Every extra hotel on a Japan trip costs you about half a day. Not in train time — in check-out at 10:00, bags in a locker, check-in at 15:00, and the hour it takes to learn a new neighbourhood. Here is that arithmetic, with the chains' official times, and how many bases 7, 10 and 14 days actually need.
The short answer
One base for 7 days, two for 10, three for 14. Treat that as a ceiling, not a target. A 10-day trip that never leaves Tokyo is a good trip. A 14-day trip with five hotels is usually two hotels too many. Every change beyond the ceiling buys you a new skyline and costs you a morning you cannot get back.
What a hotel change really costs you
Count it in hours, not yen. Japanese chains publish a narrow window: out by 10:00 or 11:00, in from 15:00. That is four to five hours in the middle of a day when your room is gone and your bag is not yet in the next one. The Shinkansen ride is the short part; the packing, the locker hunt and the new-station orientation are the long part.
| Chain | Check-in | Check-out | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyoko Inn | 15:00 | 10:00 | Same times for members and non-members; earliest check-out of the four |
| Dormy Inn | 15:00 | 11:00 | Property-level times; Ikebukuro lists 15:00/11:00 |
| MIMARU | 15:00 | 11:00 | Free bag storage 07:00-22:00 on arrival and departure days |
| Sotetsu Fresa Inn | 15:00 | 11:00 | Free member perk: 14:00 in, 12:00 out |
So the floor is 15:00 in, and the best you get out is 11:00. Early check-in is never promised: MIMARU says plainly that before 15:00 depends on the day's availability, and late check-out there costs ¥3,000 an hour between 11:00 and 18:00. Plan the move day as a travel day with one small thing in it, not as a sightseeing day with a train in the middle.
The 3-night rule
Three nights per base is where a move starts paying for itself. Two nights gives you one clean day plus two half days. Three nights gives you two clean days and the option of a day trip. One night gives you an evening and a rushed morning, for the same four to five hours of dead time as a three-night stay. The cost of moving is fixed; only the payoff changes.
The exception is a deliberate one-nighter you would otherwise skip entirely — a ryokan, an onsen town, a night near the airport before a 07:00 flight. Those are worth the half day because the night itself is the point. A one-night stop purely to see a city rarely is.
Tokyo-only: when it works
One base works for any trip up to about 10 days, because Tokyo has real day trips in every direction and you come home to the same room every night. The test is simple: if everything you want is inside a two-hour radius, do not move. Kamakura, Hakone, Kawaguchiko and Nikko all qualify. Kyoto and Osaka do not.
The four day trips that earn a Tokyo-only trip, with one-way prices checked on the operators' Japanese pages:
- Kamakura — ¥1,040 from Tokyo Station, about 55 minutes, direct on the Yokosuka Line. Temples, the Great Buddha and the Enoden coast line in one day.
- Hakone — Romancecar from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto, ¥2,470 (¥1,270 fare + ¥1,200 limited express), 85-95 minutes.
- Kawaguchiko — highway bus from Busta Shinjuku, ¥2,200, about 1h45. Cheaper and more frequent than the four daily Fuji Excursion trains at ¥4,200.
- Nikko — Tobu from Asakusa, ¥1,400 fare + ¥1,650 limited express in regular season. The JR route via Utsunomiya is ¥5,260 and slower.
Four day trips at those prices cost less than one Shinkansen leg to Kyoto, and none of them costs you a check-in. That is the whole case for staying put. One base also makes the neighbourhood choice matter more: our Ginza vs Shinjuku comparison runs the prices.
The split: Tokyo + Kyoto
The Tokyo-plus-Kyoto split is worth exactly one half day, and only if you give Kyoto at least three nights. Tokyo to Kyoto is ¥14,170 reserved in regular season, ¥13,320 non-reserved, and 2h09-2h15 on a Nozomi. Add check-out, the walk to the platform and the walk to the new hotel and you are looking at four to five hours door to door. Sleeping in Kyoto or Osaka is a separate question — we compare the two in Kyoto or Osaka: where to stay.
