Let's start with what nobody tells you: getting there takes almost a full day

There are no direct flights from Poland. There's always a change - usually Helsinki, Istanbul, Doha, Dubai or Seoul. From leaving your house to walking into a Tokyo hotel it's realistically 18 - 22 hours.

On top of that the time difference: 7 hours in summer, 8 in winter, ahead. You fly overnight and land in the afternoon or evening. So day one is a travel day, not a sightseeing day - plan it that way.

How many days you really need

The most common mistake is trying to see everything. Japan is bigger than it looks on a map: Tokyo to Hokkaido is further than Warsaw to Rome.

  • 5 - 7 days: the Tokyo area plus one day trip (Nikkō, Kamakura or Hakone). Skip Kyoto - the travel will eat half your holiday.
  • 9 - 11 days: the classic - Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka. This is what people come for on a first trip.
  • 12 - 14 days: the classic plus Hiroshima and Miyajima, or Kanazawa and the Japanese Alps.
  • 15 days and more: add a second island - Kyushu for hot springs or Hokkaido for nature.

The rule that saves a trip: fewer bases, more nights

Every hotel change means packing, checking out at ten, dragging a suitcase to the station and checking in only after three. Two moves cost you a whole day, just spread out in instalments.

Better to have two or three bases and take day trips from them. Tokyo and Kyoto are perfect for this - from both you can reach plenty of places in an hour or two.

A practical trick: you can send luggage between hotels with takkyubin (available at any convenience store and at hotels). It costs around 2,000 yen per suitcase and arrives the next day. You travel light with a small backpack. Nothing else changes moving day as much as this.

A 12-day skeleton that works

Tokyo (4 nights) → Hakone (1) → Kyoto (4, with day trips to Nara and Osaka) → Hiroshima and Miyajima (2) → fly home from Osaka or Tokyo. The shinkansen lines this up without backtracking.

With 10 days, cut Hiroshima. With 14, add Kanazawa between Tokyo and Kyoto.

Your first 24 hours: four things to sort

  1. Transport from the airport. From Narita there are two price tiers and it's worth knowing that. Fast: the Keisei Skyliner (2,570 yen, 41 minutes to Ueno) or the Narita Express (about 3,000, an hour to Tokyo Station). Cheaper: an ordinary train - the Keisei Access Express or the JR Narita line, 1,200 - 1,400 yen and 80 - 90 minutes. For roughly half the price you lose half an hour and a guaranteed seat. With one suitcase at a normal hour that's a very good deal. Haneda is closer and cheaper whichever you pick.
  2. An IC card (Suica or Pasmo) for the metro and buses. Note: chip shortages made ordinary cards hard to get at times, but tourists can buy a Welcome Suica at the airport, and on an iPhone you can add Suica straight to your wallet and top it up by card.
  3. Internet. Buy and install an eSIM before you leave; it works the moment you land. Much better than hunting for a SIM machine after 20 hours of travel.
  4. Cash. Withdraw from a Seven Bank ATM at the airport - I wrote about this in the checklist.

What not to do on a first trip

Don't squeeze Hokkaido or Okinawa into a two-week trip just because you're already in the country. They're separate destinations with separate flights and a completely different climate. Forced in, they'll cost you three days in transit alone.

And don't plan more than two things a day. In Japan getting somewhere is often half the experience, and stations can be bigger than a small town.

💡 From me: the first and last day are really half days. Start the sightseeing on day two and leave the last one for relaxed shopping and the trip to the airport. Nobody has ever regretted having spare time before a flight.