Yokohama to Osaka Cruise - touring advice
 

We'll be on a Windstar small ship next April, going from Yokohama to Osaka with several stops.

I've begun to think about day tours at the various stops, and must say that they all seem to offer tours that are some combination of Temple, Shrine, Castle, gardens, scenery. With many sounding more or less the same. I want to be sure that I plan the best combination of things so as to get the best experiences without a lot of repeats. While my many trips to Japan will be followed, with luck, by many more, this is probably my one opportunity to visit many of these areas and I'm feeling a bit lost. Tips for "when in xxx you must see..."

The stops are:

Shimizu (9 hours)

Shingu (10 hours)

Kagoshima (10 hours)

Sasebo (12 hours) planning to tour Nagasaki

Busan (Korea) we'll sort that out.

Fukuoka (9 hours)

Hiroshima (tour the city)

Kochi (only 5 hours there)

On at least a couple of the days we'll want to just take it easy and wander around the port - any thoughts on which one(s) would have the best shops/culture within easy distance of the port?

Shimizu (9 hours)
When in Shimizu you must see... the Serizawa Keisuke Art Museum
http://www.seribi.jp/

Shingu (10 hours)
When in Shingu you must see... Nachi waterfall, the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route and shrines
http://www.kumano-travel.com/img/con...5_724_main.jpg

Kagoshima (10 hours)
When in Kagoshima you must eat ... Kibinago sashimi with miso yuzu sauce
http://kyoudo-ryouri.com/en/food/3324.html

Fukuoka (9 hours)
When in Fukuoka you must spend an evening ... at the yatai stalls (location varies depending on the day of the week)
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4803.html

Kochi (only 5 hours there)
When in Kochi you must avoid ... my ex-girlfriend
You really have no idea how good this advice is.

Thanks. How will we know she's your ex?:D

What hours of the day will your 12hrs in Sasebo be?

Huis ten Bosch, the Dutch-themed theme park, is right there. Although the place does not seem to agree with some people's taste, I really love it there. You feel like you're in the Netherlands. It's fun to rent a bike and go on the canal cruise, and the night-time illumination is out of this world. Lots of fun games and activities, too. We were there for 10hrs, but anyways you'll want >5hrs there. It's ~1.5hr by train from Sasebo to Nagasaki each way, although unfortunately that train only runs hourly. It's actually possible to see Nagasaki in <3hr (trolley to Oura church, Glover Garden, walk back along Dutch Slope to Chinatown, back to station via trolley)... I've done this. It's not a complete tour of the city, but it gives you a good sense of what the city's all about. That might leave you ~5hrs for Huis ten Bosch. Well, okay it's tight. May not work out if your 12hrs in the wrong time of the day. Anyways, just throwing it out there.

Spike Japan's article isn't current (he wrote it in 2011) but still worth reading for background on Huis Ten Bosch -

Part 1
https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/201...n-save-us-now/
Part 2
https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/201...save-us-now-2/
Part 3
https://spikejapan.wordpress.com/201...save-us-now-3/

As evergrn says, some of us (including me) would not recommend it. YMMV.

Most days are arriving by 9 or so and departing at about 5 or 6. Sasebo goes into the evening.

Kochi has a laid-back, subtropical atmosphere and a wonderful castle.

Busan (for the 24 hours I was there) struck me as being a heady combination of ultramodern, almost futuristic architecture and infrastructure with a substratum of Old Asia.

I didn't see much of Fukuoka, except for staying overnight before boarding the hydrofoil to Busan and having coffee with a professional contact, but any guidebook will be full of suggestions.

In Kagoshima, I enjoyed the quick ferry ride to Sakurajima, along with just wandering around on one of the trails on Sakurajima. There's a public foot bath not too far from where the ferry docks in Sakurajima. Besides that, Kagoshima was mainly memorable to me for the amount of ash that got all over my stuff during my few days there.

Okay, in that case (assuming you've got 9a-9p), you're going to want to get to Huis ten Bosch by ~3.30p and stay as late as you can. You'll want at least 2-3hrs there before the sun goes down, but the real highlight is the night-time illumination.

As jib points out, not everyone may be into Huis ten Bosch. I completely get that, and I'd totally understand if you skip it. I will say that all the photos on his links make the place look a bit dead and uninspiring. If you ask me, I would describe the place as fun during daytime, romantic at dusk, mesmerizing at night. Plus the baumkuchen they sell there might be the best I've had anywhere.

The siren call of Huis ten Bosch is calling. I thing we’re going for it. Quick train ride from Sasebo and a lifetime of pictures!!!

Right on! If you're just going to be there for 5-6 hours, make sure you at least do the zip line (if the wait's not long), then rent a bike for a couple hours (takes too long to check everything out on foot), do the canal cruise, go to the top of the tower, and then stick around for the illumination. The illumination is your highlight. It's mesmerizing to see firsthand. Time-permitting, check out different games and other attractions.

We had Fukuoka on an early draft of our our Japan itinerary and unfortunately had to miss it, but our plan was to eat as much ramen as possible.

Did you know a typical bowl of ramen contains 4.9 to 6.4 grams of salt? Source in にほんご.
http://www.shoroku.net/food/ramen.htm

I recommend going into the Onsen near that footbath It is attached to the hotel, but you can go in to the onsen for a modest fee. Nice view relaxing in the water overlooking Kagoshima Bay.

It is #5 on this list

http://jpninfo.com/63525

Sure, it's also delicious, and it's vacation, and it's a local specialty.