You want to see Japan but have not settled on where to go. Here are ten destinations we recommend for a first trip.
Pick the ones that pull at you.
Tokyo
Visiting Japan without Tokyo is like going to France and skipping Paris. The capital does not show you every side of Japan, but it remains essential.
Three or four days in Tokyo will let you take in its different quarters without rushing.
Some ideas for what to do:
- Visit Meiji Jingu shrine.
- Visit Sensou-ji temple.
- Go to TeamLab.
- The Tokyo Metropolitan Government building and its wide view over the city
- Walk the working-class quarters of Asakusa, Kappabashi and Ueno
- Go to the largest Uniqlo in Japan, in Ginza.
It is also worth adding a night or two so you can take day trips: Kamakura, Nikko or Lake Kawaguchi.
Cocolo’s advice: first time in Japan? Use a French-speaking guide for your first day in Tokyo. Learning how to read the metro, getting a first look at Japanese culture and food, and having a hand with the practical business of the trip (the JR pass, for one) pays off for the rest of your stay.
Kyoto
Kyoto is the city people picture when they imagine Japan. It is dense with historic and religious sites.
Three hours from Tokyo by shinkansen, and three days will cover a good part of what it is best known for.
You will like:
- Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine.
- The Golden Pavilion: Kinkaku-ji.
- The Silver Pavilion: Ginkaku-ji.
- Ryoan-ji temple.
- The bamboo grove at Arashiyama.
Kyoto is also the capital of Japanese tea: matcha, sencha, ujicha, one of them will suit you.
Use your stay to try wagashi, the traditional Japanese sweets, very often served with matcha.
Kyoto is also a base for day trips: Osaka, Nara, Uji, Kobe, Himeji, Ine. There is plenty within reach.
Hiroshima
Hiroshima is our favourite city in Japan. A small city close to Miyajima, young, busy and with real cultural weight, it is a pleasant place to spend two or three days. Set aside a day for Miyajima, which is the reason many people come.
Another side of Hiroshima, far less known, is Kagura. Kagura is a Shinto ritual dance that recreates episodes from Japanese mythology through traditional dance, music and costume.
Depending on the days you are there, you may be able to catch a performance: the calendar of Kagura performances put on by the city of Hiroshima.
Hiroshima sits a little under two hours from Kyoto and four hours from Tokyo, so it fits easily into a route.
While you are there, you can see:
- Shukkei-en garden.
- Hiroshima Castle.
- The Peace Memorial Museum.
- The Peace Memorial Park.
Miyajima
Miyajima, also called Itsukushima, is a sacred island in both Shinto and Buddhist practice. Nature here has been left largely as it was, and the landscapes hold their scale.
Known for its torii standing in the water, it holds a number of sites worth the detour. You will want to see:
- Itsukushima shrine.
- Daisho-in temple.
- The summit of Mount Misen by cable car, or on foot if you have the legs for it, for the view.
On the food side, Miyajima is known for its grilled oysters, from its own beds, and for Momiji Manju, maple-leaf-shaped Japanese cakes filled with red bean paste.
It is a singular place in Japan, and worth the detour.
Staying on Miyajima is not necessary, since the island is only an hour from Hiroshima. A day is enough to see it.
Osaka
Osaka is to Marseille what Tokyo is to Paris. It is a city with its own character, where you find a slightly less orderly Japan, a more relaxed pace and, if you listen, the Kansai accent.
Around 3h from Tokyo, 30 min from Kyoto, 1h from Nara and 40 min from Kobe, it works well as a hub for day trips.
Things to see:
- Universal Studios.
- Dotonbori street.
- Osaka Castle.
- Sennichimae Doguyasuji, the kitchenware street.
As the capital of Japanese food, Osaka is known for a long list of dishes:
- Takoyaki.
- Okonomiyaki.
- Kushikatsu.
- Kitsune Udon.
Nara
Best known for the deer that wander freely through its park, Nara is also a former capital of Japan. The city keeps a good many monuments from that period, and anyone interested in Japanese history will take to it.
Things to see:
- Todai-ji temple.
- Kasuga Taisha shrine.
- The Nara National Museum.
- Nara Park.
Sleep in Kyoto or Osaka and travel out to Nara, which is under an hour by road from either. That way you do not need to change hotel.
Hakone
A view of Mount Fuji in clear weather, onsen, ryokan and an open-air museum: Hakone is the destination about an hour from Tokyo.
Things to see:
- Its volcano, from which you can see Mount Fuji in clear weather.
- Its onsen.
- Its shrine with a torii standing in the water.
- Its open-air museum.
To cover the main sites, a day and a half is about right. You can do it as a return trip from Tokyo, but a night there is better. That gives you a night in a ryokan and time in the onsen, the Japanese thermal baths.
Use your stay to try Hakone’s black eggs. Legend has it that eating one adds seven years to your life.
- Read about ryokan, traditional Japanese inns
Transport in Hakone is very busy, so going there with suitcases is not advised.
Koyasan
Koyasan, a sacred mountain near Osaka, is a particular sort of destination, because it is home to a great many Buddhist temples.
What makes those temples unusual is that most of them let you stay the night.
Spend a night in the austere comfort of a temple and take a traditional dinner and breakfast of “shojin ryori”, the vegetarian cooking of the monks. Sit in on the prayers the next morning. It puts a long distance between you and the ordinary.
One night at Koyasan is enough to experience its monasteries and see the places that matter most:
- Okunoin Temple.
- Garan.
Kamakura
A former capital of Japan, Kamakura sits less than two hours by train from Tokyo, carries real cultural weight, and stands on the sea. It is a good place to walk, and the sunsets are worth waiting for.
The city is easy to see from Tokyo.
Things to do:
- Go and see its Great Buddha.
- Walk its beaches at sunset.
- Hasedera temple.
- Hachimangu shrine.
Kanazawa
A little under two hours from Kyoto and around 2h30 from Tokyo, Kanazawa is the samurai city of Japan. It keeps a good deal from the Edo era and is prized for its districts, which have held on to the spirit of the samurai.
Its cultural inheritance runs deep too: the city is nicknamed “little Kyoto”.
Some ideas for a stop in the city:
- Kanazawa Castle and Gyokuseninmaru garden.
- Higashi Chaya District.
- Oyama shrine.
A note
You want to organise your own trip to Japan, but you are not sure of the best route and would rather not deal with all the technical detail. We handle it. Get in touch if you would like to know more.
