Mark Draft

Background: we are a retired couple in our 60s. Both have traveled extensively worldwide including multiple times in Japan. We know Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Nara. Now we are planning a 4-6 week stay somewhere we have never been and would like some recommendations. My Japanese is rudimentary and hers is nil. Once we zero in on a location I plan to look for an aparthotel or other similar extended stay place. I know they are rare outside of Tokyo. We are looking at going between Nov 2015 and April 2016. I prefer not to rent cars. Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated.

abmj-jr

For that length of time in one spot and excluding Tokyo or Kyoto/Osaka (my choice,) I'd think Fukuoka or Nagasaki on Kyushu or Sapporo on Hokkaido. Since late November through April are winter on Hokkaido, that leaves Kyushu.

There are other options such as Kanazawa on the Japan Sea coast, Sendai to the north of Tokyo or one of the larger cities on Shikoku but a month in any of those seems excessive. I'd figure on spending a lot of time outside your chosen base, exploring the countryside. That says Kyushu or Shikoku to me, with an additional nod to Okayama because you can easily get anywhere from there.

I am speaking from personal bias as Kochi (Shikoku), Nagasaki and Sendai are perhaps my favorite cities outside of Kyoto.

nishimark

Are you thinking for settling in and living a daily life while on this trip? For example, going to the market for that day's food, staying mainly at home relaxing, getting to know the immediate neighborhood. Or, do you want to do sightseeing kinds of things most every day? If the latter, as noted above, Kyushu might be good, as there are many places to go and see. On the other hand, public transportation doesn't operate nearly as often throughout the day once you get out of the major urban areas. You can still get around, but you need to be more careful about planning based on the more limited time schedule.

ksandness

You have not indicated how much you are willing to move around. Do you want to spend the entire six weeks in one place or are you willing to spend three weeks in two places or two weeks in three places?

Mark Draft

Thanks for the feedback. During this trip we are planning to stay put and get to know the neighborhood, the markets, local eateries, onsens etc. If that gets boring I'm not averse to hopping on a train for a 1-2 days' trip to somewhere else. But given the fact that it will be winter I'm not keen on moving around much. Another friend highly recommended Hokkaido and Fukuoka. Hokkaido will be too cold for me <g> and we don't ski. Thank you abmj-jr I'll look into those towns. Sounds like things are narrowing down to Kyushu and Shikoku...

nishimark

I'd recommend around the Fukuoka area. It's a big city, but becomes country fast when you start to get out of town. A lot may hinge on rental availability. But if you were in a suburb of Fukuoka, for example, you could take the train into town for a bit of variety if you find that the immediate neighborhood isn't so lively. Also, you could easily get to other interesting places like Nagasaki, Yufuin, Beppu, etc.

Edit to add: Fukuoka (Hakata) ramen is quite famous and good.

ksandness

It sounds as if "weekly mansions" might be good for you. These are studio apartments that are rented out to students and traveling business people.

They come with kitchen and bath and one large room that functions as living and bedroom.

Otherwise, look and see if AirBnB has any accommodations in the cities you're interested in. However, before committing to an AirBnB rental, I'd check the owner's references and see the property in person if possible.

evergrn

I second Fukuoka. Nishimark is spot on with his comments about Fukuoka's advantages. Another great city imo is Kobe, which is a large attractive city with nature/mountain as its backdrop and also close to a lot of attractions. If you spend 4-6wks in a smaller city, there's a chance you'll love it but there's also a chance you might get bored.

Although you've been to Tokyo, I can assure you that you've only scratched its surface and so I'd also consider Tokyo or a nearby area/suburb (eg, Yokohama).

nishimark

This is a good point. When you get away from the larger metro areas, things can get quiet in a hurry. In other words, 1 grocery store, 1 or 2 basic restaurants, nothing really exciting. On the other hand, living in a place such as in Kobe or Yokohama may sound rather urban, but you will have many more things to explore, see, and do in the local neighborhood. Another advantage is that it's easier to live in such a place without being able to speak Japanese. If you so desire, you would also have a chance to make friends with foreigners who live in the area, who could introduce you some local places that you otherwise may never find on your own.

ksandness

Fukuoka is the closest thing to a major city that is available in Kyushu, and you will probably not run out of things to do in the vicinity, but I agree that Tokyo has its advantages.

I lived there during the 1970s, and I have visited more times than I can remember, and I still feel as if there is more to see and do.

A few years ago, I rented a room in a Tokyu Stay in Tokyo (http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/index.html) in the Monzen Nakacho area (a real neighborhood) for a month and took day trips to places such as Nagano, Mito, Aizu-Wakamatsu, Sendai, Kawagoe, Chichibu, Tsukuba (to visit a friend; it's not a real tourist destination) and I forget where else.

There is a book called Weekend Adventures Outside Tokyo, with 20 trips described, and a Japan Times publication in two volumes called Around Tokyo, which lists some 40 or 50 trips.

