Japan Highlights 7 Nights

Met on arrival and taken into the city. Nothing is scheduled beyond checking in and finding dinner nearby — the first evening is for adjusting, not sightseeing. If you have energy, the nearest neighbourhood after dark is enough of an introduction. Overnight in Tokyo.

The older, lower Tokyo. Morning at Asakusa: the Senso-ji approach, the incense in front of the hall, and the arcade behind it before it thickens. Midday at the Ueno museums, or the Yanaka lanes, which survived the war and the bubble and still read as a village-scale neighbourhood inside a megacity. Evening free — sukiyaki cooked at the table in Ningyocho is the old-Tokyo dinner if you want one. Overnight in Tokyo.

The modern city, and the contrast is the point. The cedar-lined calm of Meiji Jingu in the morning, then straight into Harajuku and Shibuya, where the crossing does what it does every ninety seconds. Afternoon for Ginza or the Tsukiji outer market. After dark, Shinjuku at full volume — or a tower observation deck, which is the cheapest way to understand the size of the place. Overnight in Tokyo.

Out to the Fuji foothills by fast train and mountain railway. The afternoon runs the Hakone loop — the ropeway over the sulphur vents at Owakudani, then Lake Ashi, with the mountain across the water when the weather allows. Fuji is never guaranteed and the ryokan evening does not depend on it: bath first, then dinner served course by course in the room or the dining hall. Overnight at an onsen ryokan in Hakone.

South to Kyoto by shinkansen, arriving in time for the afternoon. Fushimi Inari is the first stop and is best late — the light comes sideways through the torii and the day-trippers are leaving. Evening along the Kamo river or in the Pontocho lanes. Overnight in Kyoto.

Kinkaku-ji at opening, then west to Arashiyama for the bamboo grove and Tenryu-ji, whose fourteenth-century pond garden is the reason to pay the second entry. Afternoon free — the Philosopher's Path, Nanzen-ji and its brick aqueduct, or a yudofu lunch beside the temple gate. Evening in Gion, walking the lanes below Yasaka Shrine. Overnight in Kyoto.

A short train south to Nara, taken slowly. Todai-ji and the Great Buddha in the morning, the deer park around it, and Kasuga Taisha's lantern-lined approach through the woods. Afternoon in Naramachi's old merchant lanes — the mochi pounded at speed on Mochiidono arcade is the local thing to watch and then eat. Back to Kyoto for the last evening. Overnight in Kyoto.

A final Kyoto morning — Nishiki Market for knives, tea or pickles, or one more temple — before the transfer for your onward flight.