jib71

Hakodate, Sendai, Takayama, Kanazawa, Matsue, Matsuyama, Kagoshima ...

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freecia

You could journey back from Sapporo to Tokyo via Hakodate & Aomori to fill out some of your time. Aomori air base festival is in September https://japancheapo.com/events/misaw...stival-aomori/ I also like the onsen town of Noboribetsu but the attraction is pretty much bathing in a wide variety of spacious hot springs which may not be your thing if you like being active in cities.

I've also ridden the shinkansen past Sendai a few times yet never visited. Not sure if it has a reputation like Nagoya (better for everyday family life than excitement or tourism).

Nagano station isn't too far from various surrounding areas like Obuse, Matsumoto, Kanazawa, Toyama and Kurobe Alpen route if you're up for some (longer) day trips.

abmj-jr

For a week, I'd do a couple of days in Sapporo, a couple in Hakodate then the long shinkansen ride down to Sendai for a couple more. While in Sendai, take the local train+boat over to Matsushima for the best fall color ever.

Matsushima in fall.

evergrn

Do you only enjoy cities?

Hokkaido is really wonderful in the summer time (which should include early-mid Sept). Especially for someone like me who loves food, onsen and outdoor sports. There are so many wonderful places within a couple hours from Sapporo. Shakotan peninsula has some breathtaking coastline. Niseko has wonderful ambiance and scenery and lots of outdoor opportunities in the summer time. Lots of onsen, including Noboribetsu as mentioned by freecia. There's also Furano-Biei area with its flower fields and agri-tourism.

As far as Sapporo itself, I really like it, and I could spend a week there and not get bored (whereas a couple days would be enough in Hakodate or Asahikawa). But then again, I can't say that it holds any edge or uniqueness over Tokyo or Osaka. The city is laid out differently, there are certain types of food there I like that are hard to find in other parts of Jpn, I like the compactness of the main area and the fact that an underground shopping/dining arcade runs through all those areas from Sapporo Station to Susukino and there are also interesting attractions on the city's outskirts such as the ski jump hill, zoo and the chocolate factory. But at the end of the day, Sapporo is nothing compared to Tokyo in terms of the sheer magnitude of things to see/eat/do.

Anyways, regardless, I think you should go check out Hokkaido at least once if you've never been.

YVRYEGYVR

Nagano and the surrounding area can be the basis for 10 trips, in my opinion. We are in Yamanouchi now- such a beautiful place and I'm looking forward to coming back and doing the exact same thing in the winter.

I didn't see Kanazawa and surroundings on your list? Kaga-onsen area is wonderful as well in spring and fall.

kevincrumbs

I went a few years ago and had a nice three day stay. I've never been to Nagoya but it tends to get a bad rap but at least with Sendai, one can do day trips to both Yamadera and Matsushima, both of which are worth seeing. The city itself is quite small and compact. Outside of doing the usual I'm-in-Japan stuff (shopping at specific stores I like, etc.), there wasn't much unique to it but I enjoyed my time there and the gyutan I ate.

I know OP mentioned their preference for cities but in that part of Japan, Lake Tazawa has always looked like it's worth a visit but I have not been able to make it up there yet. If OP is looking to avoid hordes of tourists, I think this board determined on an older thread that no one goes to Akita, so there's that Joking aside, the Oga Peninsula and Ogata Geopark also look very interesting.

cruisr

Thanks all.
It will actually be October 2 by the time we leave Tokyo to go somewhere else. Yes, we pretty much really like cities, though a day or two in the countryside as a day trip from cities are fine. It looks like summer is the best time to visit Sapporo and the surrounding areas due to the Lavender and flower fields in bloom. I guess we would get fall foliage.
I should have mentioned that I hate switching hotels and usually do a 3 night minimum. So, I think we will fly to either Hakodate or Sapporo from Tokyo and plan 3 nights in Hakodate, 1 night Lake Toya and 4 nights in Sapporo. We are debating between a rent a car or a JR Regional Pass as we will be doing day trips. This worked out very well in the other areas we have visited.
I have my F class award seats on hold for JL via AA so I have to decide soon.
Cheers

freecia

One of my through-Sendai train rides was to go to Akita To be fair, Akita is a larger city when you're heading up the coast towards Mt. Shirakami. I'm also planning a stop in Nagoya to visit the Honmaru palace and venture out for the fall colors in Korankei. So maybe I'd just weird. Nagoya also has an easily accessible Costco near Chubu airport (definitely weird to be looking for Costco's near public transit as a tourist, right?).

OP - Consider renting a car for day trips in Hokkaido as the train routes are not that frequent. Going via train and bus can be done but it isn't as frequent as public transit in Honshu's big cities and a good bit slower. There's a lot more land and lower population so car may be more efficient and flexible.

IMOA

Aomori is easily good for a few days especially if you tack on a day trip to hirosaki while staying in Aomori
Sendai is a wonderful city. Day trips to places like matsushima bay or yamadera and then the nights are crazy. I find Sendai to be one of the friendliest cities in Japan so you end up spending crazy nights out meeting locals
Nagoya - There's a lot more to see and do in nagoya than people give it credit for however it is mostly industry based - science musem, rail mueum, car museums, technology museums etc. That said, it takes about as long to go from Nagoya to Inuyama castle or Gifu for coromet fishing as it does to get from the bottom of Tokyo to the top so there's options on the more cultural side as well. I think it gets a very very undeserved bad rap.
Shikoku - Matsuyama, Kochi, Takamatsu. maybe not 3 day visits (though you can base yourselves in them and drive out into the surrounding areas for impressive nature especially during autumn) but they are fantastic places to visit. kochi is probably my favourite there because it's so much fun at night. Probably the best place to meet locals

catcher1

Just returned, loved Nikko and Hakone.

kaka

jib71

Good call on Matsumoto.