Japan by Rail

Day 1 · Home → Tokyo

Home→Tokyo

Day 2 · Tokyo

Day 3 · Tokyo

Day 4 · Tokyo → Kanazawa

Land at Haneda, pick up the JR Pass voucher exchange at the station office before the queues build.

Blossoms should be near peak along the Meguro River — go at dusk when the paper lanterns come on.

Tsukiji outer market for breakfast, then Ueno Park for hanami under the cherry tunnel.

Tokyo→Kanazawa

Day 5 · Kanazawa → Kyoto

Kenroku-en garden at opening, then the gold-leaf ice cream in Higashi Chaya district.

Kanazawa→Kyoto

Day 6 · Kyoto

Day 7 · Kyoto

Day 8 · Kyoto

Day 9 · Kyoto

Day 10 · Kyoto → Hakone

Base yourself near the Kamo river. Fushimi Inari is best before 8am, before the tour buses.

Day trip to Nara — the deer bow for shika senbei crackers; Todai-ji's Great Buddha is worth the walk.

Day trip to Arashiyama: bamboo grove early, then the Sagano scenic railway and Tenryu-ji's garden.

Day trip to Osaka for Dotonbori street food — takoyaki, kushikatsu, and the Glico running man at night.

Gion in the evening for the lantern-lit lanes; *book kaiseki dinner well ahead* if you want a machiya restaurant.

Kyoto→Hakone

Day 11 · Hakone → ON THE TRAIN

Ride the Hakone loop: pirate ship across Lake Ashi, then the ropeway over the Owakudani sulphur vents.

Stay in a ryokan with an open-air onsen — Fuji shows herself on clear mornings.

Hakone→Tokyo

Tokyo→Sapporo

Day 12 · ON THE TRAIN → Sapporo

Day 13 · Sapporo

Day 14 · Sapporo → Home

Sleeper up north — wake to Hokkaido. Ramen at Sapporo's Ramen Alley, miso broth thick against the cold.

Day trip to Otaru for the canal and the sushi counters; the snow lingers late this far north.

Sapporo→Home