To have reverence means to regard someone or something with deep respect. 

On a Hinoki trip with a Reverence theme, we present you with an opportunity to deepen your respect, awe, and appreciation of nature. We visit remote communities whose reverence for their environment is rooted in their spiritual traditions. With local spiritual leaders to facilitate our discovery of this connection, we find the lines blurred between what we feel and what we see, what is us and what is outside of us. 

Japan and its autumn landscape is our host of this adventure. Long-standing spiritual traditions that have transcended the modern era ground Japanese culture in a deep respect for their lands and waterways. The cultural practices of tea, onsen bathing, and even sake drinking are everyday rituals that connect the Japanese people to their land in intimate ways. On this trip, we will enjoy participating in these everyday rituals, and explore how they connect directly with the element of water. 

This will be a highly experiential discovery of Japan, with elements of Zen mindfulness woven throughout. We will start in silence and move toward more active engagement with one another as the experiences throughout the trip unfold. As some examples, we will: 

— Learn Zen meditation on our first day, to ground our whole journey in reverence from the start;

— Train with the Yamabushi mountain ascetics in the forest and on the sacred mountains of the Dewa Sanzan, and learn how they fortify their own personal lives with their trainings; 

— Eat foraged mountain vegetables and savor the subtle taste of every bite; 

— Soak in onsen hot spring baths and visit the source as we hike to a wild onsen; 

— Hike through the forests and fields and past lakes of Japan’s first community-led conservation success in Oze National Park.