Tokyo to Naoshima

We landed the evening before and woke up in Shimbashi. Ueno Park first, because the cherry blossoms were a week past peak and we wanted whatever was left. Dinner at Tsukada Nojo, an izakaya a few minutes from the hotel.

Meiji Shrine in the morning, through the forest in the middle of the city, then Harajuku and Shimokitazawa. Dinner at Shirubee, an izakaya in Shimokitazawa that took three weeks of trying to book.

Tokyo Skytree at ten, Asakusa before lunch, then the river cruise down the Sumida to Hinode Pier. The food hall under Tokyo Station on the way back, which is where the fruit sandwiches live. Dinner at Washoku En in Shiodome.

The Hokusai Museum in Sumida, which had an exhibition on his birds, then Shinjuku for the afternoon. Dinner at Ise Sueyoshi in Nishi-Azabu: a kaiseki counter, a dozen courses, each one built on a different plate.

Shinkansen to Odawara, then the mountain railway up to Gora. The afternoon at the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which is a sculpture park in a valley: Henry Moore under a cherry tree, a man walking out of a giant hand, a steel sphere you stand under and see yourself in. Sushi in Gora for dinner.

A tatami room at the Hyatt Regency with the mountains in the window, then the Pola Museum, which is glass and concrete buried in a beech forest, with a Gerhard Richter show and a Kusama bed. Dinner at Flow, a short walk from the hotel.

Down the mountain to Odawara and the Hikari to Kyoto by noon. Four nights at the Hyatt Place. Dinner at Hanasaki Manjiro in Gion, then a walk through Higashiyama after dark, when the lanes are empty.

Nishiki Market in the morning, Gion, a ramen lunch, and up the hill to Kiyomizu-dera. Dinner at Tempura Endo Yasaka: tempura one piece at a time, over a counter.

Saihoji, the moss temple, which admits you by written application and starts the visit with sutra copying. Then the garden: 120 kinds of moss around a pond, under cedars. Lunch at Shoraian in Arashiyama, a tofu restaurant above the river.

A boat on the Okazaki canal at 9:45, then the Miyako Odori, the geisha dance performance that happens only in April, with tea first. Fushimi Inari in the afternoon, up through the torii. Dinner at Yagenbori on Hanamikoji.

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, early, before the buses. The Nozomi to Okayama in the afternoon. Dinner at Teppan Ku-ya, a counter where the beef is cooked in front of you.

Kurashiki in the morning, the old merchant quarter with a canal and boats. Then Korakuen, one of the three great gardens of Japan, with the black castle across the river. Dinner at Kuikiri Happo: a chef, a counter, and a lobster brought out to meet us before it was cooked.

Ferry from Uno to Naoshima, the art island. Electric bikes for five, and the Art House Project in Honmura: old houses turned over to artists, one work per house. A night at Roka, a ryokan with a kaiseki dinner.

Benesse House in the morning: Niki de Saint Phalle in the garden, Bruce Nauman's neon inside, Kusama's silver spheres in the valley. Then the ferry back, two trains, and Osaka by evening.

A last morning at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, where a giant cat in a space suit guards the entrance and a tin robot stands in the lobby. Then the airport.