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The Chureito pagoda and Mount Fuji from Arakurayama Sengen Park, Fujiyoshida
A hanging lantern in the vermilion torii tunnel on the Fushimi Inari trail
Visitors wading through the projected koi room at teamLab Planets TOKYO
Tall bamboo stalks lining the path through the Arashiyama grove
The vermilion torii of Itsukushima Shrine standing in the sea at high tide, with Miyajima's wooded hills behind

Things to do in Japan: 23 experiences worth the trip

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Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0

Fushimi, Kyoto

Walk up Fushimi Inari's torii trail before sunrise

Check dates and prices

Photo: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Toyosu, Tokyo

Wade through the water rooms of teamLab Planets

Tours in Japan

Photo: Sasa0403, CC BY-SA 4.0

Arashiyama, Kyoto

Walk Arashiyama's bamboo grove early, then keep going

Check dates and prices

Photo: Basile Morin, CC BY-SA 4.0

Miyajima, Hiroshima

Time the tide for Itsukushima's torii on Miyajima

Check dates and prices

Photo: JordyMeow, CC BY-SA 3.0

Japan rewards planning more than most countries. This list runs from Tokyo's markets, temples and crossing to Kyoto's shrines and moss garden, Osaka's food street, a Hakone ryokan, the Fuji lakes, Nara, Himeji, Hiroshima and Miyajima, the art island of Naoshima, Nagano's snow monkeys and the farmhouses of Shirakawa-go, and each entry says which gate, which hour and which booking actually matter.

Most temples and shrines sell tickets at the door, and several famous sights cost nothing at all. The exceptions run on fixed release dates and timed slots: the Ghibli Museum, the Chichu Art Museum, teamLab Planets, Saiho-ji's moss garden, the Toyosu tuna auction deck and the Tokyo sumo tournaments. Book those first and build the route around them.

Crowds are the other constraint. Kyoto's best-known sights fill by mid morning, so these entries lean on opening hours: Fushimi Inari before sunrise, Arashiyama before the tour groups, Kiyomizu-dera at 6:00. The Japan National Tourism Organization publishes the current entry and tax rules.

23 things to do in Japan

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A hanging lantern in the vermilion torii tunnel on the Fushimi Inari trail

Walk up Fushimi Inari's torii trail before sunrise

Fushimi, Kyoto

2 to 3 hours to the summit and backFree

Climb Mount Inari in the dark under thousands of donated torii: the shrine never closes, charges nothing and the gates are almost yours.

Check dates and pricesEarly-morning guided walk up the torii trail
The Dotonbori canal between sign-covered buildings in Osaka

Eat takoyaki and okonomiyaki along Dotonbori at night

Namba, Osaka

No booking needed

After dark the giant signs light up and Dotonbori's canal street turns into a run of takoyaki stands and okonomiyaki counters.

Tours in Japan
Mount Fuji across Lake Kawaguchi from Oishi Park

Watch Mount Fuji from Lake Kawaguchi's northern shore

Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi

No booking needed

Fuji rising straight across the water, sometimes mirrored in it, from the northern shore of the easiest Fuji lake to reach.

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A ryokan among autumn maples in Hakone

Spend a night in a Hakone ryokan with dinner and an onsen

Hakone, Kanagawa

One night; check-in usually from 15:00Book ahead

A night in a Hakone inn: a multi-course kaiseki dinner in your yukata, a bath before it and a futon laid out after.

Tours in Japan
A Miyagi salmon and roe ekiben bought at Tokyo Station, on a train table

Ride the Shinkansen with an ekiben from Tokyo Station

Tokyo Station

Book ahead

Pick a regional lunch box from more than 150 kinds at Tokyo Station and eat it in your Shinkansen seat.

Tall bamboo stalks lining the path through the Arashiyama grove

Walk Arashiyama's bamboo grove early, then keep going

Arashiyama, Kyoto

Free

Walk a path through swaying bamboo on Kyoto's western edge early, then keep going to a villa garden with matcha included.

Check dates and pricesGuided Arashiyama walk: bamboo, Tenryu-ji, Okochi Sanso
The Atomic Bomb Dome on the bank of the Motoyasu River in Hiroshima

Walk Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park and museum

Hiroshima

Book ahead

Stand on the delta where the atomic bomb exploded on 6 August 1945, then give the museum's stories of individual victims unhurried time.

