JNTO's office in Mexico City reported 200,400 visitors from Mexico in 2025, a record and 32% more than the year before. Among travellers with high purchasing power, it wrote, Japan remained one of the favourite destinations for special celebrations such as honeymoons, with a preference for authentic, exclusive and personalised experiences: a stay in a ryokan, fine dining, traditional art and culture, luxury shopping and wellness. It spoke of honeymoons centred on personalised luxury.
A honeymoon from Mexico begins after a wedding that has filled the months before it, and after a long flight into a time fifteen hours ahead. This article sets out how we shape that journey around rest: the first days, a ryokan with an open-air bath of your own, a few tables for two, and days left deliberately empty. We read JNTO's release and statistics, JETRO's report, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the pages of ryokan, hotels and a ryotei, and Mexican and Japanese press, and contacted none of them; the sources are listed at the end. For the general planning of a honeymoon, see Planning a Japan Honeymoon With a Specialist →.
Key points
- JNTO's Mexico office names Japan one of the favourite honeymoon destinations for Mexico's travellers with the most to spend.
- Japan is fifteen hours ahead of Mexico City all year, and the body adjusts by about an hour a day after flying east, so the first ryokan night is best placed after a few days in the city.
- Asaba in Shuzenji, run by one family since 1484, serves dinner in the room; every one of the 16 rooms at Beniya Mukayu has its own open-air bath.
- Kyoto holds the great kaiseki tables: Kikunoi's main house has three Michelin stars, and Taka-An at Aman Kyoto is led by a chef trained at Kyoto Kitcho.
- Licensed guides who speak Spanish are few: 20 passed the national guide-interpreter exam in Spanish in 2025, so we secure one early.
THE FIRST DAYS IN THE CITY
JETRO notes that Narita is the only Japanese airport with flights to Mexico City, flown daily by ANA and Aeroméxico. ANA flies nonstop; Aeroméxico's flight has at times stopped on the way, so we confirm the routing for your dates. Mexico ended daylight saving time on October 30, 2022, outside its northern border areas, so Japan is fifteen hours ahead of Mexico City in every season. The CDC's Yellow Book gives an average adjustment of about one hour a day after flying east.
That arithmetic shapes the honeymoon. A ryokan's evening is its finest hour, with the bath before dinner and kaiseki served from around 18:00 or 19:00. In the first days, that hour falls in the middle of the night by the body's clock. We therefore begin with two or three nights in a Tokyo hotel, with late breakfasts, a garden in the morning light and nothing that must be kept, and place the first ryokan night after that.
A BATH OF YOUR OWN
Asaba, in Shuzenji on the Izu peninsula, was founded in 1484 and has been run by the Asaba family for more than five centuries. Its Noh stage was brought from Tokyo at the end of the Meiji era, and six of its ten rooms look out over the stage and the pond. The Villa Tenko has an outdoor bath of Towada stone; the room called Hagoromo has a half-open bath facing the stage. Dinner and breakfast are served in the room.
Gora Kadan, in Hakone, stands on the grounds of the villa of the Kan'in-no-miya, once a summer retreat of the imperial family, and keeps a category of rooms with an open-air bath, along with suites with stone baths outdoors. Further west, in the hot spring town of Yamashiro in Kaga, every one of the 16 rooms at Beniya Mukayu has a private open-air bath overlooking the garden, and its spa offers a treatment designed for recovering from jet lag. For Kyoto's ryokan with baths in the room, see Kyoto Ryokan with Private Onsen →.
THE TABLE FOR TWO
At a ryokan such as Asaba, dinner comes to the room, served course by course, and the evening never leaves it. In Kyoto, the table is a destination in itself. Kikunoi's main house holds three stars in the Michelin Guide Kyoto Osaka 2024, and its Roan began in 1976 as a counter of six seats. Taka-An, the kaiseki restaurant of Aman Kyoto, is led by chef Shinichiro Takagi, who trained at Kyoto Kitcho; dinner runs from 18:00 with the last order at 20:00, and from November 8, 2026 to the end of February 2027 it serves a kaiseki of snow crab.
JNTO's Mexico office notes that visitors from Mexico eat late, and Japan's finest kitchens keep early hours. We set the great dinner of each city on an evening that follows a quiet afternoon. Some of the most sought-after counters seat guests only by introduction; we ask on your behalf, and the decision is the house's. What to expect at the table is in Kaiseki Etiquette: What to Expect at a Kaiseki Dinner →.
DAYS WITH NOTHING ON THEM
Rest, on a honeymoon, has to be planned like everything else. Aman Kyoto lies at the foot of Hidari Daimonji in Takagamine, in a forest garden in the north of the city. Its indoor and outdoor hot spring baths open from 7:00 to 22:00, by reservation so that they stay quiet, and shiatsu is its speciality, with acupuncture and moxibustion also offered. HOSHINOYA Kyoto, on the river in Arashiyama, has 25 rooms on a site where the nobility once spent their leisure.
A day at either can be the best of the journey. For spas that welcome couples in Tokyo and Kyoto, see Hotel Spas in Tokyo and Kyoto for Couples →; for how much open time to leave, How Much Free Time Should a Luxury Japan Itinerary Include? →.
