I’m finalizing plans for a 2 week trip in December (Dec 18-new years). First time in Japan for the 4 of us. Thought I’d crowdsource. Anyone have a great itinerary they’ve loved to share? Flights booked before- into HND, out of KIX, for now….

Not skiers or snowboarders, but big outdoors people. Prefer not all big cities.

Thanks!

Hi,

Weather in the main cities should be fine ( generally not too cold) and sunny. Autumn colours will have gone by mid December mostly ( start of December was excellent in Tokyo/osaka/nagoya)
I was in Osaka/Nagoya and Tokyo in December 2025 ( i posted daily photos in the trip report section)

Lots of christmas decorations/illuminations up in early December ( come down on 25th though some winter illuminations ( ie Tokyo dome city stay up till february)

Some ideas
Gardens and parks in Tokyo/Yokohama
Tokyo Disneyland ( they do christmas decorations very well)
Nagoya- lots of gardens and botanical gardens . The SCV Maglev/Railway park is very good ( also legoland Japan is close to the museum
Nabana no Sato ( beautiful winter illuminations) about 40mins by rail from Nagoya station. Also Inuyama ( just outside Nagoya ) Has a beautiful castle and garden
Lots to do in Kyoto
Lots of Gardens in Osaka ( very large Expo 1970 and 1990 Garden expo parks) and Minoh falls ( easy paved road up along a stream about 30mins by rail then 30mins walk from Osaka station). From Osaka it is easy to go to Nara ( lots of deer), Kobe and Himeji ( famous castle and garden)

Regards
TBS

PS- The Nozomi ( fastest shinkansen train) will be all reserved seats between christmas and new year. I would check opening times over the christmas period also

This is a bit out of the way, but I went to a crab-focused service station （道の駅）on the Sea of Japan side. Huge crabs for very cheap price. For miso soup, they literally cut a crab in half and put half the crab in the soup, bringing it to a hot boil. We got 2 large snow crabs (ズワイガニ) for Ą2200. We actually only paid for one -- the shop gave us one on the house. It's a whole courtyard of crab shops (and other seafood shops) where you select and buy. They provide a dining area to eat afterwards. Besides crab, they have other seafood like grilled shellfish as well as sushi (we tried a platter of maguro for Ą1500 - 2 akami, 2 chu-toro, and 2 oo-toro).

Like I said, it's out of the way (it's between Toyama and Niigata) and probably only accessible by car, but well worth it if you're in the area. You can also add in a stop to the very nearby island shrine (Benten Rock).

Oh the place is called Kaniya Yokocho Marine Dream Nou (the name of the city / village is Nou).

We just did 5 nights in Kanazawa with day trip to Takayama/Shirakawa in a rental car. Bummed there was no snow in March, would be beautiful in December I'd imagine. Could go hiking/snowshoeing as well.

Shirakawago had "only" four feet of snow on the ground when I visited on Jan 6 many years ago. The Koemon gassho zukuri had snow boots for guests. The host family was very kind.

Takachiho is scenic, has a kagura performance in the shrine. Simple, wonderful memory. In December there are all-night kagura performances at farmhouses in the area.

How old are the kids? Sunny weather would be a perfect day out on rental bicycles exploring showa kinen koen with younger ones.

Thanks! High school age