Forget doing Japan by temples-first. Do it by hunger. Land, drop your bag, and let your stomach set the pace. Tokyo to Kyoto to Osaka is the classic first-timer arc, but the real itinerary lives in your hands, on a stick, or in a paper tray that leaks a little sauce. Eat smart, move fast when you must, slow down when the line looks fun, and accept that the best meals are the ones you didn’t plan.
For a quick route reference, Japan tours provides sample arcs; below, the itinerary is built bite by bite.
Tokyo: warm-up laps, chopstick ready
Tokyo is a cluster of neighborhoods with different appetites. You graze, you ride a few stops, you graze again. Start cheap and smoky to calibrate the taste buds.
Omoide Yokocho, Shinjuku. Tiny alleys, grill smoke curling into neon. Pull up at a yakitori counter and point at the skewers like you mean it. Thigh, skin, hearts, the usual heroes; a shishito pepper skewer for balance that fools no one. Cold beer. Elbows tucked. Your jacket will smell like victory later.
Where to find it: West of Shinjuku Station’s east exit, the alleys are impossible to miss once you smell them.
Order this: Negima chicken thigh, tsukune meatball with yolk dip, grilled mushrooms to pretend you’re being virtuous.
How much: Call it 1,200 to 2,000 yen per person if you keep it tight and stick to a drink or two.
Slide over to Ameyoko near Ueno for your street-market shuffle. Watch taiyaki get pressedand handed off like edible hand warmers. Grab gyoza at a stand that sizzles loud enough todrown out your jet lag. If Shibuya is calling, do a convenience store raid between crossings: onigiri with tuna mayo, karaage nuggets, a can of oolong tea or lemon sour for the sidewalk.
Asakusa gives you ningyo-yaki hot off the mold near Senso-ji and crisp senbei rice crackers flavored with soy or seaweed. Eat them as you walk the perimeter and tell yourself you’re gathering cultural data. Which you are. Culture just happens to be salty and sweet.
Bullet train equals snack lane
Time to bounce west. Buy a seat on the shinkansen and treat the station like a buffet with tracks. Ekiben are boxed lunches engineered for train joy. The good ones taste like a grandma designed them and an engineer packed them.
How to score: Hunt for regional specials. If you’re Fuji-bound via Shinagawa or Tokyo Station, grab a bento with grilled trout or a beef cutlet stacked like a deck of cards. If you’re Kyoto-bound, anything with seasonal veggies, simmered roots, and a square of tamagoyaki will ride well. Add bottled tea or a convenience store highball. Do not wait to eat. The warm rice and sweet-salty pickles taste best before the first tunnel hypnotizes you.
Kyoto: the slow-burn course
Kyoto asks you to dial down the volume and tune your appetite to details. This is where you learn that dashi stock is a lifestyle and that tofu can flex.
Walk into Nishiki Market and let your route zigzag with your nose. A vendor hands you a stick with hot dashimaki tamago, all layers and steam. The next stall does croquettes, potato creamy inside with a crackling coat. Someone is flipping mochi on a griddle till it blisters, then dusting it with kinako. Try yuba, tofu skin, silky and warm; it’s comfort food pretending to be delicate.
Where to find it: Nishiki runs parallel to Shijo Street, five covered blocks that eat your schedule.
Order this: Dashimaki, a skewer of grilled eel or chicken, fresh pickles, sesame ice cream you didn’t see coming.
How much: You can snack happily for 1,500 to 2,500 yen and still walk straight.
Evenings put you near Gion and Pontocho Alley. Skip the white-tablecloth trap unless you booked it months ago and want the show. Duck into a yakitori bar with a handwritten menu and a counter that squeaks when you sit. One round of sake or a light beer; maybe a small plate of karaage that does not need any sauce. The streets one block off the main drag are where the good mistakes happen.
Morning move: temple early, stall breakfast after. Hit a garden at opening, then reward yourself with a soy doughnut or a piping-hot oyaki dumpling from a shop you spotted yesterday. Kyoto likes you better when you’re not hungry.
