Day-by-Day Japan Itineraries

5 days

Kansai

Balanced pace28 stops

Kansai in 5 Days — The Quiet Side of the Golden Route

Kyoto, Nara, Himeji and Osaka, sequenced to miss the crowds

Kyoto ×2 nights → Nara → Himeji & Kobe → Osaka

• Fushimi Inari's upper torii tunnels at first light, before the day's first coach arrives
• Daitoku-ji's Zen sub-temples during the hours when Kinkaku-ji is impassable
• Nara Park at 7am, when the deer outnumber the visitors

Late May–early June and late September–early NovemberRoughly ¥95,000–150,000 per person for five days excluding international flights

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6 days

Kyushu

Balanced pace32 stops

Kyushu in 6 Days — Volcano, Onsen and the Christian Coast

Fukuoka to Beppu the long way, through Nagasaki and the Aso caldera

Fukuoka ×2 → Nagasaki → Shimabara & Kumamoto → Aso & Kurokawa → Yufuin & Beppu

• Hakata's yatai — open-air food stalls set up on the pavement at dusk, a licensed tradition that has nearly died out everywhere else in Japan
• The Itoshima coast: a torii standing in the sea, a waterfall gorge, and cafés that exist because of the surf, not the tour buses
• Nagasaki read as one continuous story, from the Dutch trading island to the peace park

October–November and April–MayAbout ¥120,000–190,000 per person for six days excluding flights, assuming two ryokan nights and a rental car for days 4–6.

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5 days

Chubu & Hokuriku

Balanced pace23 stops

Japan Alps to the Sea of Japan — 5 Days

Matsumoto, Kamikochi, Takayama, Shirakawa-go and Kanazawa in one line

Matsumoto → Kamikochi → Takayama ×2 → Shirakawa-go → Kanazawa ×2

• Matsumoto Castle — an original 16th-century keep in black lacquer, with the Alps behind it
• Kamikochi's Azusa river valley, where private cars have been banned since 1975
• Takayama's morning markets and the Sanmachi merchant streets before the day-trippers arrive

Late May–early June and early–mid OctoberAbout ¥110,000–170,000 per person for five days excluding flights. Buses are the major transport cost and they are all reservable.

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5 days

Tohoku

Relaxed pace20 stops

Tohoku in 5 Days — The Quiet North

Matsushima, the golden hall of Hiraizumi, Oirase gorge and Nyuto's baths

Sendai & Matsushima → Hiraizumi → Oirase & Lake Towada → Hirosaki & Aomori → Kakunodate & Nyuto Onsen

• Matsushima Bay's 260 pine-topped islands — one of the classic 'three views of Japan'
• Chusonji's Konjikido: a 12th-century hall covered inside and out in gold leaf, preserved under its own protective building
• The Oirase gorge — 8 km of moss, beech forest and waterfalls beside a stream you can see the bottom of

Late September to early November — the Oirase gorge peaks around October 20–28About ¥110,000–160,000 per person for five days excluding flights, including one night at a Nyuto Onsen inn with meals.

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7 days

Kanto to Kansai

Balanced pace35 stops

The Golden Route in 7 Days — Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka

The classic first trip, sequenced so the famous sights are the quiet part of your day

Tokyo ×2 nights → Hakone → Kyoto ×2 nights → Nara day trip → Osaka

• Senso-ji's main hall at 7am, hours before Nakamise-dori becomes a river of people
• Hakone's crater valley, pirate-boat lake and open-air sculpture park as one loop, ending in a hot spring
• Fushimi Inari's upper torii tunnels before the first train of tourists arrives

Late March–early April and late October–early December are the two best windows; May and late September are the safest all-roundRoughly ¥140,000–230,000 per person for seven days excluding international flights. Accommodation is over half of that, and the Hakone night is the single most variable line.

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5 days

Kyushu

Balanced pace20 stops

5 Days in Kyushu — Volcanoes, Sand Baths and the Myth Coast

Kagoshima to Takachiho, through the half of Kyushu the tour buses skip

Kagoshima ×2 nights → Kirishima → Miyazaki & the Nichinan coast → Takachiho

• Sakurajima erupting on a normal Tuesday, seen from a public foot bath across the bay
• Being buried to the neck in volcanically heated black sand at Ibusuki, in a yukata, on a beach
• A samurai street in Chiran where seven private Edo gardens are still maintained by the families who own them

Late October–early December and March–early MayRoughly ¥90,000–150,000 per person for five days excluding flights to Kagoshima. A rental car for days 2–5 is ¥25,000–35,000 including fuel and tolls, and it is the difference between this route working and not.

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10 days

San'in, Setouchi & Shikoku

Balanced pace35 stops

10 Days Off the Beaten Path — San'in, Setouchi and Shikoku

For the second trip: the Japan Sea coast, the inland sea, and the island the trains barely reach

Izumo → Iwami Ginzan → Matsue ×2 → Tottori → Kurashiki → Naoshima → Takamatsu → Iya Valley → Kochi → Matsuyama

• Izumo Taisha, where by tradition every god in Japan gathers each October — a shrine older than the written records that mention it
• Iwami Ginzan: a UNESCO silver mine that once produced a third of the world's silver, now a forest walk through a village of 400 people
• Adachi Museum's garden, ranked Japan's finest for two decades, and viewable only through windows framed as paintings

April–early June and October–NovemberRoughly ¥180,000–290,000 per person for ten days excluding international flights. Rail is a bigger line than on any other route here

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Journey times, fares and opening hours are written from each spot's own access information and are typical rather than guaranteed. Timetables, seasonal closures and volcanic access levels change — confirm the legs that your day depends on before you travel.