Hello!
Some weeks ago, I asked the forums about a side beach trip after a Japan itinerary. But after some research, I ruled out this side trip and extended my stay in Japan.

It's my first trip to this country. I want to show you my planning in order to receive some feedback (comments, criticism, suggestions...). Any advice will be welcome. The only thing I can't change it's flight's dates.

I prefer to leave my suitcase in a hotel (and unpack) and take more train/bus/metro than to change hotel very often.

Thur 20.9.- BCN-NRT via London
Fri 21.9.- Arriving at NRT around 10am // Take Japan Rail Pass to be activated on Thur 28.9. // Bus to T-CAT. // Check in at Comfort Hotel Kiyosumi Shirakawa for 7 nights. // Fight against jet-lag
Sat 22.9 to Thur 28.9.- Tokyo. Day trips to Hakone (Mon 25.10) and Nikko (Tues 26.10)
Thur 28.9.- Tokyo --> Takayama (train 4h 30min). Lodging not yet decided (doubt between western-style hotel or japanese ryokan. 2 nights) // Takayama visit.
Fri 29.9.- Day trip to Shirakawago (bus 2h o/w)
Sat 30.9.- Takayama --> Osaka (train 3h 15min). Check in at ANA Osaka Hotel for 5 nights.
Sat 30.10 to Thur 5.10.- Kyoto. Day trip to Nara (Tue 3.10). Some time in Osaka.
Thur 5.10.- Osaka --> Hiroshima (train 2h) (en route: Himeji castle). Check in at Intelligent Hotel Annex for 5 nights
Thur 5.10 to Tue 10.10.- Hiroshima and Miyajima. Day trip to Fukuoka? Beppu?
Tue 10.10.- Hiroshima --> Tokyo (Narita?) (train 6h). Shopping
Wed 11.10.- Return flight to BCN via London. Take off at 10.50 am

For this trip, I try to focus on a city experience.
I'm not absolutely sure about spend 1-2 nights at a ryokan.
I have also a more detailed planning for every day, but I'm not sure to achieve it.

I have chosen Comfort Hotel Kiyosumi Shirakawa in Tokyo because it's cheap and brand new. Offers free Internet and breakfast and it's connected to the underground (2 lines). I think I will take public transportation from one area to another wherever a hotel is. (I have checked prices on Park Hyatt, a current classic 'in translation', but 1 night there equals (more or less) 7 nights at Comfort! :( ). T-Cat bus station is at a walking distance.

And for Osaka-Kyoto, I also have check a lot of hotels in Kyoto, but there was few vacancies for the full stay (especially full on Sat 30.9). The only available hotels were expensive (more than 20.000 JPY/night, plus tax. Gran Via was recommended) or were ex-centric: 30 min bus journey from JR station. Osaka is also 30 min by train from Kyoto and has a wider range of available hotels. ANA Hotel is close to Osaka station.

Hiroshima is a base to explore the southern area of Honshu. I doubted between Hir. or Fukuoka, but I chose Hir. to be a bit closer to Tokyo for return journey on 10.10.

Last, I want to go (yes, I'm a bit freaky) to a place named 'Parque España (http://www.parque-net.com)' in Shima City, that is a theme park in Japan (http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/travel/30journeys.html?ex=1311912000&en=38bb9f0a8edad8ce&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss). I don't know how to fit the visit into this itinerary.

Thanks for reading this too long post!

Last, I want to go (yes, I'm a bit freaky) to a place named 'Parque España (http://www.parque-net.com)' in Shima City, that is a theme park in Japan (http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/travel/30journeys.html?ex=1311912000&en=38bb9f0a8edad8ce&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss). I don't know how to fit the visit into this itinerary.
Then whilst in Tokyo, you mustn’t miss out on:

The Ginza Espero! - http://www.albufera.com/portal/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1434
"...el jurado premió a la paella de los japoneses del restaurante Ginza Espero, como la mejor paella de fuera de España."

http://homepage2.nifty.com/ginza-espero/ has maps, menus, prices etc...

This sounds like a sensible itinerary to me.

A few ideas:

Instead of Beppu I would spend a day in Kirashiki and Himeiji. This could either be a day trip from Hiroshima, or just stop on your way to Hiroshima. Beppu is fun in a tacky way, but Kirashiki and Himeiji are nicer and more historical. A few hours in each is enough. In Beppu, the touristy hot springs are hard to get to without a car. (I have not been to Fukuoka.)

Mt. Aso, which is a couple hours out from Beppu, is very nice but might be a bit much for a day trip unless you start very early and get back late. If you like riding trains and seeing scenery, though, it would be something to think about. You only need an hour or so there--just see the crater and get the next bus back down. The train and bus ride are as interesting as the valcano itself, IMO.

Rather than go back to Takayama after Shirakawa-go, I would continue on to Kanazawa, which is a VERY nice small city. (Allow one full day for Takayama, one day for Shirakawa-go, one for Kanazawa; you might need to snip a day off of Osaka, therefore.) Take the morning bus from Takayama, leave your luggage in the ticket office at Shirakawa-go while you see it, then continue on on a late afternoon bus.

Actually, you could stay overnight in Toyama after seeing Shirakawa-go, where there is a very nice, inexpensive Comfort Hotel only a block from the station! Toyama is worth a little time walking around--a picturesque castle, shopping streets, trolley cars. Then you could continue to Kanazawa in the morning--it's less than an hour by train and they run very frequently.

