Tokyo on $35, $120 or $400 a day

Senso-ji temple at 7am — the gates are open, the incense is burning, and the crowds haven't arrived. Walk the Nakamise arcade for a ningyo-yaki (red bean cake, ¥100). Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center rooftop (free views over the temple and Skytree).

Walk or metro to Ueno. Tokyo National Museum (¥1,000 — the greatest collection of Japanese art in the world). Ueno Park (free) — museum hopping or just picnicking under the cherry trees.

Yanaka Ginza for a cheap dinner: yakitori at a standing bar (¥1,500–2,000). Or Ueno's Ameya-Yokocho market for a bowl of ramen (¥800). Back to Asakusa for a walk along the Sumida River at night.

Meiji Shrine at 8am (free — the forested path feels miles from the city). Walk 10 minutes to Harajuku's Takeshita Street (free to explore, all the crepe shops and fashion chaos). Omotesando for window shopping along the elm-lined boulevard.

Shibuya: watch the Scramble from the Starbucks window (buy a ¥600 coffee, own the seat). Walk to Shibuya Stream and the river path north. Daikanyama for second-hand bookshop browsing at Tsutaya Books.

Shinjuku for dinner and night: ramen at Ichiran for ¥980 (solo booths, the best solo dining in the world). Then Golden Gai — find a bar with space (¥500–1,000 per drink, ¥500 cover charge at some), squeeze in, talk to whoever's next to you.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck (free — best free view in Tokyo, 45th floor, opens at 9am). Walk through Shinjuku Gyoen gardens (¥500) or Kabukicho by day (very different from night).

Akihabara: the electronics and anime district — free to browse, impossible not to buy something. Walk south to Kanda Myojin shrine (free). Lunch at any standing soba bar near Akihabara station (¥500–700).

Final dinner at a conveyor-belt sushi (kaiten-zushi): Sushiro or Hama Sushi — plates from ¥110 each. A full dinner costs ¥1,500–2,000. End at a konbini (convenience store) for a canned beer and onigiri under the Tokyo night.

teamLab Planets in Toyosu (¥3,200 — immersive digital art that everyone says is worth it, and they're right; book ahead). Then Toyosu fish market outer market for a tuna bowl (¥2,000).

Back to Asakusa by river bus (¥1,000 from Hinode Pier — the best way to see the Sumida). Senso-ji and the surrounding streets in the afternoon. Nakamise for souvenirs. Kappabashi for a professional Japanese kitchen knife to take home.

Dinner in Asakusa: Daikokuya tempura (queue, worth it, ~¥2,500) or a kappo counter (chef's counter Japanese cuisine) in the neighborhood for ¥5,000–8,000. Walk the Sumida River at night with a canned Asahi.

Shibuya Sky observation deck (¥2,000, book ahead). The scramble from above at 9am is extraordinary. Then Daikanyama: Tsutaya Books flagship, coffee at Ivy Place, browsing the boutiques.

Walk to Nakameguro along the canal (sakura tunnel in spring). Lunch at a canal-side café (¥1,500). Then the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi (~¥2,000, includes the Tokyo City View observation deck — spectacular at sunset).

Dinner in Roppongi or Azabu-Juban: a proper izakaya dinner with beer and kushiyaki skewers for ¥4,000–6,000. Then a cocktail at a Roppongi bar — Tokyo's bar scene is the world's most technically accomplished.

Shinkansen to Kyoto (¥6,600 each way, 2h15). Fushimi Inari torii gates — walk the full mountain trail (2 hours) to escape the crowds at the summit. The lower gates are always busy; above the second station they thin dramatically.

Lunch at a Kyoto kaiseki set (¥2,500–4,000). Arashiyama: bamboo grove (free), Tenryu-ji garden (¥500). Walk the Togetsukyo bridge at 4pm when the light turns gold.

Return shinkansen to Tokyo. Dinner near the station — any ramen shop, any izakaya. The contrast between Kyoto's silence and Tokyo's noise, experienced in a single day, is one of Japan's great gifts.

Tsukiji outer market for breakfast: the freshest tuna sashimi in the world at 7am, a tamagoyaki rolled omelette still hot from the pan, a canned green tea. Then a private Ginza gallery visit arranged through the hotel.

Lunch at a Ginza sushi counter — Saito, Sushi Yoshitake, or Sushi Sho (all with Michelin stars, all requiring reservations months ahead). The chef's selection (omakase) runs ¥30,000–50,000 including sake pairing.

Kabukiza Theatre in Ginza for a kabuki performance (¥4,000–20,000 depending on seat — single-act gallery tickets available for ~¥1,000). Dinner at Inua or Florilège — Tokyo's creative Nordic-Japanese fusion at the highest level.

Private tea ceremony in a Yanaka machiya house — a 90-minute introduction to chado (the way of tea) with a certified teacher, in a 100-year-old building (¥15,000pp). Then a walk through Yanaka with the same host.

Lunch at RyuGin (3 Michelin stars) or Narisawa (nature-inspired Japanese — consistently in World's 50 Best). Afternoon: private Japanese knife-making workshop in Kappabashi or a sake brewery tour in the western suburbs.

Dinner at Quintessence (3 Michelin stars, French-Japanese) or Joel Robuchon Tokyo (the most elaborately produced restaurant in the city). Cocktails at the Bar High Five in Ginza — Hidetsugu Ueno makes the best cocktails in the world.

Chauffeured trip to Nikko (2h north): Tosho-gu shrine complex — the most elaborately decorated building in Japan, set in a cedar forest. The "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys originated here. Private guide included.

Lunch at a Nikko ryokan. Return to Tokyo. Afternoon spa at the Aman Tokyo or Park Hyatt (the Lost in Translation hotel) — the latter has an outdoor pool with a Tokyo skyline backdrop.

Farewell omakase at Sushi Saito or Sushi Kanesaka — the pinnacle of Tokyo's sushi culture. A 2-hour counter experience. Nightcap at the Park Hyatt New York Bar on the 52nd floor.