Must see

[sydneyswans]

Hi
I will be in japan for 24 days in september / october
Any advice on must see cities, towns, places, restaurants, museums, sporting events, things, in fact anything in Japan would be much appreciated

I know this covers a lot of ground - im just seeking your personal opinion
if you had 24 days in Japan - where would you go - what should be seen ?

we were thinking:
- 5/6 days hokkaido,
- 5/6 days in japanese alps,
- 5/6 days visiting kyoto, hiroshima, island near hiroshima starting with letter M, and beppu
- 5/6 days in Tokyo and visiting surrounding area

Any advice is welcome

c

[godwine]

Originally Posted by sydneyswans

Hi
I will be in japan for 24 days in september / october
Any advice on must see cities, towns, places, restaurants, museums, sporting events, things, in fact anything in Japan would be much appreciated

I know this covers a lot of ground - im just seeking your personal opinion
if you had 24 days in Japan - where would you go - what should be seen ?

we were thinking:
- 5/6 days hokkaido,
- 5/6 days in japanese alps,
- 5/6 days visiting kyoto, hiroshima, island near hiroshima starting with letter M, and beppu
- 5/6 days in Tokyo and visiting surrounding area

Any advice is welcome

c

Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, Kobe, these will take you about 1-11 days,

Where are you going in Hokkaido? Furano is a 1 day thing, while Sapporo is about 2 days or so. The rest are more exploratory type cities that are not true tourist attraction, you can giver Hakodate a shot, its a nice place too

Not a climber so I can't comment on the Alps, but from what I heard and read, its not all that exciting.

Tokyo, you need about 5 days to visit the major stuff, 7 at most, do include Yokohama in your list, I like Yokohama way more than I like Tokyo. For Tokyo, do drop by the Daiba, Ueno, Asakusa, Akihabara. Then of course, your usual Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, Ginza...

Make sure you do drop by one of the onsen town for a day or 2... you won't regret it

[sydneyswans]

i think we will only have 5 / 6 days - so im not sure whether we have enough time to do hokkaido justice

Is it worth going all the way to hokkaido for 6 days ?
We will have a jr pass
The only purpose is for beautiful nature

My plan was to go to
(1) Rishiri / Rebun islands (far north)
(2) a national park

Or maybe somebody can recommend natural places to visit that arent in the far north of hokkaido

[MMM]

5 or 6 days is more than enough to do Hokkaido justice.

[godwine]

Originally Posted by MMM

5 or 6 days is more than enough to do Hokkaido justice.

Strongly agree to that point, you probably will spend like a day in Furano and then maybe 2 in Sapporo. There really isn't that much to see there, unless you really want to venture out of the toursit hot spot then I can't really comment since I never been anywhere outside of Furano and Sapporo.

Furano is nice but it get boring after an hour or so. While Sapporo, well, just another big city like Tokyo...

Just putting a schedule on the top of my head, this is how I will attack a 24 day trip plan, not including the alps since i know nothing about it

- Kyushu - 2 days (Optional)
- Hiroshima/Miyajima - 1 day
- Shikoku - 1 day
- Himeji 1 day
- Kobe 1 day (Optional)
- Osaka 2 days
- Sakai 1 day (Optional)
- Kyoto/Nara - 3 days
- Atami/Odarwara/Hakone - 2 days
- Yokohama - 1 day
- Tokyo - 5 days
- Nikko 1 day
- Hokkaido 2 days

For Kyushu and Shikoku, I think what will interest you is just the Transportation, the ride from Okayama station is pretty interesting to both places, I know some people who would just take the train from Okayama to both places, hop across platform and come right back, just to experieince the ride. So if you are to do that, you shave sometime there too, since you probably can do both places in half a day or so if you plan your route accordingly

[sydneyswans]

really appreciate the advice - thanks heaps to you guys / girls

1) Any preferred onsen towns ? - it seems some may be overly touristy and tacky / cheesy / very expensive
We dont mind a bit of tourist cheese - however would rather a 'real' place set in a natural place

2) Can you recommend a place with different bath options - steam, water, mud

3) Can you recommend a onsen place dominated by japanese (not tourists)

4) Can you recommend a onsen place that might have a communal bath where i could go with my girlfriend

5) Is it worth going to Beppu ?

if you come to australia, i am happy to advise

[godwine]

Originally Posted by sydneyswans

really appreciate the advice - thanks heaps to you guys / girls

1) Any preferred onsen towns ? - it seems some may be overly touristy and tacky / cheesy / very expensive
We dont mind a bit of tourist cheese - however would rather a 'real' place set in a natural place

2) Can you recommend a place with different bath options - steam, water, mud

3) Can you recommend a onsen place dominated by japanese (not tourists)

4) Can you recommend a onsen place that might have a communal bath where i could go with my girlfriend

5) Is it worth going to Beppu ?

if you come to australia, i am happy to advise

Hmm, I can't really recommend a specific place. BUt if you are planning to go to Kyushu anyways, they go ahead and pay a visit to Beppu and enjoy your onsen. As for onsen town, Atami, Hakone and Nikko are all famous for onsen, these aren't cheesy tourist, but just simply a Tourist thing, local tourist that is, so I am sure you can get as close as the culture can get at these towns.

