One week in Japan is the classic first trip, and the classic route exists for a reason: Tokyo for neon and energy, Kyoto for temples and tradition, with Nara's bowing deer and Osaka's street food as easy day trips. This itinerary follows that golden triangle with realistic timings, so you spend your week eating ramen and wandering shrines — not staring at train maps.
Days 1–3: Tokyo — Neon, Shrines & the World's Best Food City
Day 1: Shibuya, Harajuku & Shinjuku
Start at Shibuya Crossing — up to 3,000 people scramble across at once — then walk 20 minutes to Meiji Shrine, a forested sanctuary that feels impossibly quiet for central Tokyo (free). Wander Harajuku's Takeshita Street for a $4 crepe, then spend the evening in Shinjuku: yakitori skewers under the train tracks at Omoide Yokocho run $1–2 each, and the tiny bars of Golden Gai are an experience even if you only order one drink.
Day 2: Asakusa, Ueno & Akihabara
Get to Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple, by 7:30am — the giant red lantern photo is crowd-free before 9. Snack your way down Nakamise street (melon pan, about $2), then stroll Ueno Park and its museums (Tokyo National Museum, $7). Finish in Akihabara for retro arcades and multi-floor electronics stores; a round of claw machines costs about $1 a try.
Day 3: teamLab, Ginza & a Skyline Sunset
Book teamLab Planets (about $25) weeks ahead — you wade barefoot through mirrored water rooms full of digital koi. Spend the afternoon in Ginza's depachika, the dazzling basement food halls where a picture-perfect bento costs $8–12. End at Shibuya Sky (about $20, reserve a sunset slot) for the view over the crossing you stood in on day one.
Days 4–5: Kyoto — Ten Thousand Torii Gates & Golden Temples
Day 4: Fushimi Inari & Higashiyama
Take an early shinkansen (2 hours 15 minutes), drop your bags, and head straight to Fushimi Inari — the mountain path through thousands of vermilion torii gates is free and open 24/7, and the crowds thin dramatically past the first 15 minutes of gates. In the afternoon, climb through the preserved lanes of Sannenzaka to Kiyomizu-dera ($3.50), then walk Gion at dusk, when lanterns glow and you might glimpse a geiko hurrying to an appointment.
Getting there is half the trick: the JR Nara Line reaches Fushimi Inari from Kyoto Station in five minutes for about $1, dodging bus traffic entirely, and the street stalls along the shrine approach sell kitsune udon and grilled mochi for $4–6. If your legs have more to give, the full summit loop takes about two hours and empties of people above the Yotsutsuji viewpoint, where the city spreads out below the gates.
Dinner near the station is the easy win: Kyoto Ramen Koji on the station building's 10th floor gathers famous regional ramen shops into one corridor, with bowls at $9–12 ordered from vending machines that require zero Japanese. If Gion's discreet doorways intimidate, the lanes around Nishiki Market a few blocks west serve the same Kyoto flavors as casual set meals for $15–20, no reservation needed.
Day 5: Arashiyama & Kinkaku-ji
Be inside the Arashiyama bamboo grove by 8am — it's free, and by 10 it's a conveyor belt. Add Tenryu-ji's gardens ($5) and the riverside monkey park ($4, real views, real monkeys). Bus across town to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion ($3.50), then spend your last Kyoto evening eating along Pontocho Alley, a lantern-lit lane the width of your outstretched arms.
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Day 6: Day Trip to Nara — Deer, Giants & Lanterns
Morning: Nara Park's bowing deer
The Kintetsu express from Kyoto takes 35 minutes (about $8). Buy deer crackers ($1.50) and watch the famously polite deer bow for them — over 1,200 roam the park freely.
Afternoon: Todai-ji & Kasuga Taisha
Todai-ji ($5.50) houses a 15-meter bronze Buddha inside one of the world's largest wooden buildings. Walk the mossy, lantern-lined path to Kasuga Taisha before heading back to Kyoto for the night.
Evening: back in Kyoto
Try a kaiseki-style set dinner ($30–50) or keep it simple with conveyor-belt sushi at $1.50–3 a plate.
A note on the deer: they are wild, they are pushy, and the bowing works both ways — hold the crackers behind your back between feedings or you'll be mugged by four at once. Buy only the official crackers from the street vendors, keep paper maps out of reach (they eat those too), and visit before 10am if you want the calm, photogenic version of Nara Park rather than the tour-bus rush.
If temple energy remains, Kofuku-ji's five-story pagoda stands two minutes from Kintetsu Nara station, and Isuien Garden (about $9) offers the quietest half hour of the whole week, with Todai-ji's great roof borrowed into its view. Catch the high-speed mochi-pounding show at Nakatanidou, where fresh yomogi mochi costs about $1.50, and aim to leave by 5pm — evening trains back to Kyoto fill with commuters, and standing for 35 minutes after a walking day is nobody's favorite finale.
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Day 7: Osaka — Street Food Finale
Morning: Osaka Castle
The train from Kyoto takes 30 minutes ($4). Osaka Castle's museum and viewing deck cost $4; the surrounding park is free and glorious.
Afternoon: Kuromon Market
Graze through "Osaka's kitchen": grilled scallops, wagyu skewers, and fresh uni, mostly $3–8 a portion.
