Two weeks in Japan: the classic route, honestly paced
The classic first-timer route — Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima — fits two weeks beautifully if you resist the urge to add more. Thirteen nights, four bases, one ryokan night. Here's the split and the rail maths as they actually stand in 2026.
The nights split
| Nights | Base | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Tokyo | The city needs every one of them, plus a day trip (Kamakura or Nikko) |
| 1 | Hakone | Ryokan night: onsen, kaiseki dinner, Fuji views if the weather cooperates |
| 4 | Kyoto | Temples in the margins of the day, Nara as a day trip |
| 3 | Osaka | Food, nightlife, and Hiroshima + Miyajima as a long shinkansen day trip |
Why Osaka as the final base rather than Hiroshima overnight? The 90-minute shinkansen makes Hiroshima a comfortable day trip, and finishing in Osaka puts you next to KIX for the flight home — no backtracking (the open-jaw principle: fly into Tokyo, home from Osaka).
The rail pass maths changed — do the sums
Since the big price rise in late 2023, the nationwide 14-day JR Pass costs more than the point-to-point tickets for this route. Tokyo→Odawara + Odawara→Kyoto + Kyoto→Osaka + Osaka→Hiroshima return comes to roughly ¥40,000; the 14-day pass is ¥80,000. Unless you're criss-crossing the country, buy individual shinkansen tickets (SmartEX app or station machines) and put the difference into one great dinner. Regional passes (e.g. JR Kansai–Hiroshima) can still pay off for the western leg — check just that segment.
Kyoto without the crush
Kyoto's headline sights are genuinely oversubscribed at midday. The fix is rhythm, not avoidance: Fushimi Inari at 7am is a different mountain from Fushimi Inari at noon; Arashiyama's bamboo grove works at dawn, not after breakfast. Plan one marquee sight per morning, then let afternoons be neighbourhoods — Gion, Nishiki market, the Philosopher's Path — where crowds spread out.
What to book ahead (and how far)
- Flights + first hotels — Japan's peaks (cherry blossom late March–April, Golden Week early May, autumn leaves November) fill hotels months out.
- The ryokan — good Hakone ryokan with private onsen sell out 2–3 months ahead in season.
- Ghibli Museum, Shibuya Sky sunset slots, teamLab — all timed tickets that release and vanish; set a reminder for the release date.
- Shinkansen seats — only need booking days (not weeks) ahead, except around Golden Week and New Year.
Two habits that make Japan easy
- Get an IC card in Apple Wallet (Suica/PASMO) before you land — it pays for metros, buses, konbini and vending machines nationwide.
- Ship your luggage between bases (takkyubin, from any konbini or hotel desk, ~¥2,000 per bag). Riding the shinkansen with only a day bag while your suitcase meets you in Kyoto is the single best logistics trick in Japan.