2 weeks in Japan itinerary: Tokyo to the Inland Sea

Your two week Japan itinerary, day by day

This 2 weeks in Japan itinerary is built for a first trip. The first week covers the classics: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. The second keeps going west on the same railway: Himeji's white castle, the canal town of Kurashiki, the art island of Naoshima, then Hiroshima and Miyajima, before you loop back to Osaka and fly home from Kansai Airport. Every move is a train ride or a short boat, and only one day, Day 13, runs back along the line.

Week 1: Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka

Day 1: land in Tokyo. Haneda is about 30 minutes from the city by train or monorail; Narita, about an hour by express train. Check in, switch on your eSIM, top up an IC card, and keep the evening short.

Day 2: old Tokyo, new Tokyo. Senso-ji in Asakusa early, then Ueno Park and its museums. In the afternoon, walk from Meiji Jingu through Harajuku to Shibuya.

Day 3: markets and gardens, or a day out. Breakfast at Tsukiji Outer Market, then the Imperial Palace East Gardens and Ginza. Rather leave the city? Kamakura's Great Buddha and seaside temples are about an hour away on the JR Yokosuka Line.

Day 4: Tokyo to Kyoto. A Nozomi shinkansen takes about 2 hours 10 to 20 minutes; a Hikari, the fast train the JR Pass covers, about 2.5 to 3 hours. In the afternoon, walk Higashiyama: Kiyomizu-dera, the stone lanes of Sannenzaka, Yasaka Shrine at dusk.

Day 5: Kyoto early. Fushimi Inari's gates at first light, Arashiyama's bamboo and river by late morning, Gion in the evening. Watch, don't chase: never follow or photograph maiko and geiko.

Day 6: gardens, or Nara. Kinkaku-ji at opening time and the Philosopher's Path in the afternoon. Or go to Nara for its deer and the Great Buddha at Todai-ji: about 35 minutes by Kintetsu limited express, or 45 by JR.

Day 7: Osaka. About 30 minutes from Kyoto by JR. Osaka Castle, Kuromon Market, then Dotonbori at night. Tonight, send your big suitcase ahead to your Day 13 hotel in Osaka with luggage forwarding, and travel the next six days with a small bag. Ferries, island buses and castle stairs are easier that way.

Week 2: Himeji, Kurashiki, Naoshima, Hiroshima and Miyajima

Day 8: Himeji Castle, then Kurashiki. The shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Himeji takes about 30 minutes; the JR Special Rapid from Osaka, about an hour. The castle is a 20-minute walk straight up the main street from the station. It opens at 9:00 (last entry 16:00), shoes come off inside, and the wooden stairs are steep. Visitors under 18 get in free, and a time-slot digital ticket goes on sale 90 days ahead. In the afternoon, take the shinkansen on to Okayama (about 20 minutes), then the JR line to Kurashiki (about 17 minutes). The canal quarter is a 10 to 15-minute walk from the station, and it's lit up after dark, until 21:00 from October to March and 22:00 from April to September.

Day 9: Kurashiki to Naoshima. Walk the canal before the shops open, then give the Ohara Museum of Art the morning. It closes on Mondays, so plan this day for another day of the week. After lunch, take the JR back to Okayama, then the Uno Line to Uno (about 50 minutes from Okayama), then the boat to Miyanoura on Naoshima (about 20 minutes). The boat isn't JR, so the JR Pass doesn't cover it.

Day 10: Chichu, then Hiroshima. The Chichu Art Museum is built into a hill and lit by daylight: Monet's water lilies, James Turrell, Walter De Maria. Entry is by date-and-time reservation only, and if online tickets sell out there are no tickets at the door. It closes on Mondays (after a Monday holiday, on Tuesday), and for maintenance from January 12 to March 19, 2027. In the afternoon, take the boat back to Uno, the train to Okayama, and the shinkansen west to Hiroshima.

