Japan has a way of making first-time visitors feel like they’ve landed somewhere that doesn’t quite follow the rules everywhere else runs on. Trains arrive to the minute. Convenience stores sell better coffee than most caf\u00e9s. A country of 124 million people somehow feels quiet on a rush-hour platform. None of that is an accident, and none of it takes long to notice once you’re there.<\/p>\n
This guide is the starting point for planning a trip: what it actually takes to get in, when to go, what a realistic budget looks like, and where the rest of our Japan coverage picks up in more depth. If you’re weighing whether to buy our full Japan Travel Guide<\/a>, this page \u2014 plus the linked articles below \u2014 is the free version of that same judgment, built to get you 80% of the way there.<\/p>\n If you’re arriving from most of Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, or several other visa-exempt countries, you don’t need a visa to visit as a tourist \u2014 you’ll get a stamp on arrival good for up to 90 days, depending on your nationality. The one thing worth knowing now, even though it isn’t in effect yet: Japan has approved a new pre-travel electronic authorization system called JESTA, expected to become mandatory sometime around 2028\u20132029. It isn’t required as of this writing, but if you’re reading this closer to that window, check our visa guide<\/a> before you book, since the requirement will apply to exactly the travelers who currently enter visa-free.<\/p>\n Japan’s train network is the backbone of most itineraries, and it’s genuinely one of the best in the world \u2014 but the old advice to “just buy a JR Pass” isn’t automatically true anymore after a 2023 price increase. Whether it’s worth it now depends entirely on your route: it still pays for itself on multi-city trips with three or more long-distance shinkansen rides (Tokyo\u2013Kyoto\u2013Hiroshima, for example), but a simple Tokyo\u2013Kyoto round trip is usually cheaper paid individually. We break down the actual math in 7 Days in Japan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Inside cities, IC cards (Suica or Pasmo) cover trains, subways, buses, and even vending machines and convenience stores \u2014 get one at the airport on arrival and you won’t think about city transport again.<\/p>\n Japan has a real high season, and it’s worth planning around rather than being surprised by. Spring (late March into April) and autumn (October\u2013November) are the two weather sweet spots, and also the two most crowded and most expensive. Summer is hot, humid, and includes both the rainy season (June into mid-July) and peak typhoon risk (August\u2013September). Winter is quiet, cold, and \u2014 particularly in Kyoto \u2014 genuinely worth considering if you’d rather have temples to yourself than see cherry blossoms. Full seasonal detail, including when cherry blossom and autumn colour actually peak in different parts of the country: Best Time to Visit Japan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Most first trips center on the Tokyo\u2013Kyoto\u2013Osaka triangle, and for good reason \u2014 it covers Japan’s biggest city, its former imperial capital and temple city, and its best food city, all connected by fast, reliable trains.<\/p>\n A realistic mid-range budget \u2014 private accommodation, a mix of casual and sit-down meals, city transport, and typical sightseeing \u2014 runs somewhere in the \u00a515,000\u201320,000 per person per day range once you’re on the ground, before flights. It’s genuinely possible to do it for less: convenience store meals are good and cheap, capsule hotels and business hotels undercut Western city prices, and plenty of the best temples and neighborhoods cost nothing to walk through. It’s also easy to spend far more if a ryokan stay with kaiseki dinner is part of the plan, which is worth budgeting for separately rather than averaging in.<\/p>\n The single most common mistake first-time visitors make is treating “Japanese food” as one category to check off, rather than a different specialty in every city worth chasing specifically \u2014 Osaka for okonomiyaki and takoyaki, Hokkaido for seafood and dairy, Hiroshima for its own distinct style of okonomiyaki, and Tokyo for basically everything else, sushi included. Convenience store food (konbini) is a legitimate part of this, not a fallback \u2014 a 7-Eleven egg sandwich at 2am has a real fan base for a reason.<\/p>\n This page is the overview. From here:<\/p>\nQuick Facts<\/h2>\n
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Getting in<\/h2>\n
Getting around<\/h2>\n
When to go<\/h2>\n
Where to go<\/h2>\n
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What it costs<\/h2>\n
Food<\/h2>\n
Where to go next<\/h2>\n
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