What to see & do

Guide: Fuji, anime, hiking, food & torii

Mount Fuji — the essential briefing

Season 2027 (expected): the Yoshida Trail opens ~1 Jul, closes ~10 Sep. Your early-July climb is right at the opening — confirm exact dates in spring 2027.

Permit & reservation: Yamanashi requires an online booking + ¥4,000 per person (Yoshida Trail). Daily cap of 4,000; 2pm–3am entry only with a hut booking. Book the moment the 2027 system opens (~late April).
Overnight hut, not “bullet climbing”: sleep at the 8th station, acclimatise, summit for sunrise. Book the hut months ahead.
Packing: warm + waterproof layers, headlamp, gloves, hat, broken-in boots, poles, ¥100 coins for toilets, water & snacks.

For anime & manga lovers

Akihabara (Tokyo) — the otaku mecca: Animate, Mandarake, arcades, gachapon.
Nakano Broadway (Tokyo) — vintage manga & rare figures.
Ghibli Museum (Mitaka) & Ghibli Park (Aichi) — the two essential pilgrimages; both need timed tickets.
Ikebukuro — Otome Road & Pokémon Center Mega Tokyo.
Super Nintendo World (Osaka) & Den-Den Town.

For hikers

Kamikochi in the Northern Alps.Wikimedia Commons

Mount Fuji — the 3,776m headline summit.
Kamikochi — alpine valley, easy or hard, cool in summer.
Nakasendo (Magome–Tsumago) — gentle historic post-town trail.
Fushimi Inari — the torii-gate mountain loop doubles as a hike.
Mt Misen (Miyajima) and Nikko / Lake Chuzenji.

For temples & torii gates

Fushimi Inari — thousands of vermilion torii.Wikimedia Commons

You especially wanted torii — the itinerary routes you through the very best:

Fushimi Inari Taisha (Kyoto, Day 12) — thousands of red gates in tunnels up the mountain. Go early.
Itsukushima floating torii (Miyajima, Day 16) — the gate standing in the sea.
Kaminarimon at Senso-ji (Tokyo, Day 4) — the giant red Thunder Gate.
Meiji Shrine torii (Tokyo, Day 4) — towering cypress gates in a city forest.
Todai-ji & Kasuga Taisha (Nara, Day 13) — the Great Buddha and lantern-lined paths.
Kinkaku-ji (Kyoto) — the gold-leaf Golden Pavilion.

The floating torii of Itsukushima, Miyajima.Wikimedia Commons

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion.Wikimedia Commons

For food

Ramen — one of countless reasons this trip is built around eating.Wikimedia Commons

Tokyo — sushi (Toyosu), tonkatsu, monjayaki, world-class ramen.
Osaka — takoyaki, okonomiyaki, kushikatsu in Dotonbori.
Kyoto — kaiseki, yudofu, matcha; Nishiki Market.
Nagoya — hitsumabushi, miso-katsu. Hiroshima — okonomiyaki & oysters.
For 7–10: reserve group dinners well ahead; many spots cap party size, so izakaya and larger restaurants are easiest — or split into two tables.

More photos of each place

The photos above are royalty-free from Wikimedia Commons. For even more imagery, these open a Google image search for each spot: