Popular travel plans in Japan

So you’ve decided to come to Japan and will potentially spend hours on the plane at a significant cost. You need to make the most of your time here without spending too much money (Japan is not cheap). Travel within Japan is to be carefully considered due to the length of the country making a time efficient circular trip (to see as much as possible) impractical. If you land in Tokyo (most people do), which way do you go? North? West? Can you do both in your 1 or 2 week holiday?

As most tourists will take advantage of the JR Pass, extra air travel is difficult to justify, especially if you have a family to pay for. In this way, it is a common option to travel by train heading north or west, visiting places on the way. Backpackers who work their way west from Tokyo are a common sight on the Bullet Train

Western Japan Route

The most common route is to travel to the following major cities along the Tokaido Bullet Train. This will easily keep you busy for a week however isn’t the most unique of experiences considering how far you may have come.

There are other options available for travel west that don’t include the usual big stops, or at least give you a bit more variety without too much hassle. The problem is once you are committed to a week of travel, dragging luggage around while trying to enjoy yourself gets difficult. This is why day trips based from a major city are popular; luggage can stay in the hotel. However, as Japan is so long, moving along its length is essential unless you want to camp in Tokyo and go on 2 hour train ride day trips the entire time (there are enough – see the Tokyo only travel plan).

Extended Western Japan Route

An extended western trip takes you north from Tokyo to visit a popular hot springs resort before swooping back south to the more well-known Kyoto and Osaka areas. This is a much more satisfying route however will mean more time spent traveling.

Northern Japan Route

North is a far less common option and the options available within close proximity to the train lines decreases. The route below will take over a week to complete as Nikko and Yamagata are both not on the main Shinkansen line so require side-trips by bus. You can also easily (and should) stay a night in Shiobara Hot Springs and Mount Zao Hot Springs, which will add time. During winter is highly recommended.

The last leg from Sendai to Sapporo is fairly optional. Aomori is quite remote and there isn’t really much there that is easily accessible to a foreign tourist. Hakodate is more attractive and worth a stay overnight, if only to rest after the long train ride up. The leg onto Sapporo is another 4-5 hours due to no Shinkansen line (maybe will open by 2030?) but once you are in Hakodate, flying to Sapporo seems a waste of time. Also it should be considered that Sapporo outside of winter isn’t necessarily a must see. It is perfectly reasonable to only concider a northern Japan trip in late fall (for the autumn leaf season) or March to catch the last of the snow.

Skipping most of Japan and traveling Hokkaido

See the guide here about traveling Hokkaido for the sea ice (late February) or for the Sapporo snow festival (early February). Jumping up to either from Tokyo by air is the only realistic option.