Japan in 9 Days: 4 Recommended 9-day Itineraries to Japan

Check out four inspiring Japan 9-day itinerary ideas below.

Explore, eat, and learn your way through 9 days in Japan, kicking off in Osaka (the country’s street food capital), veering through Kyoto, the culture capital, and ending in the capital of high-tech innovation: Tokyo! Try new foods, lap up day trips to famous temple towns like Nara, and enjoy educational and insightful tours in each new place. You’ll remember your tea-tasting ceremony with a geisha forever, you’ll visit a textile museum full of kimonos and one in Hiroshima about the atomic bomb, and the cable car ride in Hakone with direct views of Mount Fuji is hard to forget, either. Scope iconic districts in major cities, like Shibuya Crossing, Nakamise Shopping Street, Gion, Pontocho, and Dotonbori. This itinerary showcases the best of Japan in nine days! See 9-day tours in Japan.

Imagine traveling up a mountain pass on a train, or staying overnight in a Buddhist temple sanctuary. Ever pictured yourself soaking in a pukka onsen hot spring, with vistas of snow-capped Mount Fuji in the background? Seeing is believing during this exciting venture, from west to east across the country. These 9 days in Osaka, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Hakone, and Tokyo uncover the best of Japan and include everything you expect when traveling here, from sightseeing ancient places of worship to modern architecture, unique food, zany culture, rituals, hikes, train rides, boating on lakes, museum visits and and and! The tour starts in Osaka and ends in Tokyo. Check out private tours in Japan.

Gassho-zukuri (praying hands), Shirakawa Village houses, Takayama’s traditional wooden shop fronts sloping into the mountains from the Edo period, onsen inns built between hot springs, Iyashi-no-Sato’s samurai helmet-shaped thatched homes (kabuto-zukuri), and the neon-contemporary and striking angles of Tokyo’s skyline. If you're a mega architecture appreciator, you’ll love this nine-day expedition in the most authentic way—using Japan’s bullet train systems! Discover villages, farmhouses, townships, countryside settings, mountainous Fuji and much natural beauty. From UNESCO-listed Heritage Sites to touring iconic landmarks and monuments in between, this excursion shows off the master craftsmanship of Japan, passed down for generations. 

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For first-time travelers to Japan, this is an awesome adventure showcasing the country’s highlights and the vast differences between big cities, traditional villages, and ancient towns. Tick off icons like the 333-meter-tall Tokyo Tower and Sensoji Buddhist temple with its 55-meter-high pagoda in Tokyo. Drink in the views of sakuras and Mt Fuji from Arakurayama Sengen Park, and wake up in a traditional ryokan. Check out the world-famous Toyota Museum, marvel over Nara’s significant temples, Himeji Castle (Japan’s most visited), and Kōraku-en in Okayama—one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Find the perfect group tours in Japan.

Whether it's Kyoto, Osaka, or Tokyo that you’ve got your eyes on, you can visit them all during 9 days in Japan! Taking advantage of the country’s bullet trains means it's easy to travel to many places in one day, or across Japan in a short space of time—hence, you can really do, see and explore so much! If you’d like to avoid the hassle of making a 9-day Japan itinerary plan yourself, you can join one of our pre-packaged 9-day trips to Japan. Better yet, try a bespoke holiday to Japan.

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