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Home / Blog / Asia / Japan / How to Spend Two Weeks in Japan

How to Spend Two Weeks in Japan

  • Advice
  • Itineraries
  • Japan
July 4, 2018 by Natalie 4 Comments

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In April 2017 we spent two weeks in Japan and loved it. Here is our Japan itinerary, detailing what we saw and did during that time. 

We explored from North to South; mountain to gardens; city center to remote area. There were times we wandered through chaotic neon light-lit streets, relaxed in an onsen, visited temples, and ate delicious Japanese food.

This was our first time in Japan and we bought a Japan Rail (JR) pass to give ourselves complete freedom over where we wanted to go and for how long. We also reached out to old students that I had taught as an English Teacher in New York City, so we planned some of our Japan itinerary around their availability.

For our first trip to japan our itinerary was, in a nutshell: Osaka (3 nights) before going to Kagoshima (2 nights), Kyoto (4 nights), Tokyo (4 nights), Mito (1 night), Sendai (1 night) and Tsuru-no-yu Onsen (1 night). This was such a fabulous trip and we think about going back constantly.

Sakurajima Volcano in Japan. We saw this while making our Japan Itinerary.
The observation point at Sakurajima Volcano.

How We planned our Japan Itinerary

Unlike Sri Lanka or The United States— where we rock up and figure out what we want to do about 24-hours before we do it– Japan takes more planning.

We went during the cherry blossom bloom in early April and Japan was PACKED with people. We learned the hard way that making a reservation last minute was a terrible idea. This also meant that we got to some far-flung places that really took us off the beaten path and were awesome places to go for our first time in Japan.

We did some research on places to see, the cheapest airport to fly into (Osaka), and who would be willing to put us up while there (thanks, Hiroko!). We wanted to put together a perfect itinerary that wasn’t going to make us feel trapped in our plans, but also able to have some flexibility to go see awesome places.

My biggest piece of advice about planning a trip to Japan — if it’s your first time– is to buy your JR pass and book whatever ryokan you want to stay in WELL in advance, BEFORE you go to spend your two weeks in Japan.

Then: go in with an open mind!

How We Decided Where to Stay, Get Around, and What to Do

To be honest, because this was our first time in Japan, we had no clear idea about how busy it could be in early April (that, in hindsight, was mega stupid). That said, once we threw out the tired Osaka-Tokyo-Fuji-Kyoto trope that most travelers opt for, we found some great places that weren’t nearly as packed as the all-stars of tourism in Japan.

Accommodation:

I first asked all of the students I’d had in New York if any of them wanted to meet up. It’s really important to hit up your network! Hiroko offered to put us up in Kyoto for 3 days and that was A-OK with us!

We knew the bigger cities wouldn’t be cheap, so we booked an apartment in Osaka through Airbnb. This turned out to be a great decision because we got our own place to do laundry and chill a bit.

Tokyo is super expensive, so for that we opted to use our credit card points from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay for 3 nights at a 3-star hotel (that was a sweet $600 bucks we didn’t have to spend, hell yeah!).

For the smaller cities, it was much easier to find hotels to book through Booking. We didn’t do anything special in these places, we just looked for a good price that was available for the days we were passing through.

The ryokan was a different story. This is a seriously old-school place that isn’t frequented by tourists. As a result: they don’t have an official website, but you can book through a third-party site like we did. You can learn more about the details of that here.

Transportation: 

We got the JR Pass for two weeks. The beauty of the pass is how much it will save you. The cost upfront sucks, but– trust us here– you’re gonna save a bucket-load of cash from it (we saved hundreds of dollars, you can check this site to see how much you’d save, it’s amazing). Plus, there are different passes that’ll allow you in different areas of the country, or all over the place if you so choose. We opted for the latter and were so glad we got it.

The shinkansen while spending our two weeks in Japan
This guy was almost shedding tears of joy.

As we were there for peak cherry blossom season, we needed to make sure we made reservations on the shinkansen trains at least a day in advance. This was easy, the Japanese railway employees are incredibly helpful and (most of them) speak English. All it took was stopping by a ticket office and making a quick reservation. This was no extra cost.

