Japan Travel Guide: 5 Cities, Costs and Itineraries
Bullet trains, temple towns, and vending machines on every corner
Overview
Japan runs on a schedule you can set your watch to. Trains leave on the minute, queues form without being told to, and almost nothing is designed to make a tourist's life difficult, once you know the few local rules that aren't written down anywhere in English. The country rewards a bit of planning: buy the right rail pass or don't buy one at all, book the popular restaurants a table ahead, and carry cash because a surprising number of small shops, temples, and rural train stations still don't take cards. Beyond that, it's an easy place to travel. English signage is common in big cities, convenience stores double as pharmacies, banks, and decent meal stops, and the trains go almost everywhere you'd want to go. What changes trip to trip is scale: Tokyo and Osaka move fast and stay open late, Kyoto slows down around its temples and closes early, Hokkaido and the Japan Alps are a different country's worth of scenery an hour's flight away. Five to ten days covers one region properly. Two weeks lets you string together two or three without feeling rushed.
Best time to visit
Late March to early April for cherry blossoms and late October to November for autumn colour are the two peak windows, with the best weather and the biggest crowds and prices. June to mid-July is rainy season; August is hot, humid, and typhoon-prone.
- Jan-Feb
- Cold, dry, clear skies. Cheapest hotel rates outside Sapporo's Snow Festival week.
- Mar-Apr
- Cherry blossom season, peaks late March to early April in Kyoto/Tokyo. Book 4-6 months out.
- May
- Comfortable and green, but Golden Week (late Apr-early May) is the busiest domestic travel week of the year.
- Jun-Jul
- Rainy season (tsuyu) across most of the country, hot and humid by July.
- Aug
- Peak heat and humidity, typhoon risk builds. Festival season (Obon, fireworks) offsets the discomfort.
- Sep-Oct
- Typhoon risk tapers through September, October brings cooler, drier, comfortable days.
- Nov
- Autumn foliage peaks, similar crowd levels to cherry blossom season.
- Dec
- Cold and clear, illuminations and Christmas lights in cities, quieter than spring or autumn.
Visa
Canadian passport holders can enter visa-free for up to 90 days for tourism, no advance application needed. You need a passport valid through your departure date, a return or onward ticket, and proof of accommodation; border officers can also ask for proof of funds. This has been Japan's standing policy through 2026 and hasn't changed post-pandemic. Overstaying the 90 days risks fines, deportation, and a re-entry ban, so track your dates if you're combining Japan with other countries on one trip.
Money
Currency: JPY. Widespread in hotels, department stores, and chain restaurants in big cities, but plenty of small izakaya, ramen shops, temple ticket counters, and rural stations are cash-only or IC-card-only (Suica/Pasmo/ICOCA). Carry ¥10,000-20,000 in cash as a buffer, especially outside Tokyo and Osaka. 7-Eleven and Japan Post ATMs reliably accept foreign cards. Not expected anywhere, and offering cash tips can genuinely confuse or embarrass staff. Good service is the baseline, not something you pay extra for. A few high-end ryokan add a service charge automatically, which covers it.
| Budget | Mid-range | Splurge |
|---|---|---|
| 11,000 | 22,000 | 45,000 |
Getting around
The Shinkansen (bullet train) network connects every city in this guide except Sapporo, where you fly. A 7-day nationwide JR Pass costs ¥50,000 (about $460 CAD) through the official JR site as of late 2026, rising for third-party sellers from October 2026; it only pays off if you're covering long distances on 3+ shinkansen days, otherwise regional passes or pay-as-you-go IC cards are cheaper. Within cities, an IC card (Suica, Pasmo, ICOCA, all interchangeable nationwide) covers subways, buses, and trains with a tap, and can be loaded onto an iPhone or Android wallet before you land. Domestic flights make sense for Tokyo-Sapporo and Tokyo-Hiroshima-return legs.
Connectivity
An eSIM is the easiest option for most travellers with a phone from 2020 or later: Airalo, Ubigi, and Sakura Mobile all sell Japan data plans from around ¥700-2,000 for a few GB, activated by QR code before you land. If you're travelling as a group of three or more, or need a Japanese phone number, a rented pocket wifi (around ¥600-900/day, picked up at the airport) covers multiple devices at once. Wifi is common in hotels and cafes but patchy on the street, so don't count on it for navigation.
Where to go
Locations on this map
Hiroshima
A rebuilt city with the Peace Memorial Park at its center and Miyajima's floating torii an hour away, best known for atomic-bomb history and its own style of okonomiyaki.
Kyoto
Japan's former capital: over a thousand temples and shrines, a preserved geisha district, and a bamboo forest that's empty at 7am and a scrum by 10.
Osaka
Japan's kitchen: cheaper than Tokyo, blunter than Kyoto, and built around eating standing up. A flat, walkable base for Kansai with Kyoto and Nara 30-45 minutes away.
Sapporo
Hokkaido's capital: miso ramen, soup curry, a February snow festival, and the launch point for Otaru, Niseko, and Furano. Built on a grid, easy to walk, brutal in January.
Tokyo
The world's biggest city runs on a subway map that looks impossible and isn't. Ramen at 1am, temples at dawn, a whole neighborhood for pinball and a whole one for fish.
Frequently asked questions
Do Canadians need a visa for Japan?
No. Canadian passport holders get visa-free entry for up to 90 days for tourism, no application needed in advance. You'll need a passport valid through your departure date, proof of onward travel, and possibly proof of accommodation and funds at the border.
Is the JR Pass worth it?
Only if you're covering long distances by shinkansen on most days of the pass. At ¥50,000 for 7 days (official site price), it breaks even around a Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Tokyo route. If you're staying in one region or mostly using local trains, it's cheaper to pay per ride with an IC card or buy a regional pass instead.
How many days do you need in Japan?
10 days covers Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka comfortably with day trips. Two weeks lets you add Hiroshima or Hokkaido without rushing. A week is workable but means picking two cities and skipping the rest.
Is Japan expensive to visit?
Less than most people expect for 2026, especially with the yen weak against CAD and USD. Budget travellers get by on ¥9,500-12,500 a day using hostels, konbini meals, and local trains. Mid-range comfort with a private room and sit-down meals runs ¥20,000-25,000 a day.
When is cherry blossom season in Japan?
Usually late March to early April in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, though it shifts year to year and moves from south to north, hitting Hokkaido weeks later. Japan's meteorological agency publishes forecasts a few weeks out, so exact dates can't be locked in more than a month or two ahead.
Is Japan safe for tourists?
Yes, among the safest countries to travel in by violent crime rate. The real risks are petty ones: crowded trains and tourist areas draw pickpockets occasionally, natural hazards like typhoons (June-October) and earthquakes are a background reality, and language barriers can make navigating a medical or police situation slower than at home.