Kanto

Find your kind of Kanto

Start with the scene you want to step into: the giant screens and shop-lined lanes of Tokyo, a harbour walk in Yokohama, a temple courtyard in Kamakura or steam drifting through a mountain town. Kanto brings them within one region, but each deserves time of its own.

Tokyo: choose a neighbourhood, then wander

Shibuya’s screens and crossing make a brilliant first impression. Keep walking toward Harajuku and the scale changes: crowded Takeshita Street, low-rise shops along Cat Street and the broader, tree-lined stretch of Omotesando. The pleasure lies in the contrast, from fashion and character goods to a pause at a café.

Across the city, Asakusa gathers temple approaches, shopping streets and the Sumida River into a different kind of walk. Try a small ningyo-yaki cake, with its shaped sponge outside and sweet bean filling, then continue toward the river. Akihabara adds another Tokyo world of games, anime shops and electronics.

Choose your Tokyo districts →
Walk Shibuya and Harajuku →
Explore Asakusa and Senso-ji →

Yokohama: follow the harbour’s edge

Former railway bridges, red-brick warehouses and open water give Yokohama a spacious rhythm after Tokyo’s busiest streets. Follow the waterfront from Kishamichi toward the warehouses, look across the harbour from Osanbashi, or linger among the garden paths at Yamashita Park.

Chinatown offers a lively change of scene nearby, with decorated gates and a meal worth making time for. Make this a harbour-and-food outing rather than a quick extra stop after a full Tokyo day.

Explore the Yokohama waterfront →

Kamakura: temple courtyards and sea air

At Kotoku-in, the Great Buddha sits beneath the open sky, its bronze form a striking contrast to the surrounding trees. Nearby Hasedera brings temple buildings, gardens and a view toward the sea. These are places to slow down and look, rather than collect as back-to-back photo stops.

The little Enoden train threads between houses, while Komachi Street offers busy shopfronts and Yuigahama opens onto a broad curve of sand. Choose the temple-and-coast combination that appeals to you, then use the full guide to join it into a walk.

Explore Kamakura’s temples, streets and coast →

Nikko: carved splendour and highland water

Nikko’s shrine buildings reward a close look: white and gold surfaces, dense carving and layers of detail set against a wooded landscape. Toshogu is the architectural draw, while the wider historical area gives you room to move between gates, trees and temple precincts.

Higher in the mountains, Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls change the mood from ornament to open water and falling spray. The shrines and highlands are separate areas, not one walking circuit. Choose one as your focus or allow more time for both; the full guide covers the connections and seasonal conditions.

Choose your Nikko route →

Kawagoe: merchant streets and sweet stops

Heavy shutters, dark plaster and tiled eaves give Kawagoe’s merchant streets their character. Follow the timber bell tower above the shop roofs, browse Candy Alley and leave space for a sweet-potato snack. The details of the buildings and shopfronts are as much the attraction as the landmarks.

Walk Kawagoe’s old town →

Ibaraki: flower-covered hills and the Pacific coast

Hitachi Seaside Park is known for sweeping seasonal colour, including blue nemophila in spring and red kochia in autumn. The photographed flowers are a seasonal scene, so check the park’s current bloom information before choosing your day.

Nakaminato brings the outing back to the table, with seafood-market stalls and fish or shellfish for a meal. Oarai offers a different pause beside the Pacific, where the offshore Kamiiso torii stands above the rocks. The park, market and coast are separate districts; the guide helps you choose a realistic combination.

Explore Hitachinaka, Nakaminato and Oarai →

Hakone: art outdoors, a lake and a long soak

Lake Ashi puts wooded shores, a red lakeside torii and, in clear conditions, Mount Fuji into one broad view. Inland, the Hakone Open-Air Museum makes art part of the mountain landscape. Choose the lake, the museum or a quieter afternoon, then leave an unhurried evening for dinner and the bath.

Choose your Lake Ashi port and route →
Visit the Hakone Open-Air Museum →

Gunma: steaming streets or riverside stillness

In Kusatsu, the hot spring is part of the townscape: steam rises from Yubatake’s wooden channels, and the walk continues past sweet shops toward Sainokawara Park. A yumomi performance at Netsunoyu adds the rhythm of paddles stirring the hot water.

Shima offers a quieter river valley and an inn-centred retreat. Takaragawa, in the Minakami area, puts riverside bathing at the heart of a stay. Choose the atmosphere first: these are separate destinations with different final transport connections.

Explore Kusatsu Onsen →
Walk Yubatake and visit Netsunoyu →

Two more places to consider

Narita, Chiba. Omotesando’s older buildings and food shops lead toward Naritasan Shinshoji, giving the town a life far beyond the airport. Read the official background to the temple approach (PDF). Around a flight, work backwards from your required airport arrival time.

Mito, Ibaraki. At Kairakuen, shady bamboo gives way to the open plum grove. Visit during plum-blossom season to see the branches light up in white and pink, or explore the garden’s contrasting spaces at another time of year. Explore Kairakuen with Mito’s official visitor guide.

Turn the places into a trip

Tokyo and Yokohama form the urban and bay-side core of southern Kanto. Hakone lies southwest of Tokyo in western Kanagawa; Gunma’s mountain destinations lie north and northwest. Hakone and Kusatsu are separate trips, not neighbouring onsen towns.

Keep nearby Tokyo districts together, give Yokohama or Kamakura their own outing, and allow an overnight stay when the onsen evening is the reason for going. For Nikko’s highlands and the Ibaraki coast, use the local guide to check the final connections rather than judging the day by the distance on a map.

A festival can shape a different visit: compare Sanja Matsuri’s mikoshi processions in Asakusa with Chichibu’s lantern-lit floats and winter fireworks. Check the event’s current arrangements before travelling.

Plan your Japan trip →
Browse the ryokan guides →
Ordering and dining in Japan →