Some background

Hello there. If you reach this space, then that means you're either planning or have already planned a trip to Japan, which is awesome because it's one of my favorite places in the world, and I'm really excited to share some of the things that I like doing there with you. 🎉

A little bit of context. I lived in Japan for four years from 2019 to 2023. I started my first job there, and 6 months in, Covid happened. That led to two interesting things:

1. We went remote, so that meant that I could actually travel across Japan without having to take holidays, which was really interesting.
2. Although the borders were closed internally, Japan was open. However, most of the country was being extremely risk-averse and would not travel.

That meant I got to travel Japan at a time when no one was traveling and everything was open, which was surreal.

Four years of traveling in Japan definitely was not enough. But I did get to do a lot. I visited almost 60% of the country. That means 28 out of 47 prefectures. And I think the 28 prefectures that I did visit were some of the more popular as well as some of the hidden gems. Maybe someday I'll complete all of it. But until then, let me share whatever I have with you already. I plan to keep updating and making it prettier as it goes along, but I'll keep coming back here if you're still planning your trip.

And, of course, feel free to reach out directly to me if you want any tips or wanna check if a specific thing you want to do makes sense or not. If you are already not connected, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn or Instagram. Feel free to follow my newsletter to read more of my writing.

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Table of Contents

The Basics

How long should I go for?

I think two weeks is the perfect time to get your first taste of Japan. If that's not possible, one week to ten days also works. Especially if you're flying in from far, you will need some days to adjust to the jet lag.

Where should I go?

If you have to choose, I think Tokyo and Kyoto are the two cities that will give you the entirety of Japan in your limited time. If you like snow sports, I would recommend adding Hokkaido into the mix. And if you have even more time, then I think you can add Hiroshima into the itinerary as well.

What should I do?

Let me divide everything in terms of cities, and then I'll mention the must-dos followed by other things that I think are hidden gems and some things that I think are tourist traps.

What do I do if I don't want to read your long-ass blog?

I knew you would ask that. Well, the best resource I can recommend is Japan Guide.

This is a really nice website that was created and is maintained by the Japan government. It has all the up-to-date information about all the fun stuff to do in Japan. I use this myself a lot as I was planning trips all around Japan. Definitely check it out.

Japan Travel and Living Guide

Everything about modern and traditional Japan with emphasis on travel and living related information.

www.japan-guide.com

Or watch this video for inspiration. This is a YouTuber that I really like, and I trust his recommendations as well.

Or, just wing it. A lot of the beauty of Japan is finding fun side quests and being lost in that country and the cities and just taking whatever it has to offer on face value. There's so much to do in Japan you're bound to get overwhelmed. I would say adopt the minimalist thinking just go there and enjoy moments that come to you and I'm sure once you go to Japan you will want to go again so there will be enough chances for you to to do the things that you may have missed this time.

Obviously goes without saying that these are skewed to the things that I really liked, there may be things that I missed or may not be interested in which would be up your alley! So feel free to filter these out as you see fit!

Tokyo

Honestly, you can never go wrong with Tokyo. How I would recommend you visiting is choosing a neighborhood and then just exploring it and finding fun things to do. Some of my favorite neighborhoods in Tokyo are Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Akihabara, Ginza, Shimokitazawa, Nakameguro and Daikanyama. Each of these neighborhoods is known for something unique and has a different vibe. Simply walking around and letting your intuition guide you or doing side quests will make you super satisfied. One thing you can do is research the neighborhood a bit beforehand so you have some specific places that you might want to visit. Just walk around and take it all in. Get lost in Japan like they say.

Kyoto / Osaka / Nara / Kobe

I write all of these together because staying in one of these cities you can visit visit all of them. Kyoto is the one I would recommend staying in, especially if you have a tie in Tokyo as well because Osaka is kind of like Tokyo's little brother, so Kyoto would give you a completely different vibe and then Osaka, Nara, Kobe are all 1 hour away from Kyoto by train. So it's a good central spot to be in with easy access to many of these cities which all have their own fun stuff going on.

Hyping yourself up for Japan

Coming Soon

• Hokkaido
• Hiroshima + Shimanami Kaido
• Nagano
• Aomori
• Gifu
• Fuji Rock Festival
• Shizouka GP