A software company’s leadership offsite in Japan

How it ran

An enterprise software company with a leadership team spread across four countries wanted an offsite that would double as a reward. Twenty-four people, six nights, with two structured working mornings and the rest of the week built around three cities. The trip opened with two nights in Tokyo and a guided day that covered the city properly. The first-class bullet train to Kyoto on the morning of day three was, by the group's own account, the moment the trip became a trip. Kyoto was the working base: two mornings in a rented machiya townhouse with the afternoons given to the temples, the Golden Pavilion and the Arashiyama bamboo grove. Nara and Osaka ran as a single day from Kyoto. The deer, the castle and a long dinner in Dotonbori before the train back. April put the group inside cherry blossom season, which we planned for and would not have promised. Our host travelled with the group throughout and worked alongside the local guides, which in Japan matters more than almost anywhere else we go.