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Frozen tuna laid out on the auction floor at Toyosu Market

Watch the tuna auction and eat sushi at Toyosu Market

Toyosu, Tokyo

No booking needed

Watch the tuna auction from about 5:30 at the market that replaced Tsukiji, then take a seat at a sushi counter upstairs.

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Two Japanese macaques huddled together at Jigokudani Monkey Park

Watch the snow monkeys bathe at Jigokudani

Yamanouchi, Nagano

About 30 minutes each way on foot, plus time at the poolBook ahead

Wild Japanese macaques come down a steep valley to bathe in a hot spring pool, mainly in winter, to keep warm.

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Naoshima's wooded hills and waterfront seen from the sea

Book the Chichu Art Museum first, then explore Naoshima

Naoshima, Kagawa

Timed entry

A small island in the Seto Inland Sea with museums, many by Tadao Ando, and outdoor works; plan the day around the Chichu.

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Sunlight and tree shadows on the moss carpet at Saiho-ji

Copy a sutra, then walk Saiho-ji's moss garden

Matsuo, Nishikyo, Kyoto

About 60 minutesTimed entry

Copy a sutra in the main hall, then walk the moss garden of a temple that admits small numbers by reservation only.

The Shibuya scramble crossing seen from the Shibuya Sky deck

Cross the Shibuya Scramble, then watch it from above

Shibuya, Tokyo

Free

Cross with the crowd as the lights turn green under neon and giant screens, then watch it from an open-air deck above.

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Teahouses backing onto the willow-lined Shirakawa canal in Gion

Walk Gion's Hanamikoji and Shirakawa, and let the geiko pass

Gion, Kyoto

Free

Walk the preserved machiya and teahouses of Kyoto's best-known geiko district, and the usually quieter willow-lined Shirakawa Canal.

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The Kaminarimon gate of Senso-ji with its red lantern, Asakusa

Walk through the Kaminarimon and Nakamise to Senso-ji

Asakusa, Tokyo

Free

Pass under the giant red lantern of the Kaminarimon and walk a street of snack stalls to Tokyo's oldest temple.

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Visitors wading through the projected koi room at teamLab Planets TOKYO

Wade through the water rooms of teamLab Planets

Toyosu, Tokyo

Timed entry

Leave your shoes in a locker and walk barefoot through rooms where the water rises to knee height, even for adults.

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The ivy-covered building and rooftop of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka

Get into the Ghibli Museum with a ticket bought on the 10th

Mitaka, Tokyo

Timed entry

A short film shown nowhere else and no set exit time, once you get a ticket on the 10th of the month before.

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A deer on the stone path in front of the Nandaimon gate of Todai-ji, Nara

Walk with Nara's deer to the Great Buddha of Todai-ji

Nara

No booking needed

Walk among over 1,000 freely roaming deer to the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji.

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The white main keep of Himeji Castle above the trees in spring

Climb the wooden keep of Himeji Castle

Himeji, Hyogo

No booking needed

Climb the steep wooden floors of Himeji's main keep in your socks, a climb the castle itself compares to a small mountain.

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The vermilion torii of Itsukushima Shrine standing in the sea at high tide, with Miyajima's wooded hills behind

Time the tide for Itsukushima's torii on Miyajima

Miyajima, Hiroshima

Go alone or with a tour

Itsukushima's great torii seems to float at high tide, and at low tide you can walk out to it across the drained bay.

Check dates and pricesHiroshima and Miyajima day with ferry and shrine entry
The thatched gassho farmhouses of Ogimachi seen from the observation deck

Walk the thatched farmhouses of Shirakawa-go

Shirakawa-go, Gifu

2 to 3 hours in the villageBook ahead

A lived-in valley of steep thatched gassho-zukuri farmhouses, with the classic view from a deck above the village.

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The gilded and carved Yomeimon gate of Nikko Toshogu

See the Yomeimon and the Sleeping Cat at Nikko Toshogu

Nikko, Tochigi

No booking needed

The gilded, carved shrine of the first Tokugawa shogun, with the Sleeping Cat, the three wise monkeys and a stair through cedars to his tomb.

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The main hall and wooden stage of Kiyomizu-dera above autumn maples

Stand on the wooden stage of Kiyomizu-dera

Higashiyama, Kyoto

30 to 60 minutes inside the groundsNo booking needed

Stand on a wooden stage built without nails, about 13 m above the slope of Mount Otowa, then catch the Otowa Waterfall's streams.

