and when the weather clears, Mt. Fuji rises in the distance before the landscape settles into the calm blue of Lake Ashi.

Pause for lunch at Ōwakudani Kurotamago-kan, where you can try the local specialty along with hearty bowls of soba. For a more refined option, upgrade to Itoh Dining Lake Ashi near Togendai and enjoy seasonal Japanese dishes framed by tranquil views of the lake.

Afternoon

Step aboard a Lake Ashi sightseeing cruise, a leisurely journey of 25 to 35 minutes from Togendai to Hakone-machi or Moto-Hakone. The lake, framed by mountains and torii gates rising from the water, has been a place of retreat since the Edo period. The pace is unhurried to allow you to take in the views and be at one with what's around you.

Evening

Once the night falls in, retreat to Hakone Yuryō, a contemporary hot spring retreat offering private open-air baths. Your reserved suite provides a serene soak under the night sky, a deeply restorative experience in Japanese wellness. Afterwards, stop by Naraya Café near Miyanoshita Station for light, healthy fare and inventive onsen-themed desserts before returning to Gora Kadan. End the evening enveloped once more in the quiet elegance of your ryokan.

Overnight: Hakone

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 3

Where You’ll Stay

Ekoin, Koyasan – Buddhist temple stay

High in the mountains of Wakayama lies Koyasan, a sacred town that has been the heart of Shingon Buddhism since time immemorial. Life here moves to the flow of chanting monks, temple bells, and serenity that carries with it a quiet devotion untouched by time and modern buzz.

Your stay is at Ekoin, a traditional shukubo where temple walls embrace travelers with stillness. Unlike the polished luxury of a ryokan, the shukubo draws you into the spiritual as it offers true connection and presence. The rooms at Ekoin are furnished in classic Japanese style with tatami mats underfoot and sliding paper doors. Meals are shojin ryori, the vegetarian cuisine of Buddhist monks, crafted with seasonal mountain vegetables and tofu that embody balance and harmony rather than indulgence.

You may take part in the morning prayer service or join a guided ajikan meditation session led by the resident monks. In the evening, step into the quiet of Okunoin Cemetery lit by thousands of stone lanterns, and feel the deep stillness that defines Koyasan.

Ekoin is all about stillness and authenticity. Time slows and the outside world falls away, so the experience itself becomes a luxury.

Koyasan

Morning - Midday

The morning begins with a quiet breakfast in Gora, where the gardens seem to set the rhythm of the day. A private tea ceremony follows, unhurried and meditative, offering a final moment of stillness before you set out. When it is time to leave, your driver will be waiting to guide you toward the mountains of Wakayama.

On the way, Osaka provides a natural pause. Here, at Honkogetsu, kaiseki is elevated to art; seasonal courses unfolding in silence, each dish a reflection of the region’s culinary heritage. The journey continues upward into the sacred peaks, where the road narrows and the air takes on a sense of reverence. For those who wish, a portion of the trip can be taken by rail aboard the Tokaido Shinkansen, its quiet precision carrying you swiftly to Shin-Osaka before rejoining the drive into the mountains.

Afternoon

Continue by private car into the misted forests of Koyasan, where winding mountain roads give way to temple gates and cedar-lined paths.

Evening

At Ekoin, the experience begins with simplicity. The tatami room is quiet and uncluttered so the space naturally draws you into calm. Dinner is served in the traditional style of shojin ryori, a Buddhist vegetarian kaiseki prepared with mountain vegetables and herbs. It is thoughtful and nourishing; a reflection of the temple’s flow and slow pace of life.

When night falls, the monks lead you on the Okunoin Night Tour. Here, lanterns line the pathways of Japan’s largest cemetery as it cast a soft light across centuries-old gravestones and towering cedar trees. The walk is unhurried and the atmosphere hushed with the mountain itself holding its breath to make space for your senses.

Overnight: Koyasan

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 4

Meditation

Morning - Midday

The day at Ekoin begins in darkness and is broken only by the low chant of monks gathered for morning prayers. The sound fills the wooden hall as drums and bells make a rhythm that slows time itself. Soon after, the Goma fire ritual takes place. Flames rise from the altar, incense smoke curling upward as prayers are offered, a ceremony meant to release burdens and cleanse the spirit.

