Il Giappone in autunno: Tokyo, Kyoto alle prime luci, una notte in un tempio di montagna e una sotto un tetto di paglia

The morning

Yanaka on foot: wooden houses, small temples, the old cemetery and the Yanaka Ginza shopping street, one of the few corners of Tokyo that still looks the way the city used to.

Lunch

Kamunabi, Sendagi: a tiny ramen counter ten minutes from Yanaka, and our friends' bowl of the trip.

• Open for lunch Wednesday to Sunday, and also on weekend evenings, until the soup runs out

The afternoon

teamLab Planets, Toyosu: a digital art museum you walk through barefoot, wading through water and rooms of mirrors and light.

• Timed tickets only: book ahead
• Afterwards, the Rainbow Bridge and the bay from Odaiba as the lights come on

Dinner

Sushi Kano, Edogawa: a neighbourhood omakase counter half an hour east of the centre, where the chef serves piece by piece.

• Our friends called it the best dinner of their lives
• About ¥25,000 each for the omakase; closed on Wednesdays; book well ahead

The day

The Hakone loop: the mountain railway up to Gora, the cable car, then the ropeway over Owakudani, a volcanic valley still steaming with sulphur, and a boat across Lake Ashi with Mount Fuji behind it on a clear day.

• Do the loop on the clearest morning: Fuji hides behind cloud most afternoons
• Eat a black egg at Owakudani, boiled in the hot spring
• From Moto-Hakone, walk a stretch of the old Tokaido road under 400-year-old cedars

Where you're staying

Hakone Kowakien Ten-yu: every room has its own open-air hot-spring bath looking over the forest, and there is an infinity onsen on the upper floors.

• Our friends' tip from their own night in Hakone: the private bath in the room is what makes it worth it, so book a room that has one

Getting there

Down to Odawara, then the Hikari shinkansen to Kyoto, about two hours. Only some trains stop at Odawara, so reserve seats for a fixed train.

The evening

Gion at dusk: Hanamikoji, the willows along the Shirakawa canal, then the lantern-lit alley of Pontocho above the river.

A last drink

Bar Alchemist, Pontocho: a small cocktail bar, recommended to our friends by a waiter in Gion.

The day

Nara, under an hour from Kyoto by train: Todai-ji and its giant bronze Buddha, the five-storey pagoda of Kofuku-ji, and the park in between, where the deer bow for crackers.

• Start at Todai-ji at opening time, before the school groups

Lunch

Hiraso: kakinoha-zushi, the Nara speciality of sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves, our friends' lunch in Nara.

The morning

Arashiyama: the bamboo grove before 08:00, then the garden of Tenryu-ji and the riverside below the wooded hills.

• Our friends' tip: many of the old tea houses close early, so stop for tea and sweets by about 14:00

The afternoon

Kinkaku-ji and Ryoan-ji, twenty minutes apart: the Golden Pavilion over its pond, then the fifteen stones of the most famous rock garden in Japan.

• Both close at 17:00

Getting there

Through Osaka to Namba, the Nankai line up the valley to Gokurakubashi, then a cable car and a short bus ride to the town at the top: two and a half to three hours from Kyoto.

Where you're staying

Kumagaiji: a working temple that takes guests, with tatami rooms, a large Japanese bath and the monks' vegetarian cooking, shojin ryori, for dinner and breakfast.

• Our friends' favourite night: they had the bath to themselves at 16:00
• Breakfast follows the morning prayers in the temple hall

After dinner

Okunoin at night: two kilometres through giant cedars and some 200,000 graves and memorials to the mausoleum of Kobo Daishi, who founded Koyasan in the 9th century, the path lit by stone lanterns.

• Go with a monk on a guided night walk, or on your own: the path is easy to follow

The morning

The Nyonin-michi, the women's pilgrimage route: the path that women once had to walk around the sacred mountain, through the forest on the ridge, when they were not allowed inside. The whole loop is about seven kilometres; a morning stretch is enough.

On the train

Back down to Osaka, then the Thunderbird to Tsuruga and the Hokuriku shinkansen to Kanazawa: about five hours in all.

Where you're staying

Hotel Pacific Kanazawa: a small, recently renovated hotel with white and wood rooms and a café, a few steps from Omicho market.

• Our friends' Kanazawa hotel, and a room much bigger than they expected

Dinner

Itaru Honten: a loud, happy izakaya famous for its fish: sashimi, grilled, in tempura.

• Our friends' five stars for both the food and the evening
• Closed on Sundays; book ahead

At dawn

Kenroku-en, one of the three great gardens of Japan, in its autumn colours: from 06:00 you can walk in for free through two of its gates until the ticket office opens.

• Stay for green tea at the Shigure-tei tea house when it opens
• Kanazawa Castle park is across the road

Lunch

Omicho market: a covered market of fish stalls and sushi counters, and what our friends called the best fish of their lives.

The afternoon

The samurai houses of Nagamachi, then Higashi Chaya, the old geisha quarter of wooden teahouses, as the lamps come on.

• On Saturdays a geiko performance with tea can be booked through the city's tourist office
• Pick up pastries at the DONQ bakery in the station for the bus tomorrow

Getting there

The express bus from Kanazawa station, about an hour and twenty minutes into the mountains.

• Every seat must be booked, and the buses fill: our friends found them all full on a Thursday

Where you're staying

Kanjiya: a family-run minshuku in a thatched farmhouse in the village, with dinner and breakfast at the irori hearth and cypress-wood baths.

• Sleeping in the village was the one thing our friends wished they had done: the day visitors leave on the last bus, and the village is yours
• Futons on tatami and shared bathrooms, as in all the farmhouses

On the train

The morning bus to Kanazawa, then the Kagayaki shinkansen to Tokyo in about two and a half hours.

Where you're staying

Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo: a family hotel since the 19th century, rebuilt as a modern one by the Yaesu exit of Tokyo Station, so the last morning is easy.

The last evening

New York Bar, Park Hyatt Tokyo: jazz and the lights of Shinjuku from the 52nd floor, open again since the hotel's renovation.

• Our friends' tip: go in through the hotel's main entrance and take the lifts up, rather than following the map to a side door

Getting home

The Narita Express leaves from Tokyo Station, and Haneda is under half an hour away.