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The ring and stands inside the Ryogoku Kokugikan during a January tournament

Watch a Grand Sumo tournament at the Kokugikan

Ryogoku, Tokyo

15:30 to 18:00 for the top divisionBook ahead

Sit in on a Grand Sumo tournament at the Kokugikan and be in your seat when the top division starts at 16:00.

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Plan your trip

  • When to go

    Late March and early April bring the cherry blossoms and the year's biggest crowds; autumn colour follows from early November around the Fuji lakes to late November in Kyoto, when Kiyomizu-dera opens at night. June and early July are the rainy season, and July and August are hot and humid, with Mount Fuji often lost in haze. Winter is the time for the clearest Fuji mornings and for the Jigokudani monkeys in their hot spring, and Shirakawa-go lights up its snowy village on a few January evenings, by reservation only.

  • How many days

    Ten days covers the classic line: four in Tokyo with a day trip to Nikko or the Fuji lakes, a night in a Hakone ryokan, then four in Kyoto with half a day in Nara and an evening in Osaka. Two weeks adds Hiroshima and Miyajima, with Himeji on the way, and either Naoshima or the Nagano and Shirakawa-go side of the Alps. Give Kyoto three full days: its sights work best at opening time, which limits how many you can do well in one day.

  • Getting around

    The Shinkansen links Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima. On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines, a bag whose three sides add up to more than 160 cm needs a seat with an oversized baggage area, reserved in advance. In cities, a rechargeable IC card such as Suica, PASMO or ICOCA, or the same card in your phone, pays for trains, subways, buses and convenience stores. Kyoto's city buses are slow and packed at peak times, so use trains where you can. The Hakone Freepass and the Fuji lake buses cover those areas; a JR pass does not cover private lines such as the Fujikyu railway.

  • Money and payments

    The currency is the yen. Cards and IC cards work across the cities, but temple stalls, small restaurants, rural buses and some ticket desks still take cash only, so carry notes and coins. Since 1 July 2026 every international departure carries a ¥3,000 International Tourist Tax, normally added to your air ticket; tickets issued on or before 30 June 2026 keep the old ¥1,000 rate. Tipping is not expected.

  • Entry rules

    Spanish citizens need no visa for tourist stays of up to 90 days, with a passport valid for the whole stay and proof of a return or onward ticket; the national ID card is not accepted (Spain's foreign ministry page, updated 18 June 2026, checked 25 October 2026). Many other passports are also visa-exempt for 90 days; check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list for yours. Visit Japan Web is not mandatory, but registering in advance speeds up procedures such as tax-free shopping. A pre-travel authorisation called JESTA is planned for 2028 and had not started when this page was checked.

Questions travellers ask

Do I need a visa to visit Japan?

Spanish citizens and many other nationalities can stay up to 90 days for tourism without a visa. You need a passport valid for the whole stay; an ID card is not enough. Check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exemption list for your passport before you book.

How do I get Ghibli Museum tickets?

Only in advance, for a set date and entry time: nothing is sold at the door. From abroad, buy on Lawson Ticket online, where each month goes on sale at 10:00 Japan time on the 10th of the month before. A Sunrise Tours bus tour that includes the museum is the other official route.

Can you watch the tuna auction at Toyosu Market?

Yes. The auction runs from about 5:30 to 6:30 and anyone can watch from the second-floor windows without booking. The closer observation deck takes 100 people a day by an online lottery held the month before. The market is closed on Sundays, national holidays and some other days, mostly Wednesdays.

Is Fushimi Inari open at night?

Yes, the shrine grounds and the torii trail are always open and free. The round trip to the summit takes two to three hours, and the Yotsutsuji viewpoint about halfway takes 30 to 45 minutes. Dawn and evening are the quietest times.

Can I take a large suitcase on the Shinkansen?

On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen, bags with three sides adding up to 160 to 250 cm need a reserved seat with an oversized baggage area, at no extra charge. Without that reservation you pay a ¥1,000 fee, and bags over 250 cm are not allowed on board.

How many days do you need in Kyoto?

Three full days covers Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, Kiyomizu-dera and Gion at their best hours, with time for a museum or garden. Add half a day for Nara, under an hour away by train, and an evening in Osaka's Dotonbori.

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