Most onsen resort in Atami and Hakone (I never been to a resort in Nikko myself) have female only onsen where you can just sit and chill with your girlfriends in the half boilding water.

As a side note, a lot of people prefer Hakone over Atami only beacuse its a direct access from Yumoto to Togendai (Lake Ashi, you can take a boat cruise here ot see Mount Fuji), and the way from Yumoto to Togendai includes a very very nice 40 minutes cable car ride that offer a breath taking veiw of the surroundings.

[manners]

Miyagima Island requires 1 full day

Hiroshima requires one full day at least

Hakone for onsen and views of Mt Fuji 2 days

Tokyo 4 days or more if seeing Kamakura.

Tohoku region for great onsen nad views such as Matsushima islands, Mt Zao for the crater lake at the summit.

[bibo]

I think that Beppu is definitely one of the "must see" places in japan. Not
only that you can enjoy many onsens, but you also can try "wild"
hotsprings in the mountains, jigokus, visit monkey park where you can see
more than thousand wild monkeys. To see all of this you will need about 2
days.

Visit official Beppu city guide web pages for more information about the
city here:
BEPPU CITY GUIDE


Regards,

Bibo
HAPPY NEKO Backpackers - Happy Neko Backpacker, Beppu

[sydneyswans]

Potential japan trip
Any comments / suggestions / concerns would be appreciated


* 13 September

- Arrive Osaka 8.30pm

- catch train to Osaka

- Settle into hotel



* 14 September

- see festival - Kishiwada Danjiri Festival, September 14 and 15: It's a festival during which a group of people with youthful spirits drag the Dangiri Floats across the city of Osaka watched by enthusiastic people.

- visit Osaka Castle

- visit Minami (shopping / nightlife)

- visit Ebisu bashi bridge for sunset



- watch baseball match – Osaka Hanshin tigers v Hiroshima Carp (6pm)



* 15 September

- via train, then bus, leave Osaka for Koyasan

Koyasan is an approximately 90 minute train journey from Osaka Namba Station by Nankai Koya Line to Gokurakubashi Station and then cable car to Koyasan.

- hike, stay in temple



* 16 September

- stay another night in koyasan

- hike around Mt koya, stay in temple



* 17 September

- leave in morning – bus, then bus, train back to Osaka – continue on to Himeji

- Via train, visit Himeji Castle

- afternoon – via train, head to and stay in Hiroshima



* 18 September

- Hiroshima

- visit A bomb Peace Park

- travel to Miyajima island by ferry



* 19 September

- stay in Miyajima island


* 20 September

- return to Hiroshima, catch train to Kyoto



* 21 September

- Kyoto

Central Kyoto

* 22 September

- Kyoto



* 23 September

- leave kyoto by train and go to Nara

Miyakoji rapid trains (kaisoku) operate every 30 minutes between Kyoto Station and JR Nara Station. The one way trip takes 45 minutes and costs 690 Yen. The Japan Rail Pass is valid on these trains.

* 24 September

- leave Nara, catch train to Nagoya and then Takayama

From Nagoya, JR Hida limited express train to Takayama (140 minutes, one train per hour).

* 25 September

Bus from Takayama to Kamikochi

By direct bus (75 minutes, 2000 Yen, operating from mid April through October):
Kamikochi-Takayama




* 26 September

- Hiking in Kamicochi


* 27 September

- from Kamicochi, go to Matsumoto

Matsumoto is most famous for Matsumotojo, one of Japan's most beautiful original castles. The city is also a good base for trips into the Japanese Alps, e.g. to Kamikochi.


* 28 September

- leave Matsumoto by train, and head in to Tokyo

- leave straight away for fuiji Five Lakes

* 29 September

- climb mount fuiji

Some mountain huts open a few days before the start of the official climbing season and/or remain opened until around mid September. While there is usually no or only little snow on Mount Fuji until October, temperatures at the summit can drop to far below zero in the shoulder seasons. Only experienced hikers with a strong urge to avoid the crowds, should consider the ascent in late June or September.

- onsen

* 30 September

- Kusatsu onsen (famous onsen town 2 hours from Tokyo)

- stay in kusatsu

* 1 October

- leave kusatsu, head for by train Tokyo

- imperial palace

- shinjuku, shibuya, rappongi


* 2 October

- Tokyo

- maybe Yokohama for jazz festival

* 3 October (fri)

- Tokyo

- vist Tokyo Dome – ride the mighty dolphin

- go to club like Ageha or Womb


* 4 October (sat)

- Tokyo

- Football FC Tokyo v Shimizu S Pulse – Ajinomoto Stadium (3pm)

- meet old softball team mates

* 5 October (sun)

- Tokyo

- visit Harajuku



* 6 October

- Leave Tokyo in morning

- Leave bags in locker

- Osaka – depart 8pm