Twenty days in Japan, part 1: Tokyo, Kamakura, and Mt Fuji

We spent twenty days looping Japan in late March, planned around one bet: that cherry-blossom season would be worth building a trip on. It was. This series is the write-up we’d hand a friend planning the same trip — the route, how to get to each place, what it costs, and an honest rating for everything: ★★★★★ means don’t skip it, ★★★★★ means only if it’s on your way.

Part 1 of 3 — the trip plan, then Tokyo. Also see part 2: Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Himeji and part 3: Kyoto, Kanazawa, and an onsen town. Photos are CC-licensed from Wikimedia Commons — credits in each caption.

The plan: one loop, three bases

We travelled 14 March – 2 April 2024, dates pinned to the blossom forecast. Three bases — Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto — carry eighteen of the nineteen nights; day trips radiate out from each, and the Shinkansen does the heavy lifting in between.

What it cost — all franc figures are for two people. Flights from Europe, nineteen nights, rail, food, and every ticket came to roughly 9,500 francs for the two of us. The JR Pass, bought online before flying, paid for itself on this loop and saved ~80 € per person over buying it in Japan. Yen prices in the day sections are per person.

Where we slept

Every bed of the trip — booked early for blossom season, all prices for two. The fine print: after the Kinosaki night we based the Uji and Kibune days in Osaka, where beds ran well under Kyoto prices.

Days 1–2: Tokyo — land, walk, repeat

★★★★★ · Base: Shinjuku, a short walk from the JR loop — airport train, Fuji buses, and late-night food all on the doorstep.

The first evening is jet-lag theatre, so spend it where crowds are the attraction. Day 2 is the pre-booked one.

• Shibuya crossing at dusk ★★★★★ · free — with an I’m Donut? in hand, then Kabukichō’s neon on the walk home.
• teamLab ★★★★★ · ~¥3,800 — book weeks ahead; morning slots are calmer. Vegan Ramen UZU for lunch is inside the venue.
• Meiji Jingū ★★★★★ · free — the forest walk in from Harajuku resets your nervous system.
• Conveyor-belt sushi (Uobei, Kura, Sushirō) ★★★★★ · ~¥1,500 — cheap, fast, and exactly the right amount of silly. Raw fish after a long flight sounds wrong? Kushiya Monogatari does fry-them-yourself skewers.
• Golden Gai ★★★★★ · drinks, small cover in some bars — six alleys of matchbox bars seating six to ten people. Pick whichever door feels friendly and commit; we came back on the trip’s final night.

Day 3: Kamakura + Yokohama

★★★★★ · JR from Tokyo, ~1 h, ~¥950 each way — the easiest great day trip in Japan. Yokohama slots onto the route home.

• Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in ★★★★★ · ¥300 — thirteen metres of bronze, sitting in the open air since the hall around it washed away in the fifteenth century. Worth the trip alone.
• Komachi-dōri + Dankazura ★★★★★ · free — street food, and a raised approach that turns into a petal tunnel when the blossoms are out.
• Enoden line ★★★★★ · ~¥200 a hop — the little green tram-train that squeezes between houses, then suddenly runs along the sea.
• Cup Noodles Museum, Yokohama ★★★★★ · ¥500 + ¥500 a cup — design your own cup from a toppings bar; the best cheap souvenir of the trip. Last entry an hour before closing.
• Yokohama Chinatown ★★★★★ — Japan’s largest; dinner here works out perfectly on the way back.

Day 4: old Tokyo, then above it

★★★★★ · All on the metro. Shibuya Sky and the street kart must be booked in advance — see the notes below.

• Sensō-ji at opening ★★★★★ · free — the Kaminarimon lantern, Nakamise street, and a sweet-potato dessert from Imo Pipi. Go early; by mid-morning the approach is a river of people.
• Street kart through Shibuya ★★★★★ · ~¥12,000 — in costume, through real traffic. We regret nothing. Needs an international driving permit or an official licence translation.
• Shibuya Sky at sunset ★★★★★ · ~¥2,500 online — book roughly an hour before sundown: daylight, golden hour, and the city switching its lights on, all in one ticket. Sold out? The Tokyo Metropolitan Government observatory is free and nearly as good.
• 100-yen stores, then karaoke ★★★★★ — Daiso, Seria, or Can Do: the country’s best souvenir shopping hides in plain sight. And there is always a booth nearby.

Day 5: Mt Fuji, the hard-earned way

★★★★★ · Highway bus from Shinjuku, ~2 h, ~¥2,300 (or the Fuji Excursion train). The mountain is shy — check the visibility forecast the night before and keep this day flexible; a clouded-in Fuji day is better spent in Tokyo.

• Chūreitō Pagoda ★★★★★ · free — the postcard shot: snow cone, red pagoda, blossoms. It sits ~400 steps above Shimoyoshida station, and every one is paid back at the top.
• Lake Kawaguchi ★★★★★ · sightseeing-bus day pass — a short local train from the pagoda, then viewpoints around the lake.
• Hōtō lunch ★★★★★ · ~¥1,500 — flat udon in a miso-pumpkin stew, sized for people who just climbed 400 steps. Non-negotiable.

Before you fly: part 1 notes

• Book ahead: teamLab and Shibuya Sky sell out days to weeks out. The kart paperwork takes two weeks — the licence translation can be ordered online and printed at any 7-Eleven. Everything else in Tokyo tolerates spontaneity.
• Buy the JR Pass online before you land — seat reservations from your phone, and ~80 € per person cheaper than buying in Japan. Run your route through a fare calculator; for this loop it paid off.
• Buy a stamp book on day one — nearly every station and sight has a free ink stamp (eki stamps). Collecting them costs nothing, and the book ends up the best souvenir you bring home.
• Tokyo eat-list we’d defend: Centre the Bakery (Ginza, breakfast) · Ginza Hachigō (Michelin-starred ramen — take a lunch ticket in the morning) · Motoyoshi Imo (Shibuya, tempura sweet potato with soft serve) · Kailaku (Ikebukuro, giant gyoza) · Tensuke (Kōenji, legendary tempura lunch — lunch hours only, expect a line).

Next: part 2 — the Shinkansen south to Osaka, Nara’s bowing deer, Hiroshima, and Himeji in bloom.