Things to do in Japan

14 things to do in Japan

Listed in full below. The running order is set by votes and loads with the page.

• Walk Kyoto's Fushimi Inari trail before sunrise

  Follow the torii gates into the forest early enough that the shrine feels quiet and alive.

  Kyoto

• Eat your way through Osaka's Dotonbori

  Try takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and late-night street snacks under the neon signs.

  Osaka

• See Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi

  Spend a clear morning by the lake for one of the classic Fuji views.

  Yamanashi

• Spend a night in a mountain ryokan

  Sleep on tatami, soak in an onsen, and let dinner arrive as a sequence of small surprises.

  Hakone

• Ride the Shinkansen with an ekiben

  Turn a train ride into a ritual: platform timing, boxed lunch, and a window full of countryside.

  Tokyo Station

• Walk through Arashiyama bamboo early

  Reach the grove before the tour buses and keep going toward temples and river paths.

  Kyoto

• Visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

  Make time for the museum, the river, and a quiet walk through the memorial landscape.

  Hiroshima

• Eat sushi at Toyosu Market

  Start the day with fish, rice, and counter seats close to the source.

  Tokyo

• See the snow monkeys at Jigokudani

  Walk into the valley and watch macaques warm up in steaming water.

  Nagano

• Explore Naoshima's art islands

  Move between ferries, museums, outdoor installations, and small Seto Inland Sea villages.

  Naoshima

• Walk through the torii gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha

  Wander beneath thousands of vermilion torii gates snaking up Mount Inari, passing fox statues and small shrines in an otherworldly tunnel of sacred thresholds.

  Kyoto

• Meditate at the moss garden of Saiho-ji (Kokedera)

  Enter Saiho-ji’s sublime green universe of 120 moss varieties, where you sit in silent contemplation beside a serene pond reflecting centuries-old pines.

  Kyoto

• Cross the iconic Shibuya Scramble Crossing

  Step into the kaleidoscope of neon as hundreds crisscross the world’s busiest pedestrian scramble, framed by giant video screens and Tokyo’s unrelenting energy.

  Tokyo

• Explore the historic streets of Gion and spot a geiko

  Stroll lantern-lit cobbled alleys lined with wooden machiya tea houses, where you might glimpse a geiko or maiko on her way to an evening appointment.

  Kyoto