Cities

Japan cities guide: how many days each one deserves

Knowing that before you land is what stops the trip from feeling like the same place visited six times.

Tokyo
東京
A hundred small cities pretending to be one
Don't try to 'do Tokyo'. Pick three or four neighbourhoods and let each one have its own evening. Shibuya at 9pm and Yanaka at 9am are different countries.
4 to 5 days, minimum
Kyoto
京都
A working city that inherited a thousand years of scenery
The famous temples are worth it before 8am and unbearable at noon. The rest of the day belongs to smaller shrines, the Kamo riverbank and one long walk with no plan.
3 to 4 days
Osaka
大阪
Loud, direct and impatient with ceremony
The most relaxed city in Japan for a foreigner: people speak first, laugh louder and forgive mistakes. Eat standing up, at counters, late.
2 days, or use it as a base for 4
Nara
奈良
The first capital, now a small town with a giant park
Everyone comes for the deer and leaves in three hours. Stay until dusk, when the buses go and the park belongs to almost nobody.
One full day
Kanazawa
金沢
A Kyoto without the crowds, on the other coast
Samurai and geisha districts you can walk without queueing, one of Japan's best gardens, and a fish market that still feeds the city rather than the tourists.
2 days
Onomichi
尾道
A port town on a hillside, between cats and temples
Stairs, cats, quiet temples and the start of the Shimanami Kaidō cycling route. The antidote to a trip made only of big cities.
1 to 2 days

Tokyo