What does not work is treating Kyoto or Osaka as a day trip from Tokyo. Two Shinkansen legs is over ¥26,000 and four and a half hours of seat time, for maybe five hours on the ground. If the west of Japan matters to you, move once and stay.
7, 10 or 14 days: how many bases
Nights, not days, decide this. Subtract the arrival evening and the departure morning, divide what is left by three, and you have your maximum number of bases. That is how our 7-day itinerary, 10-day routes and 14-day plan are all built.
| Trip | Bases we'd book | Hotel changes | Dead time lost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 1 (Tokyo) or 2 (Tokyo + Kyoto) | 0-1 | 0-5 hours |
| 10 days | 2 (Tokyo + Kyoto) | 1 | 4-5 hours |
| 14 days | 3 (Tokyo + Kyoto + one more) | 2 | 8-10 hours |
| 12 days, 5 hotels | 5 | 4 | 16-20 hours, about two full days |
The bottom row is the trip people post on forums and then regret. Four changes on a 12-day trip burn roughly two full days — and they land on the days you are least able to absorb them, because you are also navigating an unfamiliar station with everything you own.
Luggage forwarding makes it painless
Sending the suitcase ahead removes most of the pain, though not the clock. Yamato's own fare table, in force since October 1, 2025, prices a 140-size case from the Tokyo region to the Kansai region at ¥2,780 and a 160-size at ¥3,160, next day within Honshu. Hand it in at the hotel front desk the day before you move and travel with a daypack. The full rules are in our guide to luggage forwarding in Japan.
Two things it does not fix. It is next-day, not same-day, so you need one overnight bag. And you still check out at 10:00 or 11:00. For the hours in between, station lockers cost ¥300-¥1,000 a day depending on size — Tokyo Metro stations post ¥300, ¥500, ¥600, ¥900 and ¥1,000 tiers, and JR East stations typically run ¥400 small, ¥500 medium, ¥600-800 large and ¥1,000 oversize. Some hotels, MIMARU among them, store bags free from 07:00 to 22:00 on your arrival and departure days. And if the big case rides with you, the 160 cm oversized baggage rule decides whether the seat needs booking with luggage space.
Frequently asked questions
Is 5 hotels in 12 days too many?
Yes, by our rule. Twelve days is about ten usable ones; five hotels means four changes, which is 16-20 hours of dead time — roughly two whole days spent checking in and out. Three bases is the sensible maximum at that length, and you can still see a fourth city as a stop-off on a travel day without sleeping there.
Is 10 days in Tokyo only a mistake?
No. Tokyo has more than ten days of sights on its own, and Kamakura, Hakone, Kawaguchiko and Nikko are all day trips from it. You skip four to five hours of moving and you unpack once. The only reason to leave is a specific thing you want that is elsewhere.
Can I day-trip to Kyoto or Osaka from Tokyo?
You can, but it is poor value. Round trip is over ¥26,000 and roughly four and a half hours on trains, leaving about five hours on the ground. If those cities matter to you, move once and give them at least three nights.
Can I keep my Tokyo hotel and book a second one for two nights?
Yes, and it is often the calmest option. You pay for two empty nights in Tokyo but keep your base, your unpacked bag and your known route to the airport. On a mid-range room the double-booking usually costs less than the stress of moving twice — run the numbers on your own rate before dismissing it.
Do I need separate hotels in Kyoto and Osaka?
No. They are under 30 minutes apart by train, so one base covers both. Pick Kyoto if mornings at temples matter, Osaka if food and price matter — Osaka rooms run noticeably cheaper. Flying out of Kansai Airport is easy from either.
Is two nights per city enough?
Two nights buys you one full day. That is enough for a small city like Kanazawa, not for Kyoto. If a place only deserves two nights, ask whether it deserves the four to five hours the move costs, or whether it works better as a stop on the way.
What time can I actually get into my room?
15:00 at every big chain we checked — Toyoko Inn, Dormy Inn, MIMARU and Sotetsu Fresa Inn. Earlier is possible but never guaranteed; it depends on that day's cleaning. Members of some chains get 14:00. Assume 15:00 and plan the afternoon around it.
