Top Things to Do in Japan: Tokyo, Kyoto, and the Trip in Between
A first-timer's route through Japan: how to split 10-14 days between Tokyo and Kyoto, which sites now need advance booking, and where day trips to Nikko, Nara, or Hakone actually fit — with sourced travel times and a 2025 freshness check.
Most of Cusco's points of interest run on one bundled ticket system, not pay-as-you-go gates. Here's what the Boleto Turístico covers, what it leaves out, and how to pace the altitude.
Resonance ranks London first, Time Out ranks Porto second, Travel + Leisure's readers pick Florence. None of them are wrong — they're measuring different things. Here's how to build a shortlist from all three, plus what July actually costs in heat and crowds.
By Mara Judit, Fortrip contributor. Mara filed Japan coverage for Monocle's Tokyo bureau from 2016 to 2019 and has returned most years since for seasonal reporting trips. Transit times, fares, and booking rules below are checked against JR East, Keisei, Shibuya Scramble Square, Toyosu Market, and JNTO site information as of November 2025.
Most first-time visitors land with a list of names — Senso-ji, Fushimi Inari, Shibuya Crossing — and no real sense of how these top things to do in Japan fit into actual days on the ground. The list itself isn't wrong. The problem is sequencing: when to arrive, which sites now require a booked time slot, and how much of a short trip gets eaten by trains if you try to cover too much ground. This guide works through the stops that come up most often in first-time planning, city by city, with the travel times and reservation rules that change fastest.
A note on timing: Train times, fees, and booking rules here are checked against official operator and temple sources as of November 2025. Hours shift seasonally and reservation rules change with little notice, so confirm specifics directly before you fly rather than trusting any single guide, including this one.
Before You Land: The Planning Decisions That Shape Everything Else
First-timers usually work with 10 to 14 days total. A route that splits roughly four days in Tokyo, three to four in Kyoto, and the remainder in Osaka, Hiroshima, or on a Hakone/Fuji detour tends to hold up better than one that adds a fourth or fifth base city — past three bases in under two weeks, you're mostly adding train time, not new experiences.
City
Days to budget
Advance booking needed
Best time to visit
Tokyo
4
Shibuya Sky only
Year-round; late March or November for milder weather
Kyoto
3–4
Several temples added timed entry in 2024–25 — rules vary by site
Late March–April for cherry blossoms, November for foliage
Osaka
2
No
Year-round, food-focused
Hiroshima
1 as a day trip, 2 with an overnight
No
Year-round
Hakone
1–2
No, but ropeway sections close in high wind
Clear-weather days for Fuji views, best October–February
The 7-day Japan Rail Pass rose to roughly ¥50,000 for standard class after the October 2023 price increase, per the pass's own published fare table. It still pays off if your itinerary includes at least one long round trip — Tokyo to Hiroshima and back on the Shinkansen, for example. For a tighter Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka triangle alone, a regional Kansai-area pass or paying per ride usually comes out cheaper; Fortrip's full breakdown of whether the Japan Rail Pass still pays off walks through the math for a few common routes.
A physical Suica or Pasmo IC card, or Mobile Suica on an iPhone, covers trains, buses, and convenience-store purchases as of November 2025. Non-Apple phones need the physical card, available from airport ticket machines on arrival. Visa-exemption lengths also vary by nationality and change periodically — confirm your own country's current rule on Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs visa information page before booking flights, not after.
Getting Into Tokyo: Which Airport Changes Your First Night
That difference matters when picking a hotel: Asakusa or Ueno suits a Narita arrival on the Skyliner line, while Shinagawa or Shibuya suits a Haneda arrival on the monorail.
Tokyo: Four Days to Cover the Capital Without Rushing
Senso-ji and Asakusa
Arrive before 8am to see the gate and inner grounds before tour groups move in, then come back after 10am once the shops along Nakamise-dori have opened. Senso-ji is one of the most-cited stops in nearly every roundup of top things to do in Japan, but neither the temple nor JNTO's public statistics portal publishes a verified, site-specific annual attendance count. If you see a precise visitor figure elsewhere, treat it as a promotional estimate rather than an official number.
