Check the Japan route before you book the hotels.
Japan itineraries are especially easy to overpack because every city looks attractive in a list. RouteRiff does one narrow job: put the main stops on a map and make obvious geographic mistakes harder to miss.
Check my Japan itinerary →Hakone is much closer to Tokyo than Kyoto. Going to Kyoto first and then returning east toward Hakone creates a geographic reversal before heading west again.
Stress-test this route →This order moves more consistently west. It still needs real train, luggage, hotel and attraction checks before booking.
Open the cleaner version →Planning a 10-day Tokyo → Hakone → Kyoto → Osaka → Tokyo loop?
Check whether that common 10-day route is too rushed →
What RouteRiff checks
- long jumps between cities;
- obvious backtracking and detour stops;
- rough travel load across the trip;
- overly travel-heavy pacing when day labels are present;
- whether a simpler stop order reduces straight-line travel.
What it does not check yet
RouteRiff is not a live Japan rail planner. It does not currently calculate exact Shinkansen times, JR Pass value, luggage-forwarding schedules, attraction opening hours, weather or current ticket inventory. Verify those with official sources and booking providers.
Best input
Paste the overnight cities or major transfer stops from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, a spreadsheet or your own notes. If your AI answer is long, RouteRiff can copy a cleanup prompt that asks the model to return only the major stops.
Check a route free →Planning estimates are directional signals, not live travel advice.