Visiting Japan is one of my dream trips that I will hopefully take in 2026! If you had asked me about visiting Japan a few years back, it probably wouldn’t have been anywhere on my radar. While the long flight from New York to Tokyo sounds like hell, it is one of my most anticipated trips to go on! If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you feel the same! Japan is increasingly becoming a more and more popular destination. From the iconic vintage designer shops, to climbing Mt. Fuji, to sushi making classes, there’s more things I want to do than I can probably fit in during my trip!
Japan is year after year becoming an increasingly more popular place to visit. In this post, I’m going to break down the things I want to do, how I’d fit them in to create my dream Japan itinerary, and other ideas of what to do!
Day One:
I’m imagining I landed in Tokyo at night, checked into my hotel the night before, then woke up ready for my first full day.
tsukiji fish Markets
The first thing on my Japan itinerary is waking up super early to the Tsukiji fish market. These fish markets are a prime early morning spot, as they serve what the fishermen caught that very morning. So if you don’t mind sushi for breakfast (which I do NOT mind at all) I would get up as early as you can to eat the freshest sushi you’ve probably ever had in your life!
I think this is the perfect day one activity. I know I’ll probably not sleep well due to the time change, making it easier to get up early. It’ll be a delicious first activity to set the tone for the rest of the trip as well as adjust to the time change. The markets are also near Ginza, known for their great coffee shops and great shopping! Before or after the fish markets, depending on how I feel, I’d get a coffee to help me adjust. Then if the shops are open when I leave the fish markets, depending how long I stay, I would do some shopping before or after going sightseeing.
Shopping
Ginza is well known for a few reasons, one of them being for all of the malls and department stores! I love shopping, or more likely window shopping, through stores that don’t exist near me. A few stores or malls I would definitely check out are Itoya (known for their stationery), the giant UNIQLO, and the Ginza Six (has a theater, rooftop views, interior design stores, restaurants, etc). The website to check out all of the Ginza shopping is linked here, for you to find which stores you want to visit.
I’d also get lunch in this area as well. I personally don’t add restaurants to my Japan itinerary, or any itinerary. When I get hungry, I look at Google Maps at the nearby restaurants that have above a 4.5 rating, then decide which looks the best from there. In all my traveling, this has always worked out well for me, but feel free to look up restaurants in advance yourself!
Sightseeing
The fish markets and Ginza are in walking distance from a few great sightseeing locations. Nearby is the Imperial Palace, the Fujimi-Yagura Tower, plus a few other palaces and gardens. Seeing the iconic locations is a personal must do for any trip. Depending on how I feel, I can take as long as I want, but can always check off that I saw them. After this, I would head back to the hotel, get food for dinner nearby, and call it a night!
Day Two
Vintage Shops
I would start, and spend most of the day, in the Shimokitazawa district, where the majority of the vintage shops are located. I personally want to save up for and buy a designer bag when I visit Tokyo, so I plan on taking the majority of the day to browse through shops, find the best deal, ponder over a meal, then buy a purse or vintage rolex (haven’t decided which though, this trip is over 2 years out!)
The shops I definitely want to visit are: Amore Vintage and Casanova Vintage for vintage Chanel bags, Bookoff Super Bazaar for the best of prices, and Antique Coreleone or Quark for watches.
Studio Ghibli Museum
Studio Ghibli is like the Japanese version of Disney animations, and creates some of the most wholesome, yet heart wrenching stories I’ve seen. One of their films “Howl’s Moving Castle” was all over Tik Tok a few years back, and one of the songs from the soundtrack went viral. This is how I found Studio Ghibli and have recently started watching their movies. When I go to Tokyo, the Studio Ghibli Museum is one of the places I’m super excited to see!
If this sounds like something you’re also interested in, just the tickets are not the easiest to get. Say you want to get a ticket for February 1st, you have to get online to their ticket website on January 10th to purchase them. All the tickets for the next month are sold on the 10th of the month before at 10 am JST. People recommend joining the waiting room in advance and on multiple devices for the best odds at getting the tickets.
Apparently they sell out super quickly as well, apparently there are only 2400 tickets a day, so if this is top on your Japan itinerary list, make sure you are on top of the day and time you need to buy them!
Day Three
Samurai Lesson
One of the most interesting parts about Japan to me, is the history. I love to learn about history wherever I go. Normally that’s through a walking tour, but when I’m in Japan, I want to go to a samurai class!
I’ve seen people online do this, and it’s definitely one of the top things I want to do. You get dressed up in samurai training gear, and trained in the traditional samurai sword motions. Not only would this be a cool photo opp, but it honors tradition and makes a personal connection to history.
I’ll probably book one of these two experiences: this one through Viator or this one that you could also do a tea ceremony with!
Sushi Making Class
The absolute top thing to do on my Japan itinerary is to take a sushi making class! Sushi is one of my favorite foods in the world, so this feels like a must do while in Japan. I’ve always heard sushi making is difficult and is like an art form. I would love to learn from the masters of how to make it. If I’m not horrendous at it, I want to try making my own sushi occasionally when I return to the states! While buying it will still be the best move, I think it would be an impressive skill to say I learned how to make sushi when I was in Japan!
