The Golden Route#
An itinerary hitting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka is often called the “Golden Route” due to its dense selection of excellent tourist destinations. As a result, it also has the best tourist infrastructure, including workers at cafes and hotels that are the most acclimated to dealing with non-Japanese-speaking customers. It’s a great choice for a first-timer.
Here’s how I like to arrange it:
Coming from America, you’ll necessarily be flying into Tokyo. Spend a few days here - see Asakusa, the Skytree, etc.
Then, take the shinkansen to Kyoto. Plan to stay here for 5-7 days. Day trip from here to see Osaka and Nara.
Then take the shinkansen back to Tokyo, and spend your last few days there shopping and seeing any remaining sights. If you do your shopping in the first stay in Tokyo, you have to haul it around for the rest of the trip, so leave some time at the tail end.
Stuff to do#
Notable attractions not covered in this itenerary#
There are more things to do and see in Japan than you could ever hope for, so you’ll have to make some hard cuts. Here’s some notable things that I didn’t include, that you might want to think about subbing in:
Kyoto#
- To-ji temple. It’s where the huge pagoda near Kyoto Station is. It’s an iconic part of Kyoto’s skyline, and I still haven’t gotten around to visiting.
- Kyoto Railway Museum. It’s supposed to have a great collection, and I’m interested, but it’s never made the cut.
- Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It’s crowded, and on the other side of Kyoto from where I stay. But it’s supposed to be a cool place to visit, so look into it!
- Fushimi Inari shrine. It’s massively popular for a reason. The “thousand” crimson torii gates leading up to the shrine’s main building are iconic. Expect to wade through large crowds unless you’re there very early, or very late.
- Heian Jingu. As seen in “Around the World in 80 Days”. It’s “only” 130 years old, so why even bother? It is, however, right next to the Kyoto Handicraft Center, a convenient place to buy souvenirs. (or at least, it was in 2001 when I was last there)
- Kyoto Gyoen National Garden / Imperial Palace.
The Itineraries#
Day 1: Arrive in Tokyo#
Delta flight 167 gets you to Haneda at about 2pm. You’ll go through baggage claim and customs for an hour or two, depending on the crowd size. Don’t count on getting cell service in this area - I found it essentially unusable, so make sure to screencap your VisitJapan QR code on your phone, or print it off before departing.
Out in the main lobby, there’s a tourist info area with a bunch of guides - they’ll have a badge attached to their nametag if they speak English. They can help if you’re not sure where to go next.
You’ll want to get your train card here - there’s a bank of machines for this on the left side, opposite the tourist info helpers. The train card machines can be switched to English, and there’s usually a guide nearby that can help navigate it.
There are three options for getting to your hotel:
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Train: Your hotel is probably near enough to a major station, so if you don’t have too much luggage to carry, just take the train. By the time you get there, the trains may be getting crowded with the evening rush hour. For example, I usually stay in Akihabara at a place near the station, so I take the Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho Station, then change to the Yamanote Line for the rest of the way. The Monorail’s primary purpose is serving the airport, so the trains have more luggage room. Try to catch the Express if you can, though - the Local is often crowded with locals during commuting hours.
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Airport Limousine Bus: These are greyhound-type busses that run prescheduled routes, generally connecting the airport to some of the major locales in the city. I tried to use this, but got told that the bus to Akihabara wasn’t running, so I can’t really vouch for it.
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Taxi: You can always fall back on a taxi. They’re not too expensive in Japan, and depending on the number of people and your luggage, it might be a good option. The drivers don’t always speak english, but if you tell them the name of the hotel + part of town, they’ll probably get it. You can also pull it up on your phone to show them, or print out the name + address beforehand.
Most hotels I’ve used either had someone on staff who speaks a little english, or an automated checkin kiosk with multi-language support. You’ll need to show them the passports for everyone in your party - they’ll take them to make photocopies for their records. This has apparently been standard practice since at least the 1800’s.
Day 2: Tsukiji Outer Market, Senso-ji, Fukagawa Edo Museum#
Tsukiji Outer Market is best hit first thing in the morning - it gets crowded pretty fast, starting around 9-9:30. Get some breakfast sushi here!
Senso-ji temple is also best done first thing to avoid the crowds, but it’s also fairly convenient to get to from Tsukiji. I just suffered the crowds. The huge shopping street in front of the temple has been a tourist trap for hundreds of years, so doing at least some window shopping with a few thousand of your fellow tourists is traditional.
I used the afternoon to visit the Fukagawa Edo Museum. It’s a relatively small museum with a full-size replica of a block of houses from the feudal era inside the museum. You can take off your shoes and walk up in some of them. Also, the business ledger and abacus they let us touch turned out to be actual feudal antiques, so be careful! They have some english-speaking docents.
I hear the Fukagawa area is home to a lot of high-end coffee shops these days. I didn’t know that at the time, but would check one out next time!
