Craft for Japan is visa, region, stay, slack — in that order.
Put the 13h flight into day one of the plan.
Steps
- Pick the window
Default to March, April, May, October & November; write a reason if you choose August.
Read the yellow months on the heatmap first.
- Check entry
Many passports enter visa-free for a short stay — verify yours.
Check the six-month passport rule in the same sitting.
- Pick regions
Two of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka is enough.
A transfer day is not a sightseeing day.
- Lock stays
Lock a Kyoto ryokan style stay before peak.
For honeymoons, room position beats star count.
- Shape transport
Use Tokyo-Hakone-Kyoto-Osaka as the spine; cut side quests.
Put the last night near the airport.
- Leave slack
Leave a weather/strike/tender day empty.
An empty afternoon is the actual honeymoon luxury.
Entry
- Passport — Many passports enter visa-free for a short stay — verify yours.
- Insurance — Match travel insurance to the dates, including medical evacuation.
- Connections — Do not cut LHR / JFK / LAX connections against a night arrival.
- Local rules — Drone, temple dress and smoking rules fine faster than a tip.
Packing
- layers — Pack for Japan diurnal swing and indoor heating/cooling together.
- rain shell — Pack for Japan diurnal swing and indoor heating/cooling together.
- walking shoes — Pack for Japan diurnal swing and indoor heating/cooling together.
- adapter — Pack for Japan diurnal swing and indoor heating/cooling together.
- copies — Pack for Japan diurnal swing and indoor heating/cooling together.
Pitfalls
- Peak as default — Do not pick August just because the month is famous.
- Three cities a day — When transfers become the plot, places become a backdrop.
- Fake fares — Numbers here are bands, not today’s search-box fare.
- Ignoring jet lag — Do not put a dawn shoot the morning after a 13h flight.
Craft does not kill romance. It kills queues.
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