I’d probably sign up for this sushi making class from Viator that has great reviews!
After my two activities of the day, I’ll take a bullet train to Kyoto! And stay at Seikoro Ryokan, for a traditional Japanese experience!
Day Four
Fushimi Inari Torii Gates
I want to wake up bright and early on my first day in Kyoto to visit the Fushimi Inari Torii Gates! These red gates that lead you through the forest look both magical and peaceful. I’ve also heard that there are paths that bring you through bamboo groves, which is something high up on my Japan itinerary! I also never leave my house without my camera, and I can already imagine the stunning pictures I would take here.
Kinkaku-ji Golden Temple
When you look up the best things to do in Kyoto, the Golden Temple is one of the first ones that’ll be recommended. I heard you pay for the ticket to walk around the grounds which takes about 20 minutes. You can’t go into the temple sadly, but paying to see the Golden Temple feels like a must do while there.
Kiyomizu-dera Temple
The Kiyomizu-dera Temple will be where I go mid afternoon into the evening. This temple is illuminated at night, so I am excited to see it both during the day and lit up. I believe the temple is in an area of town with narrow winding roads that I know I will spend hours exploring!
Day Five
Nara Park Day Trip
I’m not sure if I’m sold on this yet, but I’m intrigued about going on a day trip to Nara. Nara has a park where deer roam freely. You can buy food to feed them and they will bow to you! Since bowing is a sign of respect in Japan, they taught the deer how to, which now they do in return for food. There’s also a temple in the middle of the park, so you can walk around and explore with the wildlife around you.
Nara is about 45 minutes away from Kyoto, so I’d probably do half the day here, then head back.
Explore Kyoto then to Mt. Fuji
I love giving myself time to simply wander. I always find such interesting and cool places that I’d never stumble upon if I stuck strictly to my itinerary. It also allows me to be more present and not focus on rushing to the next destination – to enjoy the journey!
After some free time for exploration, I’ll take the bullet train to Mt. Fuji for the last leg of my trip!
Day Six
Travel To + Climb Mt Fuji
Climbing Mt. Fuji is something I have always wanted to do. My elementary school librarian climbed and showed us her hiking stick. If you buy a wooden stick to hike with, at every camp you pass on the way, you can get a stamp/brand pressed into the stick. Then by the time you get to the top, you have an amazing souvenir. That always sounds incredible to me and like a once in a lifetime experience!
The only time you can climb Mt. Fuji is from June to September. This is the hottest time of year in Japan, which means you should pick carefully when you go. While that doesn’t sound like the ideal time to climb, it’s also not the peak tourist season. I personally am thinking of going in September when it’s less crowded.
Climbing Mt. Fuji takes about 8 hours, and I think I am going to book my trip with a group. With a group, you climb up during the middle of the day, have dinner and sleep over at one of the camps near the top, then wake up early to make it to the peak by sunrise!
I was upset when I found out that I couldn’t climb Mt. Fuji and also see the cherry blossoms on the same trip. When I found out cherry blossom season is the same as the busy season, March & April, that helped me make the difficult decision of going in September. I’m hoping when I eventually visit Korea, I’ll go during cherry blossom season to see them in bloom! Keep these months in mind as you plan your trip.
Day Seven
Finish Climbing + Return to Tokyo
Since I want to do the overnight experience, I assume I will get very little sleep and be waking up very early. For that reason, on day six I will be going back to bed after returning to Tokyo to nap or relax for a few hours.
WAGYU
After I’m done relaxing and recouping from the hike, I want to treat myself to a nice lunch or dinner! I’d probably head back to Tokyo to be closer to the airport. I have heard amazing reviews about Wagyu Idaten and would potentially go there if my hotel isn’t too far away. This will close out a perfect Japan itinerary and trip for me!
Lastly I’d start packing up to make the trek back to NYC. I’m not going to Japan for almost two years, but I am already stressed for the jet lag and long flight
Restaurants I’m considering visiting in tokyo:
Great Traditional Japanese Foods
- Kyushu Akihabara
- Men’ya musashi
- Gyukatsu motomura
Japanese Pizza
- Savor
For Desserts & Sweets
- Flippers
- Pacific Bake House
To Try the Iconic Food
- 7 – 11
Other things to add to your own japan itinerary
- go to an animal cafe
- visit in March/April to see the cherry blossoms
- go on a Mario Kart inspired go kart tour of Tokyo
- visit Okinawa and go snorkeling
- go to the northern island of Japan and ski!
- go to the Samurai museum in Kyoto
- see a sumo wrester show in Osaka
- visit Universal Studios or Disney
This has been my dream Japan itinerary! Hopefully after I go one day, I can update this post with all of my thoughts and opinions. If you didn’t know what you wanted to do or see while in Japan, I hope you do now! If you are going to Japan anytime soon, have the best trip ever!
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