Japan,
the first time.

Pick a season and how long you have. These are the plans that simply work. Not offbeat at all. For that, there's Offbeat Japan.

The best all-round season. Leaves turn in the mountains in October and reach Kyoto in late November.

4 plans for 1 week in autumn

Neon and Temples

7 daysAll year For first-timers and city loversTokyo 3 → Kyoto 3 → Osaka 1

Fuji Views

7 daysAll year For Fuji chasers and hot spring loversTokyo 5 → Kawaguchiko 1 → Hakone 1

Tokyo Deep Dive

7 daysAll year For city lovers and slow travellersTokyo 6 → Nikko 1

Old Capitals

7 daysAll year For temple and shrine and food loversKyoto 3 → Nara 1 → Osaka 3

7 daysAll year

Fuji Views

No long train rides. The city, a lake under Fuji, then a hot spring night in Hakone. Fuji shows itself most between October and February.

For Fuji chasers and hot spring lovers

7days
3places to sleep
4 hon trains

Day by day

Days 1 to 5
Tokyo

Worth it. Asakusa before 8am, then an evening walking the backstreets from Shibuya to Harajuku.
Skip. Paying for the Skytree. The Metropolitan Government towers in Shinjuku have the same view for free.
Eat. Sushi, ramen, tempura, and the food halls in department store basements.
2 h by train
Day 6
Kawaguchiko

Worth it. Mount Fuji across the lake at sunrise. Stay on the north shore and keep the curtains open.
Skip. Coming between June and September for the view. Summer haze hides the mountain most days.
Eat. Hoto, thick noodles in a miso and pumpkin stew.
2 h by train
Day 7
Hakone

Worth it. One night in a ryokan with a hot spring bath and dinner in your room. Splurge here, not in Tokyo.
Skip. Coming as a day trip to see Mount Fuji. It hides in cloud more often than not.
Eat. Black eggs at Owakudani, soba in Hakone-Yumoto, a kaiseki dinner at your ryokan.

Kamakura is a day trip from Tokyo.

Make it yours

Edit it on your own mapCopy this plan to Ikuzo, then move the days around and add your own places.Copy to Ikuzo ↗ Spend a day with a localA guide on your first day in Tokyo changes the whole trip. Find one on Ikitorii.Find a guide ↗ Been before?This is the classic. For the Japan nobody takes, there is Offbeat Japan.Go offbeat ↗

Map data © OpenStreetMap, OpenMapTiles, OpenFreeMap. Rail lines from Natural Earth.