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I'm going for a 10-day trip to Japan and need to schedule it. For this question to not be specific for my case and useful to others, I'd like to know how many days is a good number to get to know Tokyo.

This question is still very dependent on how long someone would stay in Japan, so let's say, if you had 1 to 2 weeks in Japan, how long you would spend in Tokyo.

Please, take into consideration the other places in Japan and the common interests of an ordinary tourist: maybe, for a trip this long, all the time should be spent in Tokyo - or no, there are other cities that are as relevant as Tokyo in terms of culture, history or things to do. Do not consider budget and distance limitations.

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This is a very subjective question. It's like asking about Rome in Italy - my one friend would insist half your trip should be there, whereas a Contiki tour would be a couple of days. One friend who frequently goes to Japan pretty much just goes to electronic stores and bars in Tokyo and Kyoto, and that's very different to what I'd do. You should rephrase your question to be about YOU, not 'the ordinary' tourist - indicate what stuff YOU are interested in, whether it's history, cherry blossoms, what time of year you're going, samurai, hiking, etc. As it stands, the question is too vague... – Mark Mayo Aug 20 '12 at 20:30
If it's a question about ME than it's too specific for Stack Exchange. I want it to be useful to others. You and your friend go there many times, so it's not the case: consider one tourist that will go there once in the life. He is interested to absorb the most he can of the Japanese culture: he's interested in history, samurais, museums, temples, shopping Japanese stuff, food, etc. I didn't think the time of the year would change how many days to spend in Tokyo, but if this is the case, I'm going in December. But what if it was another time of year? – Roberto Aug 20 '12 at 21:02
Well if it was in Spring, I'd be suggesting going to see the Cherry Blossom festival, for example, which is meant to be incredible! – Mark Mayo Aug 20 '12 at 21:11
@Roberto It doesn't have to be about you per se, but you should specify an area of interest. This applies to any country or large city. Someone who's interested in sampling local cuisine could have a very different itinerary from someone touring art galleries, or photographing architecture, or shopping for luxury goods. – choster Aug 20 '12 at 21:11
@choster Ok, than it's history and culture: museums, special places, temples, food, sightseeing. – Roberto Aug 20 '12 at 21:29
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closed as not constructive by littleadv, choster, hippietrail, mindcorrosive♦, Ankur Banerjee♦ Aug 21 '12 at 9:17

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1 Answer

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0 days.

Depending on whether you're after the historical Japan, or the Japan of the 21st century, I suspect Kyoto may be a higher priority than Tokyo.

Disclaimer: I haven't been to Kyoto yet, but here's my reasoning.

Tokyo has many museums, temples and the like, but I'm not really aware of anything that Tokyo has that Kyoto doesn't have, except for more modern parts of Japanese culture. By contrast, it's less difficult to meet geisha (who are called "geiko" in Kyoto dialect) and maiko in Kyoto than Tokyo, and it's easier to see nature in Kyoto compared to Tokyo, based on how big Tokyo is.

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-1. You've just told somebody to spend 0 days in New York, because you're not aware of anything that NY has that Washington DC doesn't, "except for the more modern parts of American culture". Srsly? – jpatokal Aug 21 '12 at 3:37
@jpatokal If you produce a better answer, then I'll happily upvote it. Also, the question has too many comments already. I didn't want to make the situation worse, so that's why I posted this as an answer rather than as a comment. – Andrew Grimm Aug 21 '12 at 5:11
Well ask a subjective question get a subjective answer. Time for me to get off the fence and vote to close - sorry guys. But for more specific questions I have some Tokyo kowledge... – hippietrail Aug 21 '12 at 5:46

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