Day 11: Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb Dome, the Children's Peace Monument, then the Peace Memorial Museum: buy tickets online, go early, and give it two hours. This is a memorial; speak softly. Later, Shukkeien garden, or okonomiyaki in the lanes around Hondori.

Day 12: Miyajima. About 30 minutes by JR to Miyajimaguchi, then about 10 minutes by ferry. The JR ferry is covered by the JR Pass, and the island's ¥100 visitor tax is paid on top. Check the tide table: at high tide the torii seems to float, at low tide you can walk out to it. Sleep on the island if you can; it goes quiet once the day visitors leave.

Day 13: Okayama, then Osaka. Head east by shinkansen and stop at Okayama: Korakuen garden is about 15 minutes from the station by tram, with the black walls of Okayama Castle across the river. From Okayama it's about 45 minutes by Nozomi to Shin-Osaka. Your suitcase should be waiting at the hotel.

Day 14: Osaka, then home. A last breakfast at Kuromon Market or a walk along the river in Nakanoshima. The Haruka limited express reaches Kansai Airport from Osaka Station in about 50 minutes. Keep your tax-free shopping in your carry-on.

Why this route works

• One direction, then one ride back. Tokyo to Hiroshima is one shinkansen line, so for twelve days you keep moving forward. The one ride back, Hiroshima to Osaka on Day 13, is about 1 hour 20 minutes on the fastest trains, and it lets you fly out of Kansai.
• The classics first, the quieter towns second. By Day 8 you know how trains, IC cards and convenience stores work, which makes ferries and small towns easier.
• Short moves in week two. Most legs are under an hour. A moving day still leaves a castle, a museum or a garden.
• Open-jaw flights. Fly into Tokyo and out of Kansai to save a four-hour ride back.

Realistic travel times

Leg	About
Haneda / Narita to central Tokyo	30 min / 1 hour
Tokyo to Kyoto (Nozomi / Hikari)	2h10–2h20 / 2h30–3h
Kyoto to Osaka (JR)	30 min
Kyoto to Nara (Kintetsu / JR)	35 / 45 min
Shin-Osaka to Himeji (shinkansen)	30 min
Himeji to Okayama (shinkansen)	20 min
Okayama to Kurashiki (JR)	17 min
Okayama to Uno (JR)	50 min
Uno to Naoshima (boat)	20 min
Hiroshima to Miyajima (JR + ferry)	30 + 10 min
Okayama to Shin-Osaka (Nozomi)	45 min
Osaka to Kansai Airport (Haruka)	50 min

Times as of 29 Oct 2026, from official rail, city and tourism pages. Add 30 to 45 minutes to each move for checking out and finding your platform, and check the boat timetable for your date.

Where to sleep: 13 nights

• Tokyo, 3 nights: Shinjuku for food and trains, Tokyo Station or Ginza for a calm base by the shinkansen, Asakusa for the old-town feel.
• Kyoto, 3 nights: Kawaramachi and Shijo for restaurants, Kyoto Station for the Nara day.
• Osaka, 1 night (Day 7): Namba or Umeda.
• Kurashiki, 1 night: inside or next to the canal quarter, to see it after dark.
• Naoshima, 1 night: rooms on the island are few, so book them early.
• Hiroshima, 2 nights, then Miyajima or Hiroshima for 1: near Hiroshima Station for trains to Miyajima and Okayama.
• Osaka, 1 night (Day 13): near a station with direct trains to Kansai Airport.

What to book ahead

• Chichu Art Museum (timed tickets) and your Naoshima room. Then check that Days 9 and 10 aren't Mondays.
• Ryokan and small hotels in Kyoto, Kurashiki and on Miyajima.
• Shinkansen seats, once your dates are fixed. A bag over 160 cm in total (length + width + height) needs a seat with an oversized-baggage area. See Shinkansen with a JR Pass.
• Himeji Castle digital ticket and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum tickets online.

Is the JR Pass worth it for 14 days?

