Your first week in Japan: Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka

The national museum in Ueno Park. The ¥1,000 ticket is for the collection galleries. At busy times the museum itself recommends buying online: the queue at the main-gate ticket window can pass thirty minutes.

Hours9:30–17:00, Fridays and Saturdays to 20:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing; closed Mondays (open on a Monday holiday, closed the next weekday) · tnm.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

Plan BClosed on Mondays: start the week on another day, or swap day 1 and day 2.

Tokyo's great temple in Asakusa. The main hall keeps its own hours; come in by the Kaminarimon gate.

HoursMain hall 6:00–17:00 (from 6:30, October to March) · senso-ji.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

The shrine is open every day and entry is free. Its gates follow the sun, so the hours change month by month.

HoursSunrise to sunset: 5:20–17:20 in September, 5:40–16:40 in October, 6:10–16:10 in November · meijijingu.or.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

The palace's East Gardens are open to the public with no ticket and no booking.

Hours9:00–17:00 in September, 9:00–16:30 in October, 9:00–16:00 November to February, last entry 30 minutes before; closed Mondays and Fridays · kunaicho.go.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

Plan BClosed on Mondays and Fridays: then give the morning to Ginza, as on day 3 of the Tokyo route.

The highest station of the Hakone Ropeway, over a valley of steam that was once called Hell Valley; on a clear day Mount Fuji and Lake Ashi are in view. Next to the station they sell black eggs, boiled in the hot spring until the shell turns black: four for ¥500 in Jalan's listing.

HoursRopeway station 9:00–17:00, stopped in bad weather; the egg shop 9:00–16:30 · Jalan, as of 31 Jul 2025

You arrive by the pirate ship: three of them cross Lake Ashi, two modelled on old French and British flagships, and the pass covers the crossing (without it Jalan lists ¥1,200 one way). The shrine was founded in 757, up an approach of cedars more than six hundred years old, and from the Moto-Hakone shore the view takes in Mount Fuji, the lake and the shrine's torii. Entry is free; the treasure hall is ¥500.

HoursOpen to visit at all hours; amulet office 8:30–17:00, treasure hall 9:00–16:00 · Jalan, as of 31 Jul 2025 · may have changed

The end of day four. The Hikari from Odawara is ¥12,100 on JR Central's smartEX, reserved seat, regular season; the table gives ¥200 off in the quiet seasons and up to ¥400 more in the busiest. Tomorrow starts from here.

The rock garden: white sand and fifteen stones, set so that from no single place can you see all fifteen at once.

Hours8:00–17:00 March to November, 8:30–16:30 December to February · Jalan, as of 3 Sep 2026

The wooden stage juts from the main hall over the city, built without nails; walk on to the Otowa waterfall, which gave the temple its name.

Hours6:00–18:00; the closing time changes with the season · Jalan, as of 3 Sep 2026

The temple founded at Emperor Shomu's wish in the Nara period, below Mount Wakakusa. The Great Buddha inside is 14.98 metres tall; the hall around it has been rebuilt twice, keeping nearly its first height and depth. Each hall charges its own entry, cash only.

HoursGreat Buddha Hall 7:30–17:30 April to October, 8:00–17:00 November to March; open every day unless a ceremony or an emergency closes it · todaiji.or.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

A World Heritage shrine beside Nara Park, its halls first built in 768; the main sanctuary is a National Treasure. Lanterns have been given to the shrine since the Heian period, and about 3,000 are lit on the evening of Setsubun and on 14 and 15 August. The grounds are free; the inner sanctuary is ¥700.

Hours6:30–17:30 March to October, 7:00–17:00 November to February · Jalan, as of 16 Mar 2026

Nara's old town, spread over the former grounds of Gango-ji: townhouses from the Edo period to the early Showa years, many now small museums, restaurants and shops. Deer often walk the streets here too.

HoursA town district; the shops keep their own hours · Jalan, as of 16 Mar 2026

Minami's canal street: theatres in the Edo period, restaurants now, under giant signs of crabs, octopus and dumplings. The famous billboards face Ebisubashi bridge, and the Tombori River Walk follows the water below.

HoursA public street; the shops keep their own hours · Jalan, as of 4 Mar 2026

The keep standing now is the third, rebuilt in 1931, and it is a museum of Hideyoshi and the castle's history, with a lookout 50 metres up over the city. It is about twenty minutes on foot from Osakajokoen station through the park. The castle sells tickets in advance online.

Hours9:00–18:00, last entry 17:30; closed 28 December to 1 January · Jalan, as of 4 Mar 2026

Shinsekai's tower, 108 metres tall: the first was built in 1912, this one in 1956. Since April 2026 an adult ticket is ¥1,500 and every ticket comes with an entry time. The tower suggests buying online the day before, because tickets can sell out in the evening.

Hours9:00–21:45, last entry 21:15 · tsutenkaku.co.jp, checked 25 Sep 2026

The Pacific Rim aquarium: about 620 species, seen on a spiral walk down from the eighth floor around one great tank, where the whale shark swims. From 17:00 the lights and music turn to the night sea. The price changes with the day: Jalan lists an adult from ¥2,700, and the aquarium's own calendar gives each day's figure.

HoursUsually 10:00–20:00, last entry an hour before closing; the hours change by the day · Jalan, as of 4 Mar 2026; kaiyukan.com, checked 25 Sep 2026