Japan
Cedar shrines, bullet trains and a country that runs on quiet precision.
Overview
Japan rewards the traveller who slows down. The Shinkansen makes it possible to sleep in a 400-year-old ryokan and eat lunch under Tokyo's neon, but the country's real texture sits in the gaps: a stationmaster bowing to a departing train, a cedar avenue leading to a shrine nobody photographs, the twelve-minute ritual of a neighbourhood bath house.
Things to see and do
Four things worth building an itinerary around, rather than a list of everything.
- 01
Kyoto's eastern hills
Walk Higashiyama from Kiyomizu-dera down to Yasaka at 7am, before the coach parties, while the shopfronts are still shuttered.
- 02
Kanazawa and the Noto coast
Gold-leaf workshops, a garden ranked among Japan's three finest, and a seafood market that has not been prettified.
- 03
The Nakasendō post road
Two days on foot between Magome and Tsumago, sleeping in family-run minshuku, on a highway that predates the shogunate.
- 04
Yakushima
A subtropical island of thousand-year-old cedars and 8,000mm of annual rain, four hours south of Kagoshima by ferry.
When to go
The usable window is Mar–May, Oct–Nov. August is typically the warmest month and November the wettest; the shoulder weeks either side of the peak give you most of the weather at a fraction of the price.
Average temperature and rainfall
Indicative national averages. Mountain and coastal regions vary sharply from these figures.
Getting there and around
International arrivals concentrate on Tokyo, and for most visitors that is the sensible entry point even when it is not the first place you want to be.
Overland
Roads follow the valleys, which means the shortest line on the map is rarely the fastest route. Buses are cheap and slow; a shared car is often the better use of a day.
Local transport
In Tokyo, use the metered taxi or a ride app rather than negotiating at the kerb, and carry small notes — change is a genuine problem in most of the country. Intercity travel is worth booking a day ahead during the Mar–May peak.
Food and drink
Eat where the turnover is fastest. In Japan that usually means the market stalls at lunch and the neighbourhood places that open at seven and stop serving when the pot is empty.
Portions, timings and the position of the main meal in the day all vary from what you are used to. Ask what the kitchen is doing well today rather than reading down the menu, and order what the next table is eating.
Passport and visa
Current position: Visa-free for 70+ nationalities, 90 days.
Most nationalities need a passport valid for six months beyond the date of entry, with at least two blank pages. Onward or return tickets are checked at the gate more often than at the border, and airlines apply the rule more strictly than immigration does.
- Check your own government’s travel advice as well as the destination’s rules — they update at different speeds.
- Where an e-visa or travel authorisation applies, apply through the official government portal. Search results are full of paid intermediaries.
- Keep a photo of your passport page and any approval separately from the documents themselves.
Money and costs
The currency is the Japanese yen (JPY). Card acceptance is normal in cities and patchy outside them; carry enough cash for two days of small purchases at all times.
Rough daily budget
- Budget — hostel, street food, busesUS$38
- Mid-range — guesthouse, restaurants, some taxisUS$88
- Comfortable — hotel, guided days, carUS$413
Per person per day, excluding international flights.
Tipping
Do not tip. It is not expected and can cause embarrassment.
Health and safety
Standard travel advice applies: routine vaccinations up to date, comprehensive insurance that covers the activities you actually intend to do, and a pharmacy plan for the ordinary things rather than the dramatic ones.
- Carry oral rehydration salts. Most travel stomach upsets resolve in a day, and fluid loss is the part that causes trouble.
- Check whether your insurance covers altitude and trekking above 3,000m — many policies exclude it by default.
- Save the local emergency number to your phone on arrival, and note the nearest hospital to where you are staying.
Petty theft in busy tourist areas is the most common problem visitors report. Situational awareness handles nearly all of it.
Culture and etiquette
The official language is Japanese. Learning six words — hello, please, thank you, yes, no, and the number two — changes how a trip goes far more than the effort suggests.
Tipping is not simply unnecessary — it can cause genuine embarrassment. Leave the change.
Compare these dates elsewhere
Places to stay in Tokyo, priced by each site in its own currency.
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City guides in Japan
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