Region

Kanto

Sleep in one Tokyo area for the whole stay; Kamakura, Nikko and Hakone are day-trips, not bed changes.

Open Tokyo Plan a trip

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Key facts · Japan

Best months: Oct–May
Visa: Depends on your passport
Currency: Yen (JPY)
Language: Japanese
Plugs: A · B · 100 V
Time zone: UTC+9 all year

Month by month here

Rules in force · 5

East Asia ↗Every border in East Asia is a full international border, Hong Kong and Macau included: an entry permission for one never covers the next.
East Asia ↗Ferries between Korea, Japan and China cancel in rough seas and typhoons; keep a flight or a spare day behind every sea leg.
Japan ↗IC cards (ICOCA/Suica) are topped up with cash at station machines.
Japan ↗Smoking while walking is banned in most city centres; use designated areas.
Japan ↗Shinkansen bags 160–250 cm (L+W+H) need a seat reserved with the oversized-baggage area.

Tokyo is not one city to "cover"; it is twenty walkable districts on a rail loop. Pick a bed on the Yamanote line near your airport's rail hub, run one district per half-day, and keep day-trips to places with a train back well before the last one.

Where to sleep

5 places in this region

Sleep base

TokyoTrip line
Shinjuku for HND + nightlife, Ueno for NRT + museums.
Best Oct–May
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Tokyo →

One or two nights

HakoneCity guide
Better as one night with forwarded bags.
Best Apr–May, Oct–Feb
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Hakone →

Day trip

KamakuraCity guide
Temples and coast; one hour from Tokyo.
Best Mar–May, Oct–Nov
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Kamakura →
NikkoCity guide
Long day; start before 08:00.Long day; start before 8:00 AM.
Best May–Jun
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Nikko →
Mount Fuji & HakoneExcursion
Best Oct–Apr
JFMAMJJASOND
Open Mount Fuji & Hakone →

Plan the nights

How to split the nights, day-trips and what to do with your bags

Open Plan the nightsClose Plan the nights3 partsNights · Day-trips · Bags

Night sequences

3 nights: Tokyo 3, no day-trips
5 nights: Tokyo 5 with Kamakura as a day-trip
7 nights: Tokyo 5 + Hakone 1 + buffer

Tokyo + Nikko + Hakone in 4 days leaves no Tokyo.
Changing hotels between Shinjuku and Asakusa costs a half-day.

Day-trips door to door

To	From	Door-to-door p50	Last return	Note
Kamakura	Tokyo	65 min	unknown	Weekends crowded; go on a weekday.
Nikko	Tokyo	130 min	unknown	Shrines close late afternoon.
Hakone	Tokyo	100 min	unknown	Loop takes a full day; weather-dependent views.

Bags between cities

Forward bags Tokyo → Kyoto/Osaka the day before the Shinkansen; arrival is usually next day.

When to go

Months and weather

Open When to goClose When to go1 partSeasons

Seasons at a glance

From each city's month table

Pick a month to see where to go.

Only good-now countries

Show all 12 months, country by countryHide the 12-month table

Country	JJan	FFeb	MMar	AApr	MMay	JJun	JJul	AAug	SSep	OOct	NNov	DDec
Tokyo	go	go	go	go	go	ok	ok	×	ok	go	go	go
Hakone	go	go	ok	go	go	ok	ok	×	ok	go	go	go
Kamakura	×	ok	go	go	go	×	ok	ok	ok	go	go	ok
Nikko	×	×	ok	ok	go	go	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok
Mount Fuji & Hakone	go	go	go	go	ok	ok	ok	ok	ok	go	go	go
Japan (country-wide)	go	go	go	ok	go	ok	ok	ok	ok	go	go	go

Go: the good monthsFair: workable, mixedPoor: heat, rain or hazeAvoid: storms, floods, closuresno data yet

Computed from each country’s own data; hover a country name for the source. Advisory countries are left out.

Eat and move on

Regional food and where to go next

Open Eat and move onClose Eat and move on1 partGo next

Go next

Other regions of the country

Kansai

5–8 nights

Kyoto/Osaka base, Nara day-trip

Chūbu / Hokuriku

planned

2–4 nights

Kanazawa, Takayama, the Alps

Chūgoku

planned

1–2 nights

Hiroshima + Miyajima

Hokkaidō

planned

4–7 nights

Sapporo, winter and summer trips

Kyūshū

planned

3–5 nights

Fukuoka, onsen towns

Kanto: what we know, and what is coming

5 of 5 places open

On this page

5 places with their role: where to sleep, what to do as a day trip
How to split 3 or 5 or 7 nights
3 day trips with door-to-door time
Seasons month by month, from the cities’ own tables
What to do with the big bag between beds

Coming as the guide grows

Climate strip by zone, with the storm and haze months
Get in: airports and stations with door-to-door times
Regional passes and cards, with a buy / skip verdict
Regional food: what, where and when it works

Meanwhile

Planning aids

Built from this guide's own data

Open Planning aidsClose Planning aids3 partsIn numbers · Trips here · Local time

Region in numbers

Where to sleep: 1 base
Day trips: 3, 1 h 5 to 2 h 10
Nights suggested: 3–7 nights

Trips that stop here

From the Japan guide

First trip, 7 nights
3 nights here
tokyo → kyoto → osaka
First trip, 10 nights
4 nights here
tokyo → kyoto → osaka
Tokyo and Kansai
7 days · 3 nights here
Tokyo → Kyoto → Osaka
The classic first trip
10 days · 3 nights here
Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka
Add the Sea of Japan and the west
14 days · 4 nights here
Tokyo → Kanazawa → Kyoto → Hiroshima → Osaka
Alps, temples and Kyūshū
21 days · 4 nights here
Tokyo → Nikkō → Kanazawa → Takayama → Kyoto → Kōya-san → Osaka → Hiroshima → Fukuoka

All Japan trips →

Local time

What time it is there now, compared with the clock on your device.

Tokyo
…
Checking your clock…Asia/Tokyo

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