(Whenever we were looking to book a Shinkansen, I always looked up in advance the stations, and then wrote them down with the dates we wanted to travel. The railway employees seemed to really appreciate this, as it made their lives much easier! Google maps is very thorough, so you can easily find which trains depart and arrive and which stations using this. – Jackson)

Activities: 

Jackson was a champ at looking up obscure things to see and do. I was amazed when he suggested going to Mito because we had two days to kill before our reservation at the ryokan in Akita. To “kill time” we decided to make our way up the eastern coast by stopping in the obscure cities of Mito and Sendai.

We saw the 3rd largest Japanese garden in Mito, ate gyutan (grilled beef tongue) in Sendai, hiked around a volcano in Kagoshima and visited tons of temples, like, everywhere. We didn’t lock any of this down (other than the ryokan) and left ourselves plenty of wiggle room.

A shrine in Kyoto we visited on our Japan itinerary
A small shrine. There were lots of little spots here, but the main one was for a spirit of music and song and performance.

Deciding on Where to Eat:

We had hardly any research here. I mostly relied on my students’ local knowledge to guide us and I was so glad I did. That said, there were places that were a helluva’ lot better than others. Osaka, for example, is DA’ BOMB when it comes to cramming your mouth full of Japanese eats. Mito? Whew, boy: pretty forgettable.

We used Tripadvisor and Google Maps a lot to help us out when on our own, and they were such an awesome resource! We’d basically look out for anything above a 4/5 stars and were generally pretty happy with our choices.

Here’s Our Japan Itinerary:

Osaka: 3 nights, 2 days

We flew into Itami Airport (Osaka International Airport) from Hong Kong. It was a cheaper flight than going into Narita in Tokyo and we knew we wanted to see Kyoto, which is very close by train.
This is the grimier, less polished sister-city to Kyoto. The beauty of Osaka is how damn good the food is. On our first night in town we walked into a random ramen joint and ate the best ramen of our lives.
In the Shin-Sekai area of Osaka you’ll find SO MANY PLACES to eat and gawk at as the walls of the buildings are covered in the strangest looking stuff.
Osaka's Shin-Sekai in the day
Osaka’s Shin-Sekai in the day.
There are tons of places to try all sorts of Japanese treats like:
– Okonomiyaki – a pancake with a ton of stuff cooked into it. By clicking the link, you’ll get a wonderful, detailed account of the delicacy from the “Eating Japan” travel blog.
– Kushiage – battered and fried food on a stick. Delicious and famous in Osaka.
– Takoyaki – octopus or fish cooked in a bread ball. This was not my bag, but Jackson loved it.
– Taiyaki – a pastry cut to look like a fish, but is filled with a sweet bean paste. Delicious.
Also make sure you go to “Causerie- Maison de Cafe” (they have no website!). It’s a simple coffee shop where the owners are probably over 100, speak no English, and make delicious coffee. Their menus are simple and the food is delicious. We went three mornings straight.
In Osaka outside an amazing coffee shop
Me in front of the coffee shop

Kagoshima: 2 nights, 1 day

This is a city that sits in the shadow of the volcano, Sakurajima, on the southern end of Japan. We were there for two nights, one full day, and went to the Sakurajima island to explore. The ferry was easy to catch and gave us beautiful views of the volcano (which is still very active!). You can read more about the details here.
On the island, we hiked around and got different views of the city and the volcano. It was delightful. At the end of the day, there were hot pools you can stick your feet into that are free. We did that and met some wonderfully sweet Japanese people who were on vacation. We saw no other non-Japanese tourists around and we loved that.
Soaking in hot water while spending two weeks in japan
Sticking my feet into that sweet, hot, hot water.
We stayed at the Richmond Hotel which was very reasonably priced and located very close to the ferry to the sakurajima island.

Kyoto: 4 nights, 3 days

Although this city is teeming with tourists, there is so much to see that you can find places to go to avoid the worst of the crowds. We loved just wandering around looking at the Japanese dressed in their kimonos. There are hundreds of temples to explore, too. We could have spent a full week here!
In Kyoto, it’s common to see people dressed up in a Kimono for the day.

