Thanks Richard. We've already been to Nagasaki. Fukuoka is a possibility, though I'm not sure it would really offer anything markedly different than what we've experienced in other cities and while it would serve as a good point of departure for exploring the southern end of Kyushu and the Kagoshima Prefecture (future trip) I don't necessarily think there's enough incentive to leave a city like Tokyo for several nights to be there. It seems unnecessary to fly across the country just to spend a few nights in another big Japanese city when Tokyo offers so much. We'll definitely visit on a future trip and explore some of the other islands and prefectures. As for Khabarovsk, I can't say that I'm inspired by what I've seen and the weather in late November will likely be hovering a few degrees above freezing, making it all the less enticing. Plus there's all the paperwork and the bureaucracy as you've mentioned. My wife has also been to Russia already. She traveled extensively through the country while working with the UN some time ago. I only mention that because it doesn't apply to her travel 'rule' of visiting a new part of the world.

Based on all the research that I've done, I think we'll either do the Tokyo/HK circuit (if we can afford to do it right) or more likely, just stick to Tokyo with a weekend at Asaba ryokan in Shuzenji, Izu and return to Hong Kong in early April for a week-long visit, which I'm leaning towards. As much as I agree with everything that evergrn posted, I really would like to stay in the old wing at The Pen and do the high-end Cantonese tasting menus at night (there's really no place else in the world that offers anything like it) and the more local and lively dim-sum and noodle parlors during the day. I'd like to take a boat out to the fishing village of Tai O and ferry to Macau for two nights. I think it would be more fun to return in spring, even if the climate isn't as ideal, and be able to really "live it up" with less concern for time and expense. If we were to fly in as an extension to our Tokyo trip, 4 nights would be the absolute max. which barely allows me to squeeze in all of the great restaurants and bars on my list. I'd prefer to have a full 6-7 nights in HK with 2 in Macau and leave ourselves with something exciting to look forward to in the spring. I really don't think there's another city or destination in East Asia within a few hours flight time that offers as much as Tokyo does and can also be properly experienced in only a few nights. HK is the one exception. I'll wait to see how things are looking in the new year. As it stands, we're still paying off our recent travel expenses - we just got back from a full 2 weeks at the Soniat House in NOLA not long ago and we're off to Italy in the fall, then Miami and the Keys over the holidays, and on and on. I'm not making any firm plans beyond Japan as of yet, so I'll have many months to build excitement and see how things unfold.