Day 3: Museums? Tokyo Skytree?#
What are you into? Go do it! Maybe
Day 4: Train To Kyoto#
Get up in the morning, check out of your hotel, and catch a shinkansen to Kyoto. It’s a 2:14 ride, so if you leave by 9am, you can be checked in to your hotel by 12-1pm, then go have lunch.
I suggest noodles at Kukuchian, near Nijo Castle, then spend the afternoon touring the castle.
Day 5: Higashiyama area#
See some of the iconic ancient temples of Kyoto.
Day 6: Day Trip to Nara#
See the big buddha statue of Todai-ji temple, and the deer in Nara Deer Park. Nara is chock full of historic Buddhist temples. The National Museum in Nara is even dedicated to Buddhist sculpture through history.
Day 7: Day Trip to Osaka#
See the famous Ebisu Bridge, crowded with folks visiting the huge number of restaurants and food stalls.
You’ll definitely want to have takoyaki and okonomiyaki - they’re famously originally from Osaka.
Day 8: Kinkaku-ji#
Kinkaku-ji is arguably the most famous temple in Kyoto (definitely top 3). It’s a little out of the way from the city center - you’ll probably take a bus out there.
I suggest hitting Kinkaku-ji, then take a bus up to Kamigamo Jinja, claimed to be the oldest (existing) Shinto shrine. In Kyoto at least, and maybe the country, at approximately 2000 years old, it’s certainly got a competitive claim.
Alternatively, visit the Hoshu-in Bonsai Garden, next to Daitoku-ji Temple - I haven’t visited, but they’re on my list for next time. They’re also not too far from the Tomb of Murasaki Shikibu, author of the Tale of Genji, the world’s first novel.
Another interesting sub-itinerary is to visit shrines pacifying two of Japan’s “3 Great Onryo”. An onryo is a vengeful spirit, and two of the three are enshrined nearby:
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Kitano Tenman-gu is the main Tenmangu shrine for Kyoto. It was built 1000 years ago to protect Kyoto from the vengeful spirit of Sugawara Michizane, a poet and politician who was exiled by his political rivals. As a renouned scholar, his shrined are visited in the modern day by students to pray for success on their exams. His main shrine is in his hometown of Dazaifu, in Kyushu, but there are major Tenmangu shrines all over Japan, serving the needs of students worried about thier studies.
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Shiramine Jingu is dedicated to the veneration of Emperors Junnin and Sutoku. Emperor Sutoku was the 75th emperor of Japan, and was forced to abdicate and exiled. He dedicated himself to copying Buddhist scriptures, but the offering was rejected by the court. At this, he bit his tongue, and wrote curses using his own blood. The capital fell into chaos until his spirit was pacified by the construction of shrines for his veneration. Nowadays, the shrine venerating him is in the back-right corner of the grounds of Shiramine Jingu, as a little sub-shrine. The main focus of worship at this shrine is Seidai Myojin, popularly considered the god of sports - especially ball sports like soccer.
(the third of the great onryo is Taira no Masakado, who rebelled against the central govenment. He was defeated in battle, but his spirit continued to rage on. His main shrine is Kanda Myojin Shrine, near Akihabara in Tokyo)
Another alternative from Kinkaku-ji is to head west, and visit Ryoan-ji and Ninna-ji. They’re both walking distance from Kinkaku-ji, then you could take the buss back to whatever you plan to do next.
Day 9: Do more stuff in Kyoto#
I used this day as a planned rest day. We shipped most of our baggage to our Tokyo hotel, then checked into a ryokan in Kyoto for the night. We stayed at Yuzuya, next to Yasaka shrine. Since checkin isn’t till 3pm or so, we chose to walk from our previous hotel, then dropped our small bags at the ryokan before heading out to walk around this side of Kyoto. We had a lunch of yoshoku - Japanized western food. The hambagu and omurice were excellent, but we regetted eating at all - the kaiseki dinner at the Yuzuya was massive (and delicious, if you like fish).
Alternatively, return to Tokyo today if there’s more stuff you want to do there.
Day 10: Return to Tokyo#
Day 11: Day trip to Kamakura#
Kamakura is home to another famous big buddha statue, this one made of bronze. It used to be inside a temple building, but that was washed away by a tsunami in 1498. Do this trip early - there will be a mighty crowd on the local train to Kotoku-in if you arrive midday or later. Consider visitng nearby Hase-dera temple while you’re in the area - it’s a beautiful temple, and much less crowded.
Taking the local Enoshima train further down, you can visit Enoshima Island. It’s beautiful, but very popular and thus very crowded. If you’re there during peak season, be prepared to wait, or buy a numbered ticket and wait.
If you’re in the market for a kitchen knife, consider buying one in Kamakura. Masamune XXV continues his 700-year-old family traditional blade store at Masamune Sword and Blade. The knife I bought there is beautiful, extremely sharp, and handmade by a famous bladesmith.