We went to Kyoto in cherry blossom season and it is about as packed as it’s going to get. And packed it was. There were some streets so choked with people we needed to duck into coffee shops to get a break (and listen to some awesome jazz on the radio because the Japanese love that?). I’d aim to spend your day visiting temples if you can, but know that there’ll be a million people on either side of you as you try to take a sweet shot of the Golden Pavilion.

Once we got an idea of the areas that are really crowded, we’d head off in a different direction. The beauty of Kyoto is that because it is so big and old you can find so many amazing things to see without the massive amounts of tourists.

wandering around kyoto while spending two weeks in Japan
We went to see the Suntory Yamazaki distillery, which is just outside of town by train, and that was really cool. For a small fee, you get a tour of the distillery and then a chance to sample a bunch of delicious, world-class whisky. This was awesome.

Tokyo: 4 nights, 3 days

The capital of Japan: you’ll either be flying in to Narita or going out of curiosity.

Tokyo is really cool, but it is in some places totally overwhelming and like being in an amped-up Times Square and at other times like walking into a neon light’s wet dream.

Tokyo: a stop on our Japan itinerary
Shinjuku

That said, we did enjoy watching people cross Shibuya (the famous street that’s featured in all the movies) and walking through the streets as visitors was invigorating (the Japanese are not allowed to casually smoke on the street because it is so crowded they might accidentally put their cigarette out on someone near them…).

We stayed in Shinjuku which was a wild and crazy area of Tokyo, filled with casinos, strip clubs, food stalls and Godzilla himself (who’ll occasionally come to life and make a lot of noise from the rooftop of a nearby hotel). I know there are other areas of the city to stay in, but Shinjuku was really central and my students recommended that one.

I enjoyed going to Yoyogi park (Tokyo’s Central Park) and walking around.

Flowers everywhere!
There are a bunch of izakayas to go to in Tokyo and if you get a chance: I recommend going to one. An izakaya is a traditional bar in Japan where hoards of businessmen will go out to get absolutely hammered together while eating delicious tapas-style Japanese food. The experience of being in one is awesome.

Mito: 1 night, 1 day

Mito is not known for much, but we went because they have the 3rd largest Japanese Garden in Japan. What makes that special? No one knows about this place so we were the only ones there.

Mito, while spending two weeks in Japan
It was so quiet and peaceful in the Japanese gardens of Mito

The Gardens were beautiful: full of cherry blossoms, bamboo, little wooden huts, tree-lined walking paths and very territorial black swans. I loved how empty it was and how much we were able to wander around the grounds (for free) to take pictures and imagine Japanese wood nymphs playing in the leaves. It felt magical. I wouldn’t spend more than a day here.

Sendai: 1 night, 1 day

Making our way North, we decided to stop on the coastal city of Sendai, a rather off-the-beaten path location as no one we knew had ever been there and we couldn’t find too much on the internet about it. Seemed like a good place to go!

Honestly, Sendai was somewhat unremarkable. We did like that we could walk around the downtown with very little tourism or locals to get in the way. I do wonder how much of the 2011 earthquake destroyed (this area was hit pretty hard by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami).

I was surprised by the amount of European influence on the architecture and when we did some reading about the city, we learned that Sendai is also called the “City of Trees” which I think is pretty accurate.

Tourradar

One thing you MUST do if you get to Sendai is try “Gyutan”.  Gyutan is a grilled beef tongue served with a bone broth and rice. It was. The. Best. Meal. We went to Umami Tasuke and it was amazing. I would go back to Sendai and wander aimlessly all day just for the chance to eat at this place again. It was THAT incredible.

cooking gyutan in Sendai
Cooking our yummy meal. (We didn’t eat all that meat there were other people there!)
Notice the chop sticks?

Tsuru-no-yu Onsen: 2 nights, 1 day

This is a very popular onsen (hot pool) and ryokan (traditional Japanese guest house) in the mountains of Akita, Northern Japan. They book out months in advance so we were only able to stay one night, but it was incredible. It’s a few hours from Tokyo by bullet train and then you take a bus into the mountains from the train station.

A ryokan in the mountains of Japan
Because we were in the mountains, there was still quite a lot of snow on the ground in April. It was so still and quiet and relaxing and beautiful.

