November 2024, Kansai Airport FBO, Osaka.
🏔️ At 3 PM, the private jet lands in Osaka. The air carries the scent of ancient trees and moss — the unique fragrance of Kyoto's deep autumn.
🌸 A private car is already waiting. Two hours later, the family arrives at a century-old machiya in Kyoto's Higashiyama district. Outside the window, the autumn maples are at their peak — from pale red to deep purple, like a burning scroll painting.
👔 Mrs. Chen's mother — the 92-year-old grandmother — steps out of the car and takes a deep breath.
'Kyoto's autumn has the scent of ancient trees.'
Stop 1: Kyoto Higashiyama Private Tea Ceremony
The machiya's owner — a 70-year-old tea ceremony master — is already waiting in the tea room. This is the Urasenke school of tea ceremony, not open to the public.
Grandmother's Tea Ceremony Experience
The grandmother studied tea ceremony in her youth, but hasn't experienced authentic Urasenke tea ceremony in 50 years.
The tea room's arrangement:
- 🌡️ Temperature: 22°C (5 degrees warmer than outside), as grandmother feels the cold
- 🍵 Tea bowls: The master's treasured 18th century tea bowls
- 🫖 Matcha: Freshly ground Uji matcha, at exactly 80°C
- 🌸 Wagashi: Maple leaf-shaped autumn limited edition sweets
Grandmother takes the tea bowl, hands trembling slightly. She takes a sip, closes her eyes: 'This taste is exactly like my mother made.'
The Grandchild's Maple Hunting
12-year-old Xiaojie doesn't care about tea ceremony. He cares about: Are Karuizawa's maples red yet?
The advisory team's arrangements:
- Pre-arranged private horseback riding in Karuizawa (not open to public)
- A local nature guide (fluent in English and Japanese)
- English-language Japanese Maple Field Guide prepared
'The maples are red like fire! I saw deer from horseback!'
Stop 2: Karuizawa's Maple Forest
The next day, the family departs Kyoto for Karuizawa. The private car drives through a maple tunnel — maples on both sides like burning flames.
Horseback Through the Maple Forest
Xiaojie rides a gentle Japanese horse through the maple forest. The guide tells him: 'This forest is 300 years old.'
'I feel like I've traveled through time.'
Grandmother's Memory
Grandmother didn't ride. She sits on the machiya balcony, watching the distant maples, holding a cup of hot tea.
'These maples are exactly like what I saw as a child.'
Six-Day Private Itinerary
| Day | Location | Private Experience | Family Moment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Osaka → Kyoto | Kansai Airport private jet arrival · Car to century-old machiya · Evening maple viewing in garden | Grandmother relaxes in machiya private bath |
| Day 2 | Kyoto | Urasenke private tea ceremony · Nanzen-ji rock garden · Gion Hanami-koji | Grandmother experiences authentic tea ceremony after 50 years |
| Day 3 | Kyoto | Kiyomizu-dera private tour before opening · Ryoan-ji rock garden · Arashiyama bamboo grove | Xiaojie discovers a stream in the bamboo grove |
| Day 4 | Kyoto → Karuizawa | Car through maple tunnel · Private horseback experience | Xiaojie rides through the maple forest |
| Day 5 | Karuizawa → Tokyo | Morning free time · Evening private jet to Tokyo | Grandmother watches maples from machiya balcony |
| Day 6 | Tokyo | Morning Nezu Museum · Afternoon private jet from Haneda | Xiaojie gives grandmother maple leaf specimens as a gift |
More Family Late Autumn Stories
The Lin Family · Nanzen-ji Night Maples
The Lin family celebrates the 55th anniversary of their family business in November. Three generations gather in the private garden of Nanzen-ji in Kyoto. The garden owner arranged nighttime illuminated maple viewing — maples showing three layers of deep red, dark purple, and gold under the lights.
'Fifty-five years ago, I first came to Kyoto. The maples then are exactly like today. Time changed, but the maples didn't.'
— Mr. Lin, 90 years old
The Wang Family · Karuizawa Maple Horseback Riding
The Wangs' youngest daughter studies ecology in Tokyo. Every autumn, the whole family flies to Japan to accompany her fieldwork. This year, iFlyPlus arranged private horseback riding through Karuizawa's maple forest.
'This is our best time since she left home. Normally she's busy, we're busy. Only during maple season do we sit down together like this, watching maples.'
— Mrs. Wang, 55 years old
Brand Philosophy: The Depth of Being Remembered
Asian old money families' Japanese late autumn isn't 'checking in' — it's 'legacy':
- Cultural depth: Urasenke tea ceremony, century-old machiya, 300-year-old maple forests — all 'living history'
- Sensory immersion: Matcha temperature, maple red, ancient tree fragrance — every detail reinforcing 'being understood'
- Generational connection: Grandmother's tea ceremony, Xiaojie's horseback riding — two generations finding their own 'being understood' in the same journey
True legacy isn't leaving money — it's letting the next generation think of you under the same maples.
Perhaps You've Also Had Such a Moment
On some Kyoto trip, you queued in crowds to visit Kinkaku-ji. You thought: 'If only there were a tea room that didn't require queuing — just being understood, how wonderful that would be.'
Asian old money families' Japanese late autumn isn't about attractions — it's about the depth of 'being remembered.'
Good Fortune · Good Friends · Beautiful Life.
iFlyPlus — Good Fortune · Good Friends · Beautiful Life.