Suggestions for Spring 2018 trip to Japan for Repeat Visitors?
Hoping to get some suggestions on planning a spring 2018 trip to Japan.
The missus and I are considering taking advantage of some cheap flights on ANA to Tokyo that have spotty availability from now to June. We're thinking of traveling in the spring (March to June) timeframe for about 2 to 2.5 weeks. Looking to avoid Golden Week. Focus on festivals and food. Catching Sakura would be nice but not critical. The dates that kind of work for flights and work are the latter part of March, mid-April, and mid-late May. Thinking of avoiding June due to rainy season (?).
Thoughts on dates and corresponding festivals to hit?
We've been to Japan a few times (me=6, her=4) so we've caught a lot of the common places (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshimi, Miyajima, Mt Koya, Fuji Five Lakes, Kinosaki) and vicinity, some a few times and have our favourites there. We'll build in some repeats but looking to add a few new places. A few cities/towns we haven't been to that kind of stand out in terms of food destinations we're considering are Nagoya, Hakodate, Fukuoka, Matsumoto,and Okinawa. We've been meaning to visit Hokkaido and Okinawa. I doubt we can fit both in this trip from a practical perspective. We're also thinking about just getting a 2 week railpass and going up and down the country from Sappopro to Fukuoka even though it sounds to be grueling and we'd be back tracking a bit if we started in Tokyo. Might have to consider tacking on flights on a LCC if just for one way of each the northern most and southern most locations.
Thoughts on places to visit and transport ideas?
TIA.