Osaka on $50, $110 or $350 a day

Dotonbori morning walk before the crowds (the canal before 9am is extraordinary - the reflections in the water and the silence of the neon). Shinsaibashi shopping street (free to browse - covered arcade, the longest in Japan at 580m). Takashimaya department store basement food hall (depachika - the finest food basement in Osaka, free to enter).

Kuromon Market lunch: sashimi on a stick ($300-500 JPY each), wagyu beef cubes grilled in front of you ($800 JPY), Matsutake mushrooms (seasonal). The market is more expensive than a restaurant but the experience is unrepeatable. Then Hozenji Yokocho and the moss Buddha (free).

Dotonbori at night: the full neon experience. Takoyaki at Gindaco ($500 JPY), kushikatsu at Daruma ($200-400 JPY each skewer). Total dinner cost $1,500-2,000 JPY. The Dotonbori canal at 10pm, with the reflections and the crowds.

Osaka Castle (grounds free, museum $800 JPY). The castle in cherry blossom season (late March-early April) is one of the great spring spectacles in Japan. The museum inside explains Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the unification of Japan. Nishino-maru Garden ($350 JPY in cherry season, otherwise free) for the 600 cherry trees.

Shinsekai lunch: kushikatsu at a Shinsekai restaurant (set menu with 10 skewers + beer, $1,200-1,500 JPY; never double-dip in the sauce). The Tsutenkaku Tower (exterior free, observation deck $1,200 JPY). The retro atmosphere and the locals-only pachinko parlors.

Tennoji evening: a walk through the Tennoji park area and the shotengai (covered shopping streets). Ramen at a neighborhood ramen shop ($900-1,100 JPY for a bowl of Osaka-style ramen with chashu and a soft egg). A canned beer from a convenience store on a bridge ($200 JPY) - the Japanese picnic tradition.

Train to Nara (45 min by Kintetsu, $720 JPY each way): Nara Park (free - 1,200 wild deer that bow on command and approach for shika senbei deer crackers, $200 JPY). Todaiji Temple ($1,000 JPY - the largest wooden building in the world, housing Japan's largest Buddha at 15m tall, extraordinary). The Kasuga Taisha shrine (free approach, $500 JPY for the inner lantern garden).

Naramachi (the old merchant quarter of Nara, free walk). Lunch at a Nara soba restaurant ($800-1,200 JPY). Return to Osaka by late afternoon.

Dotonbori farewell: okonomiyaki at a sit-down Osaka restaurant ($900-1,400 JPY - the Osaka-style savory pancake cooked on the teppan grill in front of you, with Worcestershire sauce and bonito flakes). Highball whisky at a standing bar ($600 JPY).

Cooking class in Osaka: a morning market visit and sushi or takoyaki class ($6,000-8,000 JPY pp - the best cooking schools pick up ingredients from Kuromon Market and teach the technique in a home kitchen setting). Lunch is what you made.

Dotonbori afternoon: the Museum of Instant Noodles ($1,000 JPY - Nissin's birthplace, create your own Cup Noodle). The Namba Grand Kagetsu comedy theater ($3,500-5,500 JPY - Yoshimoto Kogyo manzai (stand-up comedy) in Osaka, even without Japanese the physical comedy and energy are engaging).

Fukushima dinner: a Fukushima chef's table restaurant ($5,000-8,000 JPY pp, seasonal menu, 6-8 courses). The neighborhood's craft beer bars after ($800-1,000 JPY per beer).

Universal Studios Japan (¥8,600 JPY adult, book online; the Nintendo World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter are the headline areas; arrive at gate opening to do both before the queues build). Half day at USJ.

Return to the city. Umeda Sky Building (¥1,500 JPY) for the floating garden view. The underground Osaka Station food market for lunch ($1,500-2,000 JPY). The HEP Five Ferris wheel ($600 JPY).

Omakase sushi dinner: an 8-10 seat sushi counter in Namba or Fukushima ($8,000-12,000 JPY pp for an omakase of 15-20 pieces - much cheaper than Tokyo omakase for equivalent quality; book online through Tableall or Omakase.app).

Shinkansen to Kyoto (15 min, $1,490 JPY - or JR Rapid Service 75 min, $590 JPY). Fushimi Inari-taisha (the 10,000 red torii gates on the mountain, free - arrive before 7am to beat the crowds; the full 4-hour mountain circuit at dawn with no other tourists is transcendent). The tunnel of gates on the 2-hour loop is manageable.

Gion afternoon: the geisha district, the Hanamikoji street, and the Kenninji Zen garden (¥1,000 JPY). A matcha and wagashi set at a Gion teahouse ($1,500-2,000 JPY). Return by Shinkansen or JR.

Return to Osaka. Farewell kaiseki dinner: a kaiseki restaurant in Honmachi or Fukushima ($8,000-15,000 JPY pp for a full multi-course kaiseki; the Kansai style is lighter and more elegant than Tokyo kaiseki).

Private food tour with a professional guide: Kuromon Market before the public opens (arranged through a specialist tour company), then a private sushi breakfast with a market fishmonger-chef. The private early market experience is the finest introduction to Osaka's food culture. Breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka or the Conrad.

Lunch at Hajime (3 Michelin stars in Honmachi - the most austere and artistically ambitious restaurant in Osaka, $30,000+ JPY pp for the tasting menu; reserve 3 months ahead for a seat at what is considered one of the most rigorous dining experiences in Japan). Private afternoon kaiseki lesson.

Dinner at Fujiya 1935 (3 Michelin stars, $25,000-35,000 JPY pp - the Italian-influenced Osaka kaiseki that confounds every expectation; reserve 2 months ahead). A private whisky flight at a Fukushima bar to close.

Private chauffeured trip to Nara: the early-morning Todaiji with a Buddhist scholar before the public opening. The Great Buddha in the largest wooden building in the world, explained by someone who understands what they're looking at. Then the Kasuga Taisha inner gardens.

Continue to Kobe (1h): the Kitano-cho foreigner quarter (the 19th-century merchant houses, free), and the Kobe beef lunch at a Sannomiya steakhouse ($15,000-25,000 JPY pp for a full Kobe beef teppanyaki - the genuine article, with the Hyogo prefecture certification).

Return to Osaka. Private sake tasting at a Dotonbori brewery with a master brewer - the history and technique of Kansai sake production. Dinner at a private Hozenji Yokocho restaurant.

Cooking class with a Michelin-starred chef: a morning session making kaiseki components, sushi rice technique, and the subtleties of dashi (Japanese stock). The knowledge transforms how you eat in Japan for the rest of the trip.

Shopping: the Hankyu department store (the finest department store in Osaka, the food basement alone is worth the trip), Japanese ceramics in the Osaka Ceramics Museum shop ($3,000 JPY), and the knife shops of Dotonbori (Japanese kitchen knives are a justified purchase - Sakai Ichimonji Mitsuhide on Dotonbori has been making blades since the 14th century).

Farewell dinner at Fujiya 1935 or Mizai (a third option for Osaka's 3-Michelin-star dining - pure kaiseki, $25,000 JPY pp, one of 3 3-star restaurants in a city of 2.7 million people). The Osaka craft whisky bar afterward - the Yamazaki and Hibiki from a specialist bar cost $3,000-5,000 JPY per pour but are unavailable at any price elsewhere.