Is two weeks enough for Japan?
Yes. Two weeks is enough for Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and one additional area. It is also enough for a slower trip through fewer places. What it is not enough for is a sweep across the whole country. Plan for three main bases, allow for arrival and departure days, and resist adding a new hotel every two nights.
Full answer
Two weeks is enough for an excellent first trip to Japan.
It gives Tokyo enough time to feel like several cities rather than one enormous centre. You can spend a morning around Asakusa, an afternoon in a completely different neighbourhood, and still have days left for markets, museums, shopping or simply following a train line somewhere you had not planned to visit.
It also gives Kyoto enough time. Three full days is a useful minimum for most first visits, and four is better if the temples, gardens and older parts of the city are a major reason for going. With enough time, you can visit Fushimi Inari early, spend another morning in Higashiyama, and still have a day for Arashiyama, northern Kyoto or somewhere quieter.
Osaka can be added without much difficulty. Some travellers will be happy visiting from Kyoto. Others will prefer to stay for a night or two so they can eat late, wander around Namba or Shinsekai and return without watching the last-train clock.
A comfortable first trip
A good two-week plan is:
- four or five nights in Tokyo;
- three or four nights in Kyoto;
- one or two nights in Osaka, or use Kyoto as the base;
- two or three nights in Hiroshima and Miyajima, Hakone, Kanazawa or another area;
- one day left loose around the international flights.
This is not the only route, but it is easy to understand and does not ask too much of every day.
Three ways to use the fortnight
Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka at an easy pace
Choose this when cities, food, temples, shopping and neighbourhoods are the main interests.
The advantage is that very little time is lost to long transfers. Tokyo and Kyoto get proper stays, and Osaka can be enjoyed after dark. The drawback is that the trip includes less countryside and fewer small towns.
Add an onsen stay
A night or two in Hakone, Kinosaki Onsen or another hot-spring town breaks up the city journey.
Choose the town for the bathing, ryokan and quiet, not for a guaranteed view of Mount Fuji. Clouds are common, and an onsen stay should still feel worthwhile when the mountain is hidden.
Add Hiroshima and Miyajima
This is the best addition for travellers who want to continue west.
Hiroshima brings difficult history, good food and a compact city that is easy to spend time in. Miyajima is more enjoyable when you stay late enough to see the island after the largest groups have left. Allow at least two nights for the area rather than trying to fit both places into one rushed day.
What does not fit well
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Takayama, Hakone and several day trips can all be connected within two weeks. The question is whether you want to spend the trip doing that.
The weakest itineraries give every place two nights. Arrival day is lost to travel, the next day is packed with sights, and the following morning begins with luggage. After several moves, even an excellent train system becomes tiring.
A fortnight also does not give Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku or Tohoku the time they deserve if they are being added to the classic route. Choose one of those regions as the main trip or save it for another visit.
With children or slower travellers
Use fewer bases.
Tokyo and Kyoto can each hold a week with easy day trips. Families may prefer one Tokyo hotel, one Kyoto or Osaka hotel and one quieter stay. Travellers who dislike packing can base themselves in Kyoto and visit Osaka and Nara by train.
The trip will not feel incomplete because one city was removed. It will usually feel easier and more enjoyable.
With three weeks
An extra week changes the possibilities.
You can add a fuller journey through Kanazawa and the Alps, spend more time around the Seto Inland Sea, or begin a regional trip through Kyushu, Tohoku or Hokkaido. Choose one direction and follow it rather than adding isolated stops around the country.
Final advice
Two weeks is enough for Japan when you accept that it is one trip, not a summary of the whole country.
Give Tokyo and Kyoto proper time, add Osaka if it suits you, and choose one other place. You will leave plenty unseen, but you will have experienced the places you did choose rather than simply passing through them.