Day 1Thu · 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…
A SAMPLE BRIEF, EXACTLY AS DELIVERED · TABI NO SHIORI · SCROLL TO TURN THE PAGES
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.
A held option: a half-day out to Nikko, or stay in town for Shinjuku and a quiet last Tokyo dinner. We’ll keep it open and call it the morning of.
The Romancecar out at 09:00, then the open-air museum, Owakudani, and Lake Ashi. Ryokan check-in, an onsen soak, and a kaiseki dinner at 18:30.
If the sky is clear, the Fuji morning the whole trip turns on. Then Odawara to Kyoto on the 12:13 shinkansen, Car 7. 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.
No rush. A slow morning, the train to the airport, and home on points, the same way you came.
That’s twelve days, three bases, two kaiseki nights, one Fuji morning.
You lived in it.
Everything else on this trip is walk-up. These five are the ones to lock in: book them in this order and the rest of the days fall into place.
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.
Flights on points · taxes & fees in cash · cash price of the seats, about $8,000 each in peak season
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 reservations written down to the seat number. Tell us about your trip and this booklet becomes yours.
Start your brief