Osaka: calories with a grin
Osaka is where self-control taps out and your shoes smell like sauce. The slogan is eat till you drop and the city means it.
Dotonbori is the chaos you came for. The river glows, the crab waves, and every line is a group of people who already decided to be happy. Start with takoyaki, molten octopus balls handed over with a warning you’ll ignore. Let them rest 40 seconds. Still too hot. Eat anyway. Then a plate of okonomiyaki, the cabbage-pancake hybrid cut into squares you can lift with a tiny spatula while the bonito flakes dance.
Where to find it: Follow the signs and the giant food mascots. If you can’t find Dotonbori, you didn’t land in Osaka.
Order this: Takoyaki with negi and ponzu, okonomiyaki with pork and squid, maybe yakisoba if your steps hit five digits.
How much: 1,000 to 2,000 yen a head here goes far if you share.
Swing south to Shinsekai for kushikatsu, deep-fried skewers that taste like they were invented after a good day at the game. Pork, quail eggs, lotus root, cheese. There is a sauce tub. There is one rule. No double dipping. Everyone is watching. Everyone will forgive you if you forget, but they will joke about you forever. Order another round and take the hint.
If you pass a 551 Horai window, buy the pork bun. It is a pocket heater in winter and a morale booster year round. Grab two if you’re riding back to your hotel, because the first one will be gone before the crosswalk.
How to move like a hungry human
- Tap and go: Get an IC card on day one. Suica, Pasmo, Icoca, whatever the vending machine gives you. Trains and convenience stores will love you for it.
- Cash still matters: Small joints and market stalls run on coins and small bills. Hit a convenience store ATM, then keep 1,000 yen notes handy.
- Lockers save lives: Stations have coin lockers. Stash your day bag before you go temple hopping or alley crawling. Hands free equals snack ready.
- Time your lines: If a stall looks slammed, circle back 20 minutes later. Osaka’s crowds turn over fast. Kyoto’s don’t.
- Weather plan: Rain day is covered market day. In Tokyo, Ameyoko and department store food halls. In Kyoto, Nishiki. In Osaka, Kuromon Market if you can handle raw
- fish stares before noon.
- Basic manners: Eat near where you bought it unless you see bins and benches. Trash cans are scarce. Carry a tiny bag for wrappers and deal with it later.
- Tiny Japanese helps: Onegai shimasu gets you far. Arigato gets you farther. Sumimasen is your multi-tool. Smile. Point. Pay. Eat.
A snackable 5 day arc
Day 1 Tokyo: Land, shower, Shinjuku. Omoide Yokocho for yakitori, then a Shibuya onigiri run because your hotel check-in derailed dinner. Night walk to digest and fight the clock.
Day 2 Tokyo: Asakusa for temple and ningyo-yaki, Ueno for market snacks, sunset in Shibuya or Shinjuku with convenience store cans and a view. Early sleep so the bullet train doesn’t feel like a fever dream.
Day 3 Kyoto: Shinkansen breakfast with an ekiben. Drop bags, hit a temple, dive into Nishiki Market. Dinnertime in Pontocho or a quiet side street. Second dinner is allowed if the skewers look right.
Day 4 Osaka: Local train in, locker your bag, Dotonbori takoyaki at high noon, okonomiyaki mid afternoon, Shinsekai kushikatsu when the signs light. 551 bun for the train back or the stumble to your bed.
Day 5 Wildcard: Back to Tokyo for a last raid, or stay in Kansai and clean up unfinished business. Maybe Nara for a deer photobomb and a plate of croquettes near the park. Maybe a lazy Osaka breakfast at a kissaten where the toast is thick and the coffee is older than you.
Last bite
Japan by appetite is simple. Feed the day, ride the rails, repeat. Let smoke pull you down an alley. Let a plastic food display dare you to order wrong. Trust the old guy at the counter and your own nose more than any list. The triangle of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka is a classic for a reason, but the version you eat will be yours alone. Pack breath mints, carry small bills, and don’t waste calories on boring. The next snack is the next move, and that is the whole plan.