But there are a couple of nice budget hotels in Kanazawa near the train station also. I can't think of the names right now, but I could find them if you are interested.

See all the standard sights in Kanazawa, including the castle, market, the old samurai quarters with the Nomura House (wonderful), and Kenroku-en Garden with the Seisonkaku villa (also wonderful). This sounds like a lot, but if you map your route carefully, you can do it all in a day (skip the old geisha quarters--nice but not spectacular and a little further away from the main tourist route). Stay overnight in Kanazawa, take an early train, and be in Osaka before lunch. Or linger a little longer in Kanazawa!

In Takayama, people like the Rickshaw Inn a lot. It is inexpensive and close to the station--Japanese style but catering to westerners, I believe. They have a web site in English. Also, if you arrive during the day, the folks at the tourist office are VERY helpful in booking accomodations for you--unless it was a weekend, this would probably be safe to do. I stayed at the Takayama Central Hotel, which is similar to a Comfort Hotel, a bit more expensive, a bit less nice, but close to the train station and perfectly fine (about 5000-5500 yen).

I am a big fan of Comfort Hotels in Japan--they are clean and comfortable, inexpensive, and have a good breakfast. Certainly the best deal in western-style lodging for budget travelers. (Though I'm not sure we should give the secret away . . . ) I haven't stayed at the Tokyo one, but am planning to in the future.

I generally agree with having base cities and doing day trips, but if you want to sightsee while en route somewhere, most train stations and tourist attractions have places to check your luggage. Japan is the easiest country in the world to travel in as far as finding a place to leave your luggage while sightseeing during the day if you don't have a base hotel.

Don't worry about not staying in Kyoto. Unless you want to spend a hideous amount of money, staying overnight is not special--it's more the things that you see during the day that are of interest. Yuhara Ryokan is a budget Japanese inn catering to Westerners in Kyoto--did you try there? It's walkable from the JR station, though kind of far. I liked it, but they don't allow you in your room between 10 am and 3 pm, which somepeople don't like. Me, I'm out sightseeing until dark, so who cares?

Don't worry about not staying in Kyoto. Unless you want to spend a hideous amount of money, staying overnight is not special--it's more the things that you see during the day that are of interest. Yuhara Ryokan is a budget Japanese inn catering to Westerners in Kyoto--did you try there? It's walkable from the JR station, though kind of far. I liked it, but they don't allow you in your room between 10 am and 3 pm, which somepeople don't like. Me, I'm out sightseeing until dark, so who cares?

Another place to stay in Kyoto might be the Three Sisters Inn (http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g298564-d302809-r5013269-Three_Sisters_Inn_Annex-Kyoto_Kinki.html) . It's another place that caters to Westerners--in fact, when I called to reserve the woman on the other end double-checked that I wasn't Japanese. It's pretty much a glorified youth hostel (at least the part I stayed in) and was not my first choice of where to stay, but everything else that weekend was booked up by Japanese tourists, so this works as a place to stay during peak tourist times. I don't remember them having a curfew, but you'd want to check.

thanks for your feedback.

LapLap: I think I'm not freaky enough to eat a paella abroad ;) but this restaurant worth a look. Thanks for the links

ginnyfsf: thanks for sharing your opinions about Comfort hotels in Japan. I'm a bit unsure about the Tokyo's choice (just 2 comments in TripAdvisor, though both very good), but now I'm more confident.
What I want to do in Beppu is spend a day in hot springs. I saw some scenery photos of Mt. Aso, but I discarded it because of distance from Hiroshima. But maybe I try to calculate it as a day trip
Very good idea Kanazawa. Maybe I change a day in Hiroshima for a day in Kanazawa. In addition to all sights you write about, I read about an interesting new Contemporary Art Museum. I'm going to study this option.
And as for hotels, currently I'm trying to book lodging with instant online reservation. I have traumatic experiences of arriving to a city without a hotel reservation. I know this put a limit in my options, but I feel more confident. Also, I'm not very fluent in English: I prefer online to phone reservations.

Thanks

There's got to be a better, closer hot springs than Beppu that we could recommend to you--does anyone have any ideas? I didn't think the hot springs in Beppu were that fabulous. Perhaps something in the Hakone area, since you're interested in going there anyway?

Re: museums, I've never been, but am intrigued by the Miho Museum (http://www.miho.jp/spanish/index.htm) , which is a day trip out of Kyoto (I've linked the Spanish page, don't know if the translation is any good). I don't think the collections are contemporary but the building itself looks very cool (designed by I.M. Pei).

Kanazawa is a wonderful place. There's a Holiday Inn near the main train station that I imagine you could do an online booking at.

There's got to be a better, closer hot springs than Beppu that we could recommend to you--does anyone have any ideas?

Lots of reviews on the following site:
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/section-onsen.html

If going to Kanazawa - then perhaps Yuwaku Onsen
http://www.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp/meisyo_e/kougai/yuwaku/yuwakuE.html
(Or extend the trip from there to visit Toyama - and go to the Kurobe valley which has spectacular scenery and onsen).

Kyoto has the Kurama onsen - which gets lots of publicity in this forum - a short train ride to the North of the city.