Shibuya Crossing and Shibuya Sky
The crossing itself is free and busiest during evening rush, around 7pm, when the scale of it is easiest to appreciate from street level. Shibuya Sky's rooftop deck requires a timed online ticket booked through its official site, and the sunset slot sells out days ahead during high season — book that one before you land, not after.
Shinjuku at Night
Omoide Yokocho's yakitori alleys get going after 6pm. Golden Gai's tiny bars mostly open past 8pm. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building's observatory is free and typically open into the evening most nights, which makes it a reasonable alternative stop if you've already spent money at Shibuya Sky earlier in the trip.
Tsukiji Outer Market vs. Toyosu Market
The wholesale fish auction moved from Tsukiji to Toyosu in 2018, a relocation widely documented at the time. Tsukiji Outer Market still operates street-food stalls and knife shops in the old location, but the actual auction floor is now at Toyosu Market, viewable from a glassed observation deck with a limited early-morning window that moves around the calendar and market holidays. Go to Tsukiji for food and shopping; go to Toyosu if you specifically want to see the auction floor.
Day Trips from Central Tokyo
Nikko runs about two hours each way via the Tobu Nikko Limited Express from Asakusa, which makes it a full-day commitment rather than an add-on. Kamakura is closer to under an hour on the JR Yokosuka Line from central Tokyo, so it works as a half-day trip if Tokyo time is tight.
Kyoto: Temples, Shrines, and Where Reservations Now Matter
Site
Entry fee
Reservation required
Quietest time
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Free
No, 24-hour access
Before 6am or after sunset
Kiyomizu-dera
Modest fee
No, but hall access rotates with conservation work
Before 9am
Kinkaku-ji
Modest fee
No
Before 10am
Fushimi Inari Taisha
Open 24 hours with no entry fee. Arriving by 6am or after 6pm avoids most of the tour-bus crowd. The full hike through the torii gates to the summit and back takes most visitors 2 to 3 hours round trip — an estimate drawn from the Kyoto City Tourism Association's guide to the shrine rather than a fixed timetable, since it's a trail, not a transit line. Most people turn around partway up, which is fine, since the gate density thins out past the first viewpoints anyway.
Kiyomizu-dera
The main hall's wooden stage, built using traditional joinery without nails, is the temple's defining structure. Entry costs a modest fee, and the view platform is most photogenic in early morning light before 9am, before the haze and the crowds both build. Confirm hall access through the temple's own site before your visit — parts of the complex rotate through conservation work, and closures aren't always listed elsewhere.
Kinkaku-ji
Visitors view the Golden Pavilion from the gardens across the pond rather than entering it. Morning visits catch better reflection light on the water, and crowds thicken noticeably after 10am.
Several popular Kyoto sites added timed-entry or advance-booking requirements in 2024–25. Fortrip keeps a running list of Kyoto's timed-entry temple rules updated as sites change their policies, and the Japan National Tourism Organization site is a reasonable starting point for general hours. Running your planned stops through Fortrip's itinerary validator before you fly can catch a booking requirement you'd otherwise discover at the gate.
Osaka, Hiroshima, and the Rest of the Country
Osaka works well as a food-focused base. Dotonbori's canal-side stalls run late, and Nara's deer park sits 30 to 45 minutes away by train depending on the route and starting city — the Kintetsu Nara Line runs limited express services from Kyoto or Osaka's Namba station, while JR's Nara Line from Kyoto Station covers similar ground on local and rapid trains. Either way, it's a solid half-day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.
Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and Museum are reachable from Shin-Osaka in under 1.5 hours on the Sanyo Shinkansen. That's feasible as a long day trip, but a single overnight stop makes the visit less rushed.
Hakone pairs a Lake Ashi cruise with the ropeway for Mount Fuji views on clear days, with transit run by the Odakyu and Hakone Tozan lines. The trip from Shinjuku runs roughly 85 to 90 minutes on the Odakyu Romancecar limited express — see Hakone Navi for current connecting routes once you're there. It's doable as a day trip from Tokyo, but an overnight stay at a ryokan with an onsen makes the travel time feel worth the extra planning.
Crowd Timing and Booking Notes Worth Knowing Before You Go
Senso-ji: no reservation needed; arrive before 8am or after 5pm to avoid the midday crush.
