How many days do you need in Japan?

Ten to fourteen for a first trip: four or five in Tokyo, three in Kyoto, then one of Osaka, Hakone or Kanazawa. The Shinkansen makes a two-base trip easy, and trying for more cities than that spends the holiday on platforms.

When is the best time to visit Japan?

Late March into April for cherry blossom and late October into November for autumn colour, both of which need booking months ahead. May and early October give you the same weather with far fewer people. June is the rainy season and August is hot and humid.

Is the Japan Rail Pass worth buying?

Only on a long multi-city loop. Since the 2023 price rise a straightforward Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka trip usually costs less on single tickets. Price your actual route both ways before you buy, and remember the pass does not cover the fastest Nozomi trains.

Do you need to speak Japanese?

No. Signage, ticket machines and station announcements on the main routes are bilingual, and a phone camera translates a menu in seconds. A few words of greeting still change the temperature of an exchange.

Should you start with Tokyo or Kyoto?

Tokyo, and give it the jet lag. It absorbs a disoriented first two days better than anywhere, and arriving in Kyoto after it makes the shift in pace land. On a second trip, reverse it and fly into Osaka.

Top 10 Things To Do in Japan (City Guides) Wimup

Quick answer · where to go in Japan

First-timers should pair Tokyo and Kyoto with a day in Osaka or Hakone; repeat visitors trade up for Kanazawa, Naoshima and the Japan Alps. The best windows are late March–April for cherry blossom and October–November for autumn color, both worth booking months ahead.

Jump toCity guides Fun fact Stereotypes Famous Japanese Food FAQ

13 Japanese city guides

Sorted by what travelers are saving this month.

Kanto

★ 4.9

Fun fact

One number worth knowing

Japan counted 6,852 islands for 36 years, from a 1987 Japan Coast Guard survey. A 2023 recount from digital maps, using the same rule of a natural coastline 100 metres or longer, found 14,125. Nothing rose from the sea: sharper imagery split coastlines that older maps had read as one landmass.

Stereotypes, sorted out

The clichés you have heard, what is actually true, and how to fit in.

"Japan is punishingly expensive"

The realityThe flights and the rail are what cost. Eating is some of the best value in any rich country: a bowl of ramen, a set lunch or a convenience-store breakfast runs to a few dollars, and the quality floor is high everywhere.

"Nobody speaks English"

The realityStations, signage and ticket machines on the main routes are bilingual, and staff at big stations are used to visitors. Conversational English is rarer once you leave the cities, which a translation app handles.

"The whole country is neon and skyscrapers"

The realityMost of Japan is mountains, rice terraces and small timber towns. Twenty minutes on a local line out of Kyoto puts you in farmland, and two thirds of the land is forested.

"You will offend someone by getting the etiquette wrong"

The realityVisitors are given wide latitude and nobody expects a bow at the right angle. Two habits cover almost everything: take your shoes off wherever the floor level changes, and keep your voice down on trains.

"Tipping is an insult"

The realityIt is not an insult, it is simply not done. Leave money on the table and someone will chase you down the street to return it. Service is included in the price and the standard does not move.

A bullet train leaving to the secondCherry blossom under a full canopyA lit vending machine on an empty streetNeon reflected in wet Shinjuku pavementBowing, then bowing againPlastic food in a restaurant windowA salaryman asleep on the last train

Cultural notes that actually help

Shoes come off wherever the floor level changes: homes, ryokan, temple halls and some restaurants. Slippers are usually waiting.
Trains are quiet by default. Phone calls are not made on board, and headphones stay low.
An IC card (Suica in Tokyo, ICOCA in Kansai) taps you through almost every urban train, bus and convenience store. Carry some cash for small towns and shrines.
At an onsen you wash and rinse at the taps first, then get into the bath with no swimwear. Many baths still turn away visible tattoos, so check before you go.
Public bins are rare. Carry your rubbish until you find one, usually beside a vending machine or inside a convenience store.
Stand on the left of an escalator in Tokyo and on the right in Osaka. Getting it wrong is the most visible mistake a visitor makes and the least important.

Famous Japanese faces

The names behind Japan’s cinema, literature, art, music, sport, science, design and food. Pick a field.

Hayao Miyazaki

Co-founded Studio Ghibli, directed Spirited Away

Akira Kurosawa

Director of Rashomon and Seven Samurai

Haruki Murakami

Novelist, Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore

Yayoi Kusama

Artist of the polka dot and the infinity room

Shohei Ohtani

Baseball player who pitches and hits at the top of the game

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Composer, Yellow Magic Orchestra and The Last Emperor

Tadao Ando

Self-taught architect of concrete and light, Pritzker laureate

Toshiro Mifune

Actor at the centre of sixteen Kurosawa films

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Director of Shoplifters, Palme d’Or 2018

