Day by day
Each day is written to balance structure with breathing room. Named hotels, named meals, named activities; logistics noted where they matter.
Day 1
Arrive Tokyo · Shibuya and Ebisu
Land at Haneda or Narita, take the Limousine Bus or Narita Express to Shibuya, and spend the first evening walking. The scramble crossing, a standing-counter sushi dinner in Ebisu, and an 11 p.m. pastry from the 7-Eleven you'll come to love.
Stay:Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel or Trunk House · Shibuya base, walkable everything for day 1
- ◆Shibuya Scramble + Shibuya Sky observation deck
- ◆Standing sushi at Uogashi Nihon-Ichi (Shibuya) — Walk-in; under ¥2,500 for a serious 10-piece
- ◆Ebisu backstreet yokocho for a late drink
Logistics: Haneda → Shibuya: 45 min (Limousine Bus ¥1,200) · Narita → Shibuya: 90 min (N'EX ¥3,250)
Day 2
Tokyo · Asakusa morning, Tsukiji lunch, Ginza evening
Go east for the temple morning. Senso-ji at 7 a.m. is the right version of it. Lunch at the outer Tsukiji market (inner market moved to Toyosu, but Tsukiji is still the better experience), then Ginza for the afternoon and a teishoku dinner in a basement you'd never find alone.
- ◆Senso-ji at 7 a.m. — The only time it is actually empty
- ◆Tsukiji outer market lunch
- ◆TeamLab Planets (Toyosu) — book 1 week ahead
- ◆Dinner at Kagari or Ginza Sato Yosuke (udon/ramen counter)
Day 3
Tokyo · Harajuku, Yoyogi, Shinjuku
A softer west-Tokyo day. Meiji Shrine first, Yoyogi Park to breathe, Harajuku for the shopping stereotype, then Shinjuku for the neon-at-night cliche that is actually that good. Dinner is yakitori or standing-counter whisky, depending on energy.
- ◆Meiji Jingu shrine + forest walk
- ◆Yoyogi Park (Sunday: the drummer circles are a must)
- ◆Takeshita Street browsing, then back streets toward Ura-Hara
- ◆Evening at Omoide Yokocho (Shinjuku 'Piss Alley')
Day 4
Shinkansen · Tokyo → Kyoto
Nozomi train from Tokyo to Kyoto is 2h 15min and the single best 2 hours on the JR network. Book a right-side window seat for Mount Fuji between Odawara and Mishima. Arrive Kyoto at lunch, check in, and spend the afternoon in the eastern Higashiyama district.
Stay:Tawaraya or The Thousand Kyoto · Central Kyoto, walkable to Gion
- ◆Kiyomizu-dera at golden hour
- ◆Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka slope streets
- ◆Gion at dusk (respectfully — no photos of geiko)
Logistics: Nozomi Shinkansen Tokyo → Kyoto: 2h 15m · ¥13,920 (covered by Japan Rail Pass)
Day 5
Kyoto · Fushimi Inari and a tea lunch
Fushimi Inari at 6 a.m. — the torii gates in silence are the reason you came. After the hike, take the local Nara line to Nara for the morning (deer, Todai-ji), back to Kyoto for a kaiseki lunch, and the afternoon in the free-admission courtyards of a Zen temple you won't queue for.
- ◆Fushimi Inari sunrise + full 4 km loop
- ◆Nara: Todai-ji and the deer park
- ◆Kaiseki lunch at Giro Giro Hitoshina — Book 1 month ahead; ¥4,500 counter lunch
- ◆Nanzen-ji or Eikan-do afternoon (quieter than Ginkaku-ji)
Day 6
Kyoto · Arashiyama and a last dinner
Take the local train west to Arashiyama for the bamboo grove — get there before 8 a.m. or skip it. Boat on the Hozu River, lunch at a 200-year-old tofu restaurant, and the afternoon at Tenryu-ji. Back to central Kyoto for a final omakase counter.
- ◆Arashiyama bamboo grove before 08:00
- ◆Tenryu-ji temple + garden
- ◆Lunch at Shoraian or Shigetsu (temple-tofu cuisine)
- ◆Dinner at Ajiro (Zen-temple cuisine) or Giro Giro — Both book-only
Day 7
Depart Kyoto (or onward)
Morning for one last temple (Ryoan-ji's rock garden, or Daitoku-ji's quieter sub-temples). Lunch in the Nishiki Market's food hall, then Haruka express train back to Kansai International Airport — or, if you have one more day, a Shinkansen south to Himeji or Hiroshima.
- ◆Ryoan-ji or Daitoku-ji's sub-temples
- ◆Nishiki Market for lunch ('Kyoto's Kitchen')
- ◆Haruka Express Kyoto → KIX: 75 min, ¥3,640
Logistics: Haruka Express to Kansai (KIX): 75 min. Domestic returns to Narita/Haneda via Shinkansen → Tokyo: 2h 15m.
