Denis Carlin

My partner and I have been 4 times to Japan and are desperate to return , not taking it for granted but as there’s a chance we may be able to go this Autumn I want to start planning.

Previously our trips were as follows:

1: Osaka/Kyoto (1 Week)
2: Okinawa/Miyakojima/IshigakiJima/Osaka/Kinosaki Onsen/Takayama/Kanazawa/Himeji/Tokyo (4 Weeks)
3: Hokkaido (Shiretoko/Kushiro/Lake Akan/Obihiro/Sapporo/Otaru/Asahikawa/Tokyo (2.5 Weeks)
4: Kyushu (Fukuoka/Kumamoto/Nagasaki/Karatsu/Kagoshima/Mount Aso/Miyazaki/Yakushima/Amamioshima (5 Weeks)

For our next trip we’ll probably have 3 weeks, travelling from Europe and top ideas so far are

1. Tohoku, maybe head straight to Hakodate or Aomori and work our way down, ending in Tokyo.
2. Western Honshu/Shikoku, Hiroshima prefecture, Tottori, Shimanami Kaido, Shikoku, probably ending in Osaka.

There are so many other possibilities, we could go back to Hokkaido and see the places we missed, e.g. the SW with Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya plus up North to Rebun/Rishiri.

We could do SE Honshu, i.e. Nara, Wakayama, Gifu, Toyama, Nagano, Shizuoka, Chiba prefectures.

Food is really important, we also love exploring cities, going out and meeting people, hiking, onsens, nature, museums etc. We have enjoyed everywhere we’ve been apart from maybe Kushiro.

Any help would be appreciated.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

Your option 1 heading down from Hakodate to Tokyo sounds good with trips to Nikko, Kakamura, yokohama ,Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes.

Hiroshima would also be good.

If travelling in the autumn, I would check for the likely fall colour locations

Regards

TBS

KI-NRT

It depends on what you mean by Autumn. If it's late November, then unless you enjoy the cold and Onsens (especially for 3 weeks), I'd advise against Tohoku and suggest either Option 2.

Speaking of Option 2, Rather than Tottori and Hiroshima, I'd opt for the Kii Peninsula in Wakayama, Mie and Nara. Amazing things there. Koyasan, Kumano (and all of the great hikes and historical sites - this alone could eat up over a week), Ise Jingu, Yoshino (and the awesome Kimpusenji and Mikumari Jingu), Ise/Shima... the list is long. Pair that with Shikoku and you have an amazing itinerary (Kochi and Shimanto River, Naruto, Takamatsu for Sanuki Udon and Marugame Castle, Konpira-san, Dogo Onsen/Matsuyama Castle, Iya-kei (Iya Valley), including the Vine Bridges, Mt. Tsurugi, Uchiko & Uwajima,

If October (or even late September), then Tohoku would be an excellent choice, especially if you like nature. Shirakami-Sanchi, and the Bandai-Atami area are among the best places to visit. The Koyo (Fall foliage) should be incredible as well - when we drove the Zao Echo Line in October the trees were literally bursting with colors Ditto for Oirase Gorge in Aomori. Tohoku doesn't have as many awe-inspiring historical sites, although we did enjoy the Sannai Maruyama Jomon site as well as Yamadera and Hiraizumi. And of course there's Nyuto Onsen, Ginzan Onsen and many other fabulous hot springs locales. The food up there is splendid, but as I always say, every area of Japan has some incredible local delicacies (a bit less so in the very Southern Islands, including Okinawa.... relatively speaking, of course.)

Oh, and the SE Honshu idea is also wonderful. We LOVE Nara. I would put up Yakushiji, Todaiji and Horyu-ji against any of the top 3 Kyoto sites - they're that impressive. And WAY less crowded, especially if you venture out early morning and avoid the hordes of day trippers that descend upon the city from Osaka and Kyoto.

I love Toyama (and Hokuriku in general), but I'd recommend you try to visit in mid-November or later, to take advantage of Snow Crab season.

If you're going to do Shizuoka (and Fuji Five Lakes) then I'd recommend late October onwards for either the Fall foliage and/or better chances for clear views of Mt. Fuji.

Denis Carlin

Thanks guys, that's helpful.
It would probably be last week in October, first 2 weeks in November but could maybe move it a bit earlier.
We've often travelled that time, fall foliage plus end of typhoon season are great reasons

KI-NRT

What you need to do, then, is plan on visiting Japan at least 10 times

Really, you can't go wrong with any of those choices. Prioritize what's important, do your research, then decide which route would be serve to fulfill your bucket list first. Feel free to ask if you have any additional questions.

freecia

Check seasonal foods including seafood and produce if food is really important. That can influence if I opt to go to certain areas at certain times, in addition to seasonal nature viewings.

nishimark

Do you mind renting a car and driving? Sometimes a car makes it much easier to get around the more country areas that don't have frequent train service. For example, drive around the Ise Peninsula, drive to Shikoku via Awajishima, catch a ferry from Shikoku to Kyushu (Beppu), etc. One downside of renting is that there is a rather steep drop-off fee if you don't return car to the same place you rented, but that can be worked out with planning.

seigex

Another problem with car rental is parking fees can get pricy depending on where you are, and if you have to take an interstate, you really need an ETC card, and tolls can be quite pricy, unless you're staying local.

AlwaysAisle

JR Rent-A-Car, yes JR owns a rental car company also, has rail and car discount. JR Rent-A-Car JR Rail Pass Discount. Most major JR stations have JR Rent-A-Car, using trains to get to the destination then renting a car from the station to explore the area may be one option. Especially combining with Shinkansen, can save time traveling between the location and also not having to drive to the destination is a plus for me.

If not using JR Pass then there is Rail & Rental Car (website in Japanese only) by JR Rent-A-Car. This is designed for local Japanese so the website is in Japanese only, but reserving train tickets and rental car at the same time using this site will give 10-20% discount on both train tickets and car rental.

P.S.
Both ANA and JAL have similar package deals for domestic flights. Fly to the destination then rent a car at the airport. Again, this is aimed at local Japanese and the website is in Japanese only. But flying from Tokyo to Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu, or Okinawa provides a good option of renting a car at the destination.

pesos

If you’re going out to the boonies I’d probably recommend not driving unless you read Japanese and come from a right hand drive country. Also as others have pointed out the parking fees (and inconvenience) tend to negate the cost of taxis.

nishimark

Actually, there's usually free parking out in the boonies, different than in the city. Nearly all navigation systems have an English setting or you can use Google maps on your smartphone. Many rental car companies will provide an ETC card for tolls. For example, here is the English explanation for Times rental.
https://www.timescar-rental.com/en/japan/etc.html

pesos

yes sorry I wasn’t clear that what I wrote was two different issues for different areas. GPS isn’t the concern - it’s having a clue when the gps is often wrong/outdated among other things

KI-NRT

I would highly recommend that travelers rent a car if at all possible, especially in remote areas, as public transportation often runs on a very limited schedule, and your itinerary becomes beholden to it (and adds a layer of stress as a result.)

Driving in Japan is quite low-stress - drivers are generally very courteous, follow the rules and the road conditions are very good.

We love taking road trips in Japan; even when we fly to a destination we generally rent a car to have the flexibility of going where we want, when we want to. You really never know what might suit your fancy, and where you might want to spend more (or less) time than originally planned.

hailstorm

Are we talking about the same country that invented the term aori unten?

CPH-Flyer

Seems to be a term to describe people who are not the horribly awful drivers that seem to be keen on making sure traffic flows as slow as possible.....