They--or their newer counterparts--are probably available in English-language bookstores in Tokyo.

If you don't like Tokyo, Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe is another area with great day trips in easy traveling distance. When I was leading a group of students, I even took them on a day trip to Hida-Takayama, but you can visit Nara, Horyuji, Yoshino, Okayama, Hiroshima, Himeji, Kurashiki, and Takamatsu as day trips, and if you can spare a weekend, you can go to Koya-san, Matsue and Izumo, Hagi, or other places on Shikoku such as Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama or the mountaintop Kompira Shrine in Kotohira.

I also agree that a smaller city would get boring after a while unless it was centrally located enough to allow frequent day trips or unless you spoke Japanese well enough that you could talk to literally anyone and become a regular at some restaurant or bar.

A further advantage of the Tokyo and Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe areas is that there are large numbers of English-speaking expatriates there, so if you feel the need to associate with different people or need advice on the details of everyday life (which can sneak up on you if you're not accustomed to life in Japan), you have these resources, along with an English-language press that can advise you of upcoming events.

Even in these huge metropolises, you can find little neighborhoods to live in where you will be the only foreigners, and yet, you will have access to English-language information and English-speaking people when you need them.

pdxkankuu

When I saw the title, I immediately thought of a few small towns that I enjoy/enjoyed visiting. But if you're looking at 4-6 weeks... you probably want to stay in/near a larger city, if for no other reason than daily conveniences and ease of travel to surrounding areas. I think the major destinations have already been listed -- Tokyo, Osaka/Kansai, Fukuoka, Sapporo. Sounds like Hokkaido may be off the list due to lack of interest in snow sports. =D

Others can talk about Tokyo better than I can, so I'll leave it to them. I've been to Kyushu once, to Kurume (near Fukuoka). That was specifically for the tonkotsu ramen -- nishimark isn't kidding, it's famous for its ramen. =D I was only there a couple days, so I can't speak much on it, but I'd love to go back sometime. I don't think you can go wrong staying in Fukuoka.

I find Osaka to be a pretty convenient "base of operations" for me, for exploring the Kansai area. It's relatively close to Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, and smaller towns that are pretty interesting (to me, anyway).

As ksandness alluded to, being able to speak Japanese helps a lot. Without that, it can be difficult to get to know people or become a regular at a bar; the employees and some of the regulars at my regular bar have given me good ideas on places to visit. Going to a place with a decent population of english-speaking foreigners can help in that regard, even if you don't hang out with them that much. =D

Mark Draft

I REALLY appreciate all your advice. My initial plan was to stay in the Osaka/Kyoto area in a place such as this:

http://www.citadines.com/en/japan/ky...suma_gojo.html

and then explore from there. As many have said I know that being in a major city has all the advantages you all are listing. I agree. But at the same time I have a sort of "guilt" about always going back to those main cities even though there's a ton of things to do in them. I live in Scottsdale AZ, and always lecture my European friends that there's a lot more to our country than New York and California and that if they took the time to go somewhere else they would be pleasantly surprised !

By the way...I'm finding it very difficult to find decent accommodation for a 4-6 week stay. The student "shared house" are not for us...we're too old.

pdxkankuu

Good location!

The difference, of course, is that America is much, much larger than Japan. Visiting CA when you're staying in NY isn't nearly as convenient as visiting Tokyo when you're staying in Osaka.

Look at it this way -- you're going to potentially be staying in the same place for 4-6 weeks. That affords you the opportunity to really get to know an area much better, even an area you've "already" visited. That's why I go back to the same place(s) every time. =)

They're around, but they aren't necessarily the easiest places to find -- especially if you're not searching in japanese. Some of us on the forums can probably help find some places (I'm a little preoccupied with work at the moment to get too involved, but I'll try doing some searching a bit later).

Mark Draft

Yes I've been emailing with them. They can't find a 4-6 week availability during a 4 month period I gave them


Thanks. I keep looking too. My suspicion is that location will be determined by lodging availability rather than the other way around...Tokyo here I come (again)

abmj-jr

If that turns out to be the case, I'd suggest that a Rail Pass (either 7- or 14-day) would get you out of the city to places new to you and would be a good investment. Activate it for sometime in the middle of your stay when you might be getting a bit bored with yet more Tokyo and would appreciate a change of scene. Run up to Sendai/Shiogama/Matsushima or even up in the hills at and near Naruko-onsen for fall color. Run over to Kanazawa on the new Hokuriku shinkansen. Try the JR Azusa up to Matsumoto or the Hida Wideview to Takayama (from Nagoya.)

6 weeks stuck in Tokyo would render me catatonic but breaking it up with a couple of weeks out of town might make it bearable. A Kanto-area Rail Pass for several days, along with the countrywide 7- or 14-day Pass would do that.