I was totally in love with this ryokan: it was clean, romantic and thoroughly Japanese. They’ll feed you traditional Japanese food as well as clothe you. I can’t recommend this place enough. I wrote in more detail about this onsen in the blog, including how to book a room if you are interested.

We Loved our Two Weeks in Japan!

Had we done anything differently, we might have skipped Sendai in favor of another day in Kyoto. That said, that beef tongue was honestly one of the best meals I have ever eaten in my life and could I trade that for another crowd-filled day? Maybe not. Your Japan itinerary can be based on whatever you want!

I do wonder what the 1st and 2nd largest Japanese gardens look like. But, would they have been as empty and personal as the one in Mito? Who knows.

We agreed that were we to go back, we’d spend more time traveling up North and seeing Hokkaido. The mountains were so beautiful, it’d be great to spend more time in Japan in the mountains and seek out more onsen to soak in.

Two weeks in Japan didn’t feel too rushed, gave us a good amount of time to get around, see very different parts of the country and left us wanting more. I can’t wait to go back one day.

in Tokyo while spending our two weeks in Japan
Don’t forget: you have to participate in a perikura photo shoot!

Have you been? Did you spend two weeks in Japan, what did you do?

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Hi, we’re Natalie and Jackson: a trans-continental couple who met in New York City in 2013 and haven’t been apart since. We got married in June 2015 and have been traveling around the world together.

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Comments

  1. Maria says

    July 10, 2018 at 8:53 am

    Hi Natalie and Jackson,

    Wow, what an awesome off-the-beaten-track itinerary! Have not even heard about some of these places so great to see and read about something different than the usual highlights of Japan. How did you get between these places? By train or flights?

    Great job with the map!!! Must have been a ton of work coding it and getting it to work properly. Love it! 🙂

    Happy travels!
    Maria from Nerd Nomads

    Reply
    • Jackson says

      July 11, 2018 at 10:38 am

      Thanks Maria!

      We actually took some inspiration from that map you guys included on your Sri Lankan itinerary! Actually, Natalie said “I want that!” so I had no choice but to build it…

      Reply
    • Natalie says

      July 15, 2018 at 9:55 pm

      Hi! Thank you for stopping by 🙂 We got to each place with the trains. It was easy-peasy.

      Reply
  2. Joy says

    July 21, 2018 at 9:09 am

    I’m in Japan right now, first time visit, and fresh off experiencing a beautiful sunset with Mt. Fuji completely visible at Lake Kawaguchiko. I took the popular tourist route Osaka (2 nights)-Kyoto (4 nights)-Tokyo (8 nights split up) with side trips to Nara (day-trip), Lake Kawaguchiko (where I am now for 2 nights) and then Nikko (3 nights).
    I agree, it is super easy to get around and truly the Japanese are very ready to help. Case in point, I wanted to buy a ticket on the Nozomi from Kyoto to Tokyo and there was a huge line-up at the JR ticket booths. I asked one of the officials there if this is where I can buy a ticket and he said yes but then offered to help me book at the machine instead (which is only in Japanese). He took me through step by step and in 5 min I was done with ticket in hand.
    One thing though I would say, even for first timers to Japan, is don’t go rush out and get a JR pass right away. Many are quick to recommend it but it doesn’t mean it’s the most economical or efficient for everyone. Do your research first with Google maps by typing in your destinations and it will give you all the modes of transport plus the prices in japanese yen and the estimated time between your 2 points. When I did that, I found it actually was way cheaper than getting the pass and that many of the routes were more direct (fewer or no transfers) and faster on non JR routes than the JR routes.
    Also getting one of the IC cards (ICOCA, Suica, or Pasmo) can really make things easier for you, especially in the cities. Not only can they be used for transport but also for convenience stores and other establishments (like the Octopus card in HK). And they can be used interchangeably. I got my ICOCA card at Kansai airport and I’ve used essentially for all my transport and vending machine cravings from Osaka to the Fuji 5 lakes region.
    Yes research is imperative in preparing for a trip to Japan, I find more so than for other countries I’ve visited.
    But it is so worth the time. It’s a truly amazing country and, knock on wood, I’m coming on my third and last week here and rhe whole trip has gone off without a hitch.

    Reply

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