A Japanese summer at full voice: the neon energy of Tokyo, the riverside dining of Kyoto, and the alpine calm of Hakone—punctuated by private viewings of the season’s great fireworks festivals.

Kyoto in summer moves onto the water: restaurants build platforms above the Kamo river, and the evening air cools by degrees as you eat. In Hakone the mountains take over entirely, the city forgotten within an hour of leaving it.

Ryokan are reserved to your party alone, a table composed around your preferences and a butler attends throughout. Japan’s most vivid season is met with complete privacy, at a distance from every crowd it draws.