Japan travel guide
Japan travel guide: cities, seasons, and the whole trip
Japan rewards travelers willing to slow down. Three days in Tokyo, four in Kyoto, and you’re scratching the surface – but you’ll already understand why every traveler we know wants to return.
Destinations we cover in Japan
Country overview
Japan is a continental-temperate archipelago stretching 3,000 km north-to-south, with four distinct seasons and one of the world’s deepest cultural canons. Visa-free entry for most Western travelers (with new JESTA system from late), excellent public transit (Shinkansen + Suica card), universally safe, and food culture that’s arguably the best in Asia.
- Language
- Japanese. English signage extensive on metro and at major sites; spoken English limited but improving.
- Currency
- Japanese Yen (JPY). Cash is more common than in Western countries. Convenience-store ATMs (7-Eleven) are reliable.
- Best time to visit
- Late March-April for cherry blossom; mid-November for autumn foliage. May, October are excellent shoulder seasons. Avoid Golden Week (late April-early May) and July-August humidity.
- Trip highlights
- Tokyo’s neighborhoods + food culture, Kyoto’s 17 UNESCO sites, Hokkaido’s powder ski + summer hiking, Mt Fuji’s mirror lakes, the Shinkansen network, kaiseki cuisine.
Stay connected: skip expensive roaming — see our guide to the best travel eSIMs for cheap mobile data the moment you land.
From the airport: see how to get from Narita Airport into central Tokyo — train, bus and taxi options compared.
Planning the trip? Follow our Japan Itinerary.
Japan travel guide
Japan blends ancient temples, neon cities and exquisite food into one of the world’s great trips. The essentials:
- Tokyo — the electric capital; allow 4-5 days.
- Kyoto — temples, geisha districts and gardens.
- Osaka — street food and nightlife.
- Hiroshima & Miyajima — history and the floating torii.
When to go & getting around
Spring (cherry blossom, late March-April) and autumn (vivid foliage, November) are the most beautiful. A Japan Rail Pass makes the bullet trains great value on a multi-city route.
Know before you go
Carry cash (Japan is still cash-heavy), there’s no tipping, and politeness and quiet are deeply valued. Ten to fourteen days covers the classic Golden Route.
How should you structure a first trip to Japan?
A first trip of 10 to 14 days works best as a one-way line from Tokyo to the Kansai region, flying into Tokyo and out of Osaka's Kansai airport, so the shinkansen only ever carries you in one direction. The classic split is four or five nights in Tokyo, three or four in Kyoto, one or two in Osaka and one or two around Hiroshima and Miyajima.
Tokyo's block should include one day out of the city. Kamakura is about an hour from Shinjuku on the JR Shonan-Shinjuku Line and Hakone-Yumoto about 80 minutes on the Odakyu Romancecar, so either fits a single day without a hotel change. Kyoto's block should include Nara, 45 minutes away on the JR Miyakoji rapid or about 35 minutes on the Kintetsu limited express. Osaka is about 29 minutes from Kyoto on the JR special rapid, so many travellers sleep in one and visit the other rather than moving hotels.
Hiroshima belongs at the western end of the line, about 1 hour 26 minutes from Shin-Osaka by Nozomi, with Miyajima as a ferry-linked half day. Returning from Hiroshima to Tokyo by rail adds roughly four hours and is the biggest backtrack on the standard route, which is why the open-jaw flight matters.
With 14 days, add Kanazawa between Tokyo and Kyoto: about 2.5 hours from Tokyo on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, then on to Kyoto via Tsuruga and a connecting limited express. Hokkaido is a separate trip; Tokyo to Sapporo is a flight of about 1 hour 40 minutes.
How do you get around Japan, and does the JR Pass still pay off?
Between cities the shinkansen is the default and inside cities one IC card handles everything; the nationwide JR Pass now only pays off on long loops, not on the one-way Tokyo-to-Kansai line most first-timers follow. The Nozomi covers Tokyo to Kyoto in about 2 hours 15 minutes for a reserved fare of around 14,000 yen, and Kyoto to Hiroshima in about 1 hour 40 minutes for around 11,000 to 12,000 yen.
Set those figures against the pass. A 7-day ordinary Japan Rail Pass costs around 50,000 yen, with an increase to about 53,000 yen announced for October 2026, and Nozomi and Mizuho services require an extra supplement of roughly 5,000 yen per long leg; without it the pass is limited to the slower Hikari and Kodama trains. Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima in single tickets comes to roughly half the pass price, so the pass only approaches break-even when a week contains four or more long shinkansen legs, for instance a Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, Hiroshima and back-to-Tokyo circuit.
Inside cities a single IC card is enough. Suica, ICOCA and the other major cards are interoperable on trains, subways, buses and in shops across Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara. The Welcome Suica needs no deposit and is valid for 28 days, and iPhone users can add a Suica in Apple Wallet before arrival.
Two luggage rules save trouble. On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen, a bag whose three dimensions total 160 to 250 cm must travel in a reserved oversized-baggage seat, free to book but with a 1,000 yen charge if you board without one. Hotel-to-hotel forwarding (takkyubin) normally arrives the next day for around 2,000 to 3,000 yen per bag, handed over at the front desk.
When should you go to Japan, and what does a day realistically cost?
The two best windows are mid-March to mid-May outside Golden Week and October to late November; everything in between has a specific catch that is worth naming. The rainy season (tsuyu) runs from early June to mid-July across most of the country, though Hokkaido escapes it and Okinawa gets it about a month earlier. Typhoon season runs May to October and peaks in August and September; a typhoon usually disrupts travel for two or three days and is followed by clear weather, so build a spare day into a late-summer plan rather than avoiding the season.
Three domestic holiday periods fill trains and raise room rates. Obon falls on 13 to 16 August, with the heaviest travel from about 8 to 16 August. Golden Week runs late April to early May. The New Year shutdown from 29 December to 3 January closes many museums, shops and restaurants, and 1 January is the quietest day of the year for a visitor. Winter outside those dates is dry and clear in Tokyo and Kyoto, and is peak season in Hokkaido.
On cost, the dollar tiers above translate into two practical yen budgets. A budget traveller in hostels or business hotels, eating at convenience stores and set-lunch counters, spends around 9,000 to 15,000 yen a day excluding long-distance trains. A mid-range traveller in a three-star hotel with one sit-down dinner a day spends around 25,000 to 45,000 yen. Intercity rail is the swing item: a one-way Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima line adds roughly 25,000 to 30,000 yen in single tickets to either tier.
Japan Travel Guide FAQ
What’s the best itinerary for Japan?
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and a Hiroshima day along the classic Golden Route — 10 to 14 days.
When is the best time to visit Japan?
Spring for cherry blossom (late March-April) and autumn for foliage (November).
Compare Japan with other destinations
Still deciding where to go? See how Japan stacks up head-to-head:
Torn between destinations? See our honest comparisons: Japan vs Singapore, Japan vs Vietnam, Japan vs China, Japan vs South Korea, Japan vs South Korea, Japan vs Thailand.
Still deciding on Japan?
Best time to visit Japan (real climate data)
Best months: April, May.
Japan’s warmest month is August (avg 32°C / 90°F), the coolest is January (low -0°C / 32°F). The wettest is July (241 mm) and the driest is January.
Source: Open-Meteo ERA5 climate normals (2019–2023). See the full month-by-month weather →
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Before you go: see whether they speak English in Japan and what to wear, check the tap water, sort your mobile data, and find out if it is a cash or card destination, and brush up on local etiquette.
Still deciding? Read our honest take: Is Japan worth visiting? The honest verdict