A GUIDE WHO SPEAKS SPANISH
Many couples from Mexico prefer to hear the temples and the tea ceremony explained in their own language. Licensed guides who work in Spanish are few. In the 2025 national guide-interpreter examination, 118 candidates sat the exam in Spanish and 20 passed, out of 585 who passed in every language. We look for a Spanish-speaking guide as soon as the dates are known, and arrange the days that matter most around their availability.
THE SEASON
The Japan Meteorological Agency's normal dates for the first cherry blossom are March 24 in Tokyo and March 26 in Kyoto, with full bloom in Kyoto on April 4. The autumn colour comes late: in 2025, the maples turned on November 23 in Tokyo, five days earlier than normal, and on December 10 in Kyoto, five days later. A wedding fixed for the cooler months fits Japan's autumn well; the month-by-month view is in Best Time for a Honeymoon in Japan: Month by Month (2027) →.
A SHAPE FOR TWELVE NIGHTS
A draft we might begin with: three nights in Tokyo to arrive and rest, two nights at a ryokan in Izu or Hakone, four in Kyoto with one great dinner and one empty day, two at Beniya Mukayu in Kaga, and a last night close to Narita for the flight home. Couples who want the sea at the end can exchange the last ryokan for Okinawa; see Okinawa Honeymoon: Islands, Resorts and When to Go →.
Within Signature, our planning for journeys of 7 to 21 days for one group, we draw the rest days first and the tables and experiences around them. Hotels, ryokan, drivers and restaurants are arranged by us and settled with each of them in the simplest way available, usually on your hotel bill or on the day. Journeys of 22 days or more are planned as Bespoke.
SOURCES AND HOW WE CHECKED
We read the pages below on November 5, 2026. Hours, menus and room types change; we confirm them for your dates. We did not contact any ryokan, hotel, restaurant or other body.
- JNTO Mexico, Record of Mexican visitors in 2025, January 23, 2026 (Spanish): 200,400 visitors, honeymoons, what high-income travellers seek
- JETRO, Area report on Mexico, February 16, 2026 (Japanese): direct flights to Narita only
- Kanko Keizai Shimbun, column by JNTO's Mexico office, September 2, 2025 (Japanese): who travels from Mexico, late meals
- Aeroroutes, Aeroméxico Mexico City to Tokyo, September to December 2026: a stop at Puerto Vallarta on the way to Narita
- Expansión, end of daylight saving time, October 30, 2022 (Spanish): where it remains
- CDC Yellow Book, Jet lag: about one hour a day eastward
- Asaba, official site, rooms and dining: founded 1484, the Noh stage, ten rooms, dinner in the room
- Gora Kadan, official site and rooms: the imperial villa, rooms with an open-air bath
- Beniya Mukayu, rooms and spa: 16 rooms with open-air baths, the jet lag treatment
- Kikunoi, official site: three Michelin stars, Roan since 1976
- Aman Kyoto, Taka-An: the chef, hours, the snow crab kaiseki
- Aman Kyoto, Wellness: hot spring hours, shiatsu, acupuncture
- HOSHINOYA Kyoto, official site: 25 rooms on the river in Arashiyama
- JNTO, National guide-interpreter examination 2025, results (Japanese): 118 candidates and 20 passes in Spanish
- Japan Meteorological Agency, cherry blossom first bloom (Japanese) and full bloom: normal dates
- Japan Meteorological Agency, maple colouring 2025 (Japanese): Tokyo and Kyoto
- Milenio, October 29, 2023 (Spanish): a honeymoon in Japan followed by the Mexican press
QUESTIONS COUPLES ASK
Is Japan a good honeymoon destination from Mexico?
JNTO's Mexico office counts it among the favourite honeymoon destinations for Mexico's travellers with the most to spend, drawn by ryokan, fine dining, traditional culture and wellness. The long flight asks for a slower first few days.
When should the ryokan nights come?
After two or three nights in the city. Japan is fifteen hours ahead of Mexico City, and a ryokan's evening, with the bath and a dinner from about 18:00, is best enjoyed once the body has begun to adjust.
Which ryokan have a private open-air bath?
Many of the finest do, in some or all rooms. At Beniya Mukayu in Kaga every room has one; Gora Kadan in Hakone and Asaba in Shuzenji have rooms with outdoor baths. We match the room to the season and the view.
Can we have a guide who speaks Spanish?
Yes, though licensed Spanish-speaking guides are few: 20 passed the national exam in Spanish in 2025. We look for one as soon as your dates are known.
How long should a Japan honeymoon from Mexico be?
Twelve to fourteen nights suit most couples: enough for rest days, two ryokan stays and Kyoto without hurry. A longer journey can add the sea in Okinawa.
ASK US ABOUT A HONEYMOON
Send us your dates and what you both hope to feel in Japan. We will draw the rest days, the ryokan nights and the tables side by side, with the reasons, before anything is arranged.
Begin planning →We reply within 24 hours, in writing
Some of the restaurants and bars we arrange seat guests only by introduction or membership. We ask on your behalf; the table and the evening are the house's decision. We do not publish their names.