A realistic first-visit route with two main hotel bases, one day trip and enough margin for arrival, luggage and station navigation.
Best for: First-time visitors who want major sights without changing hotels every night.
The familiar Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka corridor, improved with slower bases, Himeji and an overnight near Hiroshima or Miyajima.
Best for: Travelers with two full weeks who want history, food and modern cities.
A slower inland route from Tokyo through Nagano and Gifu to Kanazawa, ending in Kyoto.
Best for: Repeat visitors, hikers outside winter and travelers interested in crafts and historic towns.
A rail-led route linking Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto and Oita, with one carefully chosen rural extension.
Best for: Food-focused travelers and repeat visitors who want a compact regional trip.
A westbound route that treats ferry timetables and museum reservations as the structure, not an afterthought.
Best for: Architecture, art and history travelers comfortable with advance reservations.
Before booking
Timetables, reservation rules, closures and weather risks change. Recheck every operator and attraction on its official website for your exact travel date.
No. Compare current pass prices with the exact intercity journeys in your route. Local buses, subways, ferries and private railways may not be covered.
For a 10-day first trip, two or three bases are usually more resilient than moving every night. Add a base only when it removes a long daily backtrack.
Use them as a structure. Adjust for arrival time, mobility, season, reservations and the airport used for departure.