Evening: Dotonbori
End under the Glico running man sign with takoyaki ($4 for six) and okonomiyaki ($8) — Osaka's motto is literally "eat until you drop." Fly home from Kansai Airport, or ride the shinkansen back to Tokyo (about $95, 2.5 hours).
Osaka runs on the Midosuji subway line — the castle, Kuromon Market, and Dotonbori chain together for about $2.40 in total fares with an IC card. If the castle museum's queue looks long, skip the interior entirely: the best photograph is from Nishinomaru Garden ($2) with the moat in the foreground, and the hour you save buys more grazing time. Kuromon peaks between 11am and 2pm; several of the best stalls start packing up by late afternoon.
Build in one extra if your flight allows: the Umeda Sky Building's rooftop observatory (about $10) at sunset, or the retro Shinsekai district for kushikatsu skewers at $1–2 apiece — dip once, never twice, as every local will cheerfully warn you. Flying from Kansai, the Nankai Rapi:t train reaches the airport from Namba in 38 minutes ($11); pad your timing on weekend evenings, when Dotonbori's crowds slow everything, including you.
What does a week in Japan cost?
- Budget: $70–100/day — hostels or capsule hotels, konbini breakfasts, ramen and standing sushi, local trains.
- Mid-range: $130–200/day — business hotels, a mix of casual and nicer restaurants, all the temple entries you want.
- Splurge: $300+/day — a ryokan night with kaiseki dinner, omakase sushi, green car shinkansen seats.
Japan is more affordable than its reputation — the weak yen helps enormously. Flights are usually the biggest line item, so read our guide to finding cheap flights before you book, and pack light with our 40-item packing list: you'll be hauling bags through a lot of train stations.
Where to stay along this route
In Tokyo, base yourself near a Yamanote Line station and the whole itinerary gets easier. Shinjuku and Shibuya put day one on your doorstep, with business hotels from $80–120; Asakusa is quieter, cheaper ($60–90), and perfect for the day-two temple morning; capsule hotels run $30–45 for the curious. In Kyoto, stay in the corridor between Kawaramachi and Kyoto Station — you'll use buses and trains constantly, and this stretch touches everything. Guesthouses in preserved machiya townhouses cost $70–100 and are worth one night of your life, while a splurge ryokan with kaiseki dinner runs $250–400 for two. Skip hotels inside Gion itself: you pay a premium to sleep in the one district that's better visited at dusk than dawn.
Etiquette basics that earn instant goodwill
Japan is forgiving of tourists, but a few habits mark you as someone paying attention. Keep phone calls off trains — carriages are library-quiet, and the silence is wonderful once you join it. Don't eat while walking; even konbini snacks are eaten beside the store or on a bench. Shoes come off wherever there's a raised genkan step and slippers waiting — restaurants, temples, your ryokan. At the register, place cash in the small tray rather than handing it over, and skip tipping entirely: it isn't modest here, it's confusing, and staff will chase you down the street to return it. In an onsen, wash thoroughly at the seated stations before entering the water, and towels never touch the bath. None of this is graded — but every bit of effort is noticed and warmly returned.
Frequently asked questions
Is the language barrier a problem?
Less than you fear. Train stations, menus, and signage across the golden triangle are heavily bilingual, ticket machines have English modes, and Google Translate's camera handles the rest. Learn "sumimasen" (excuse me) and "arigatou gozaimasu" (thank you) and you're equipped for 90% of interactions.
What do I do with luggage between cities?
Forward it. Takkyubin luggage delivery (about $12–18 per bag, arranged at any hotel desk or konbini) moves your suitcase from Tokyo to Kyoto overnight while you ride the shinkansen with a daypack. It's the single best logistics trick in Japan.
Can I visit an onsen if I have tattoos?
Increasingly, yes. Many public baths still ban them, but tattoo-friendly onsen exist in every city, small tattoos can be covered with skin patches sold at Don Quijote (about $5), and ryokan with private baths sidestep the issue entirely.
Is Japan doable for vegetarians?
Doable with homework. Dashi (fish stock) hides in most soups and sauces, so seek out shojin ryori — Buddhist temple cuisine — in Kyoto, vegan ramen spots like T's Tantan in Tokyo Station, and konbini onigiri marked plum or kombu. The HappyCow app earns its keep here.
Can I squeeze in the Ghibli Museum?
Only with planning. Tickets (about $7) go on sale on the 10th of the month before your visit and sell out within hours — set an alarm for the exact release time. The museum sits in Mitaka, an easy 20-minute train from Shinjuku, and slots into the day-one afternoon if you land one.
Where do I put my bags during day trips?
Coin lockers live in every major station — $3 for small bags, $5–7 for suitcases, payable by IC card. Kyoto Station has hundreds, so the Nara day trip works even on checkout day. If lockers are full, staffed luggage counters at Tokyo and Kyoto stations hold bags for about $8 a day.
If you have more than a week
The golden triangle is the perfect skeleton — here's what to graft on. With three extra days, ride the shinkansen west to Hiroshima and the floating torii of Miyajima (an easy pairing, about $80 in fares from Osaka — this is when a JR Pass starts paying off). With two, add Kanazawa for Kenroku-en garden and a preserved samurai district, or Hakone for hot springs with Mount Fuji views ($60–90 for ryokan day-use packages). With one, give Osaka a full day — Kuromon Market deserves more than an afternoon. And if street food is your religion, our guide to Asia's best cheap street food ranks Osaka among the continent's giants for good reason.