The Ajikan meditation brings the silence back. Seated on tatami in the gentle space, you will be guided to rest your gaze on a single Sanskrit letter, an emblem of the cosmic Buddha. The practice steadies the mind even as it invites it outward so that it continues to ground you in stillness while opening a quiet space for something beyond yourself.

When the temple morning draws to a close, the walk to Bon On Shya is brief. Inside, the meal continues the same balance of simplicity and care. Seasonal vegetables, mountain herbs, tofu, and clear broths are arranged with precision; each dish reflecting the principles of shojin ryori while carrying the elegance of contemporary Japanese dining.

Afternoon

With your guide, wander through Okunoin by day, Japan’s largest and most sacred cemetery. Stone paths are lines beneath towering cedar trees, their moss-clad roots and trunks forming a living cathedral. Along the way, you pass thousands of memorials; samurai resting beside monks, and even monuments raised by modern companies.

At the center lies the Kobo Daishi Mausoleum, where Japan’s most venerated monk is believed to remain in eternal meditation. The walk is quiet and unhurried so this is your chance to reflect and be still as sunlight filters through the forest canopy, softening the passage of time.

Evening

The evening meal is once again shojin ryori. Seasonal vegetables from the mountains are shaped into simple, balanced dishes. Nothing is excessive — every flavor speaks to restraint and harmony. After dinner comes a final bowl of matcha. It feels less like dessert and more like a closing ritual, a soft farewell to the day.

When night settles over Koyasan, silence fills the mountain and guests often retire early, the stillness carrying them gently into rest.

Overnight: Koyasan

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 5

Pilgrimage

Morning - Midday

Start your third day in Koyasan with a guided walk along a section of the Choishi-michi pilgrimage trail, the historic stone-marker path that has led worshippers up to Koyasan for over a thousand years. Your guide will select a gentle stretch of the route (about one to two hours), where moss-covered tōrō lanterns and the presence of stone pillars carved with sacred inscriptions line the way. Each choishi, set at regular intervals, was placed to orient pilgrims both physically and spiritually. Walking even a short section in here offers a sense of connection with centuries of Japan history and culture.

Pause for lunch at Hanabishi, a restaurant near Danjo Garan that mixes shojin ryori with creative touches. Expect beautifully plated courses like mountain vegetables, wild herbs, broths, and tofu prepared in ways that surprises and delights. The atmosphere here is a perfect combination of modern flair with the simplicity of temple dining.

Afternoon

Continue with a guided exploration of the Danjo Garan temple complex, the spiritual heart of Koyasan founded by Kobo Daishi and walk beneath vermilion gates into a world of towering pagodas and sacred halls. Inside the Konpon Daito, a striking 45-meter pagoda that symbolizes the cosmic mandala of Shingon Buddhism, intricate statues and murals narrate spiritual cosmologies.

Nearby, the Kondo (Golden Hall) shimmers with centuries of worship, while the Reihokan Museum holds a remarkable collection of religious art and calligraphy with many of them designated as national treasures. Ample time is given for personal journaling, or a quiet meditation in the temple gardens to allow the sacred atmosphere to settle inward.

Evening

Return to Ekoin for another carefully prepared shojin ryori dinner, a meditative sequence of flavors drawn from the season. Afterward, you may choose to join a second Okunoin evening walk to experience and explore the vast cemetery under a different atmosphere. This time, perhaps with mist drifting through the lantern-lit cedars or with just the hushed stillness of a clear night sky. For those who prefer stillness, the temple garden invites contemplation. The garden's raked gravel and sculpted pines glows softly in lantern light that creates the perfect close to your spiritual immersion in Koyasan.

Overnight: Koyasan

Meals included: Breakfast

Day 6

Departure

This is your final day in Koyasan. To mark the journey you just had, begin with gentle yoga or stretching in the temple gardens. Allow the air and stillness of your surrounding to ground you in the present. Once you're ready, savor your nourishing breakfast at Ekoin.

After checking out, we will arrange another private transfer for you to the airport depending on your departure.

If your schedule allows, you may choose to descend by the Koyasan cable car to Gokurakubashi Station and continue on the scenic Nankai Koya Line back to Osaka.  From there, it’s effortless to continue by Shinkansen or flight toward your onward destination.

Meals included: Breakfast