Takeshi Kitano

Comedian turned director of Hana-bi and Sonatine

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Director of Drive My Car

Yasujiro Ozu

Director of Tokyo Story, filmed from floor height

Murasaki Shikibu

Wrote The Tale of Genji in Heian-era Kyoto

Sei Shonagon

Wrote The Pillow Book at the same court

Yasunari Kawabata

Nobel laureate in Literature, Snow Country

Kenzaburo Oe

Nobel laureate in Literature, A Personal Matter

Banana Yoshimoto

Novelist, Kitchen

Utagawa Hiroshige

Printmaker of the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido

Takashi Murakami

Artist behind Superflat

Yoshitomo Nara

Painter of the wide-eyed, unimpressed child

Joe Hisaishi

Composer of the Ghibli scores

Hikaru Utada

Singer-songwriter, First Love

Seiji Ozawa

Conductor who led the Boston Symphony for 29 years

Naomi Osaka

Tennis player, four Grand Slam singles titles

Yuzuru Hanyu

Figure skater, back-to-back Olympic gold

Ichiro Suzuki

Outfielder who hit a record 262 in a single season

Hideki Yukawa

Physicist, Japan’s first Nobel laureate

Shinya Yamanaka

Nobel laureate for induced pluripotent stem cells

Katsuko Saruhashi

Geochemist who traced fallout across the Pacific

Issey Miyake

Designer of the pleat, and of clothes made from one cloth

Yohji Yamamoto

Designer who dressed a generation in black

Jiro Ono

Sushi chef of Sukiyabashi Jiro

Nobu Matsuhisa

Chef who took Japanese-Peruvian cooking worldwide

Katsushika Hokusai

Printmaker behind The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Matsuo Basho

Poet who walked the north and wrote The Narrow Road

Rei Kawakubo

Founded Comme des Garcons

Must-try Japanese food

The classics, then what each region is known for. Pick a category.

Nigiri sushi

Fish on a small press of vinegared rice, eaten in one go, ideally at a counter.

Sashimi

No rice, no cooking, nowhere to hide. The cut matters as much as the fish.

Tempura

Batter thin enough to hear. Order it piece by piece at the counter.

Tonkatsu

Breaded pork cutlet, shredded cabbage, rice. The comfort standard.

Yakitori

Chicken on skewers over charcoal, salted or glazed. Every part of the bird.

Karaage

Marinated fried chicken, crisp and juicy, the default with a beer.

Gyoza

Pan-fried dumplings with a lacy crisp base, best beside a bowl of ramen.

Katsudon

Cutlet, egg and onion simmered over rice. One bowl, no decisions.

Shoyu ramen

The Tokyo original: clear soy-based broth, curled noodles, a slice of pork.

Soba

Buckwheat noodles, hot in broth or cold on a bamboo mat with dipping sauce.

Udon

Thick wheat noodles with a chew. Sanuki udon from Kagawa is the benchmark.

Monjayaki

Tokyo’s looser cousin to okonomiyaki, scraped off the griddle with a tiny spatula.

Chanko nabe

The sumo stable hotpot, eaten in Ryogoku where the wrestlers live.

Okonomiyaki

Osaka’s cabbage-heavy savoury pancake, sauce and bonito flakes on top.

Takoyaki

Octopus batter balls, molten inside. Wait longer than you want to.

Kushikatsu

Deep-fried skewers from Shinsekai. One dip in the shared sauce, never two.

Kaiseki

Kyoto’s seasonal tasting menu, built around what is at its peak this fortnight.

Yudofu

Tofu simmered in hot water, eaten near the temples of northwest Kyoto.

Jingisukan

Sapporo lamb grilled on a domed iron plate, named after Genghis Khan.

Motsunabe

Fukuoka offal hotpot with garlic, chives and cabbage.

Okinawa soba

Wheat noodles in pork broth, topped with stewed belly. Not soba at all.

Hoba miso

Takayama miso and mountain vegetables grilled on a magnolia leaf.

Matcha

Whisked powdered green tea. Uji, south of Kyoto, is where the good leaf grows.

Daifuku

Pounded rice cake around sweet bean paste, sometimes a whole strawberry.

Dorayaki

Two small pancakes with red bean between them.

Taiyaki

Fish-shaped batter cake filled with bean paste or custard, eaten walking.

Kakigori

Shaved ice so fine it collapses. A summer institution, not a snow cone.

Warabimochi

Bracken-starch jelly dusted with roasted soybean flour.

Sake

Brewed from rice. Ask for junmai to taste it dry, and try it cold.

Shochu

Distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice. Kyushu is its heartland.

Umeshu

Green plums steeped in spirit and sugar. Sweet, and dangerous over ice.

Unagi kabayaki

Freshwater eel grilled and lacquered with a sweet soy glaze.

Tonkotsu ramen

Fukuoka style, pork bones boiled to opacity, thin straight noodles.

Miso ramen

Sapporo’s answer to a Hokkaido winter: fat, corn, butter and miso.

Tsukemen

Noodles and broth served apart. The broth is concentrated on purpose.

Tamago sando

Convenience-store egg sandwich on crustless milk bread. Far better than it should be.

Edomae anago

Sea eel from Tokyo Bay, steamed then grilled, softer than unagi.

Obanzai

Kyoto home cooking, small vegetable dishes served side by side.

Kaisendon

Hokkaido seafood bowl: crab, scallop, uni and salmon roe over rice.

Hiroshima okonomiyaki

Built in layers, with a nest of fried noodles inside.

Goya champuru

Okinawan stir-fry of bitter melon, tofu, egg and pork.

Japanese whisky

Built on the Scottish model since the 1920s, now scarce and sought after.

Highball

Whisky and soda, very cold, poured everywhere from izakaya to vending machine.

Top 10s across Japan

When to visit Japan