It depends on your exact trains, so here is how to check it rather than a yes or no. As of 29 Oct 2026, the official JR Pass costs ¥80,000 for 14 days and ¥50,000 for 7 days (Ordinary, adult, bought on the official site).

1. List the JR rides on this route: Tokyo to Kyoto (Day 4), Kyoto to Osaka (Day 7), Osaka to Himeji, Okayama and Kurashiki (Day 8), Kurashiki to Uno (Day 9), Uno to Hiroshima (Day 10), the JR train and ferry to Miyajima and back (Day 12), Hiroshima to Osaka (Day 13) and the Haruka to the airport (Day 14). Add the Narita Express if you land at Narita.
2. Price each one as a normal ticket for the train you would actually take, using JR's own fare search or a ticket machine, and add them up.
3. Compare three totals: all single tickets; one 14-day pass; or single tickets for week one plus a 7-day pass started on Day 8, which covers every JR ride from Himeji to the airport.
4. Remember what a pass doesn't change: it doesn't cover Nozomi trains without a separate ticket, the Naoshima boats, or city subways. Days 2, 3, 5 and 6 have no long JR rides.

JR West also sells regional passes for visitors that cover the Osaka–Hiroshima end; price one into step 3 too.

Another second week: Kanazawa, Shirakawa-go and Takayama

Prefer mountains and old wooden towns to islands? Keep Days 1–7, then turn north instead of west. It's close to our Japanese Alps route.

• Days 8–9: Kanazawa. From Osaka about 2 hours 10 minutes by Thunderbird and shinkansen, changing at Tsuruga. Kenrokuen garden, the Higashi Chaya teahouse street, Omicho Market.
• Day 10: Shirakawa-go. About 1 hour 20 minutes by highway bus. Thatched farmhouses; stay the night in one if you can.
• Days 11–12: Takayama. About 50 minutes on by bus. Morning markets, the old merchant lanes, Hida Folk Village.
• Days 13–14: back to Kansai. About 2 hours 20 minutes on the Limited Express Hida to Nagoya, then about 35 minutes by shinkansen to Kyoto, and home from Kansai Airport.

Book the highway bus seats ahead: they're run by bus companies, not JR. Winter means snow on this route, so leave slack in the days.

Fourteen days by season

• Spring and autumn suit the route best: mild days for walking, blossoms in early April, autumn leaves from mid-November.
• Winter is clear and quiet, but check closures. Chichu is closed January 12 to March 19, 2027, Himeji Castle on December 29 and 30, and many sights close for a few days around New Year. See Japan in December.
• Summer is hot and humid: start early, rest in the afternoon, go out again at dusk.

Questions

Is two weeks enough for a first trip to Japan?

For this route, yes. Tokyo and Kyoto get three days each, and the second week adds five smaller places without long transfers. Adding more stops would mean more packing, not more seeing.

Can I add Hakone or Mount Fuji?

Yes. Spend a night in Hakone between Tokyo and Kyoto: the Odakyu Romancecar takes about 85 minutes from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto. It isn't a JR train, and it costs you a day elsewhere, usually in Tokyo.

Can I skip Naoshima?

Yes. If art museums aren't your thing, stay a second night in Kurashiki, or give Hiroshima and Miyajima an extra day. The islands also suit our five-day art islands route.

Can I do it in reverse?

Yes. Fly into Kansai, start with Osaka and the west, and finish in Tokyo. You meet the biggest city when you're most tired, but if your flight home leaves from Tokyo it saves a long ride.

Do I need cash?

Some. Small restaurants, shrines, island buses and stalls may be cash only. See cash and cards.

Will I have time to shop tax-free?

Yes. Since November 1, 2026 you pay full price, and the tax comes back after customs checks the goods when you leave. Keep them in your carry-on. See tax-free shopping.

Want the full plan?

Our ready-made Two weeks, west Japan plan follows this route hour by hour, in three budgets (松 Matsu · 竹 Take · 梅 Ume), with a before-you-go checklist.