Fushimi Inari: no reservation, 24-hour access; before 6am or after sunset is quietest.
Shibuya Sky: timed ticket required; book at least a few days ahead for sunset slots.
Toyosu Market observation deck: limited morning viewing window for the tuna auction, and the window moves with the season — check the market's own site the morning of your visit.
If you're visiting in May, Asakusa's Sanja Matsuri festival draws large crowds to Senso-ji over three days. Plan around it rather than into it, unless the festival is the actual reason for your dates.
Common Questions About Visiting Japan for the First Time
These come up often enough in trip planning that they're worth answering directly.
How many days should I spend in Tokyo versus the rest of Japan? For a 10-14 day first trip, roughly a third of the time in Tokyo works well — about four days — with the remainder split between Kyoto (three to four days) and one or two secondary stops like Osaka or Hiroshima.
Do major sites in Japan need advance booking now? Some do. Shibuya Sky requires a timed online ticket, and several Kyoto temples added timed-entry rules in 2024-25. Senso-ji and Fushimi Inari remain walk-in with no reservation needed.
Is the Japan Rail Pass still worth it after the 2023 price increase? Only for itineraries with at least one long point-to-point route, such as a Tokyo-Hiroshima round trip. For a short Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka loop alone, a regional Kansai pass or paying per ride is usually cheaper.
Should I base day trips out of Tokyo or Kyoto? Use Tokyo as the base for Nikko and Kamakura, and Kyoto or Osaka as the base for Nara, since all three are closer to those cities than to each other.
What's the difference between Tsukiji and Toyosu markets? Tsukiji Outer Market still has the street-food stalls and knife shops from before the 2018 relocation. Toyosu Market has the actual wholesale auction floor and observation deck, with a limited early-morning viewing window.
Which airport transit option should I take into Tokyo? From Narita, the Skyliner is faster than the Narita Express; from Haneda, the monorail to Hamamatsucho is the standard option. Your choice affects which neighborhood makes sense for your first hotel.
Is an IC card still necessary in 2025? Yes. A physical Suica or Pasmo card, or Mobile Suica on an iPhone, remains the standard way to pay for trains, buses, and convenience-store purchases.
A route that made sense last year can carry a new reservation rule this year, and it's cheaper to catch that before departure than at the gate. For more Japan planning breakdowns like this one, see Fortrip's Japan coverage on the blog.
How many days should I spend in Tokyo versus the rest of Japan?+
For a 10-14 day first trip, roughly a third of the time in Tokyo works well — about four days — with the remainder split between Kyoto (three to four days) and one or two secondary stops like Osaka or Hiroshima.
Do major sites in Japan need advance booking now?+
Some do. Shibuya Sky requires a timed online ticket, and several Kyoto temples added timed-entry rules in 2024-25. Senso-ji and Fushimi Inari remain walk-in with no reservation needed.
Is the Japan Rail Pass still worth it after the 2023 price increase?+
Only for itineraries with at least one long point-to-point route, such as a Tokyo-Hiroshima round trip. For a short Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka loop alone, a regional Kansai pass or paying per ride is usually cheaper.
Should I base day trips out of Tokyo or Kyoto?+
Use Tokyo as the base for Nikko and Kamakura, and Kyoto or Osaka as the base for Nara, since all three are closer to those cities than to each other.
What's the difference between Tsukiji and Toyosu markets?+
Tsukiji Outer Market still has the street-food stalls and knife shops from before the 2018 relocation. Toyosu Market has the actual wholesale auction floor and observation deck, with a limited early-morning viewing window.
Which airport transit option should I take into Tokyo?+
From Narita, the Skyliner is faster than the Narita Express; from Haneda, the monorail to Hamamatsucho is the standard option. Your choice affects which neighborhood makes sense for your first hotel.
Is an IC card still necessary in 2025?+
Yes. A physical Suica or Pasmo card, or Mobile Suica on an iPhone, remains the standard way to pay for trains, buses, and convenience-store purchases.
Start a trip Fortrip can actually defend.
Sketch a brief. We come back with an itinerary that reads like a recommendation, not a checklist — and tell you what we’d change about it.
