Day 1Fri · Oct 9
Arrive Haneda, settle in
Train to the Tokyo base and unpack at your own speed. An easy first dinner in the neighborhood izakaya, no plans, no map, just the corner you’ll come to know.
Arrival, Tokyo鳥居 · torii
Preparing…
AN ILLUSTRATIVE TRIP · THE SHIORI BOOKLET FORMAT
Fictional travelers and estimated costs. No bookings are confirmed. Hotel and dinner names are omitted from this public sample.
You live in Japan instead of commuting through it. Two long bases bookended around one ryokan night, and a pace that leaves you rested, not relieved.
Both around $6,000 to $6,500 for two, flights on points, both built around living in Japan instead of commuting through it. This booklet builds the recommended shape; say the word and we build the other instead.
The classic spine, taken slowly
You wanted to feel like you lived there. Five nights a city earns you a regular coffee place by day three.
One night in Hakone is short, and a low cloud may hide Fuji. The ryokan dinner and bath are worth it anyway.
Two bases, slower still
If unpacking twice instead of three times is the real luxury, this is your trip.
You give up the ryokan night, the mountain morning, and the chance of Fuji over the lake.
If you find two more days: slide an old castle town on the far coast between Tokyo and Kyoto. A morning seafood market, gardens that earn their reputation, streets that empty by dusk. Adds ~$700 and one more move, and it is the part you would tell people about for years.
Train to the Tokyo base and unpack at your own speed. An easy first dinner in the neighborhood izakaya, no plans, no map, just the corner you’ll come to know.
Senso-ji and Asakusa early, then Yanaka’s lanes in the afternoon and a sunset over the city.
A 10:00 entry into teamLab Planets, then a Toyosu market lunch and the waterfront. Evening free in Shibuya.
Meiji Jingu and Harajuku in the morning, Shimokitazawa’s second-hand streets in the afternoon. Coffee, records, no museum.
Stay in Tokyo for Shinjuku and a quiet last dinner. If Nikko is a priority, give it a full day and replace the city plans rather than trying to fit both.
Take a morning Romancecar to Hakone. Choose the open-air museum or the lake and ropeway route to suit the weather. Leave time for ryokan check-in, an onsen soak, and dinner at the time confirmed by your stay.
If the sky is clear, the Fuji morning the whole trip turns on. Then a midday shinkansen from Odawara to Kyoto, with the exact service chosen when booking. Into the Kyoto base by mid-afternoon, Gion at dusk.
Fushimi Inari before 8:00, while the gates are still empty. Tofuku-ji, then the southern Higashiyama walk down to Kiyomizu. Dinner along Pontocho.
Arashiyama before it fills: the bamboo grove, the Tenryu-ji garden, the Sagano lanes. Back into town for the afternoon, then an evening along the Kamo river.
A day trip to Nara: Todai-ji’s Great Buddha, the deer, and Naramachi’s old merchant streets. Back to Kyoto for dinner.
Ginkaku-ji, the Philosopher’s Path, and Nanzen-ji’s aqueduct. A last bit of shopping at Nishiki, then the farewell kaiseki at 19:00, counter seats.
Travel from Kyoto to Kansai International Airport for your flight home, connecting if your award routing requires it. Choose your train after the flight is confirmed and allow the airline’s full international check-in margin. This sample assumes a Kansai departure, not a return flight from Tokyo.
That’s twelve days, three bases, two kaiseki nights, one Fuji morning.
You lived in it.
No reservations have been made for this fictional trip. Confirm flights and accommodation first, then timed entries, dinner, and trains. Lodging and dinner venues are omitted from this public illustration; your own brief includes named picks and booking details.
Point-to-point is cheaper than the pass for this route, so that’s how it’s set. In the cities you walk; the cord between them is rail.
Illustrative estimates for two, not live quotes. Award seats, points, taxes, and prices vary. Shiori planning fee is separate.
A note from your planner
This is the version I’d send my own family on. The pace is the point, you’ll come home rested, not relieved. Anything you want moved, tell me and I’ll re-cut it.
Every brief is built to order: your dates, your pace, your booking details and next steps. You place the bookings. Tell us about your trip and this booklet becomes yours.
Start your brief