15 days in Japan

Hi Everyone! I see a lot of posts asking for advice regarding itinery, and as I'm off to Japan in a short amount of time, I thought I would as well.

First off I have read a huge amount of the articles on this website, which are fantastic and very helpful.

I'm travelling with a friend, so we will be 2x guys in our mid 20's. We land at Narita a Friday in October, and from there we'll be taking the Narita Express to Yokohama, where we have free lodgings for the duration of our trip, but are planning to spend at least half of the 2 weeks outside of Tokyo / Yokohama.

We already have a 2 week JR pass paid for, as we want to visit the following places:

Kyoto
Osaka
Nara
Hiroshima

Outside of these places, we're pretty open to places to visit, so maybe if anyone could recommend other places to make use of the rail pass that would be ideal!

We don't have any set amount for Budget / spend per day, and have access to plenty of funds.

I guess what I'm after is ideas for what else we can do ( if time allows ) outside of the places I've mentioned previously. We're both pretty open to anything, and laid back! I'm really into seeing authentic Japanse history / small towns personally. But also we're big on having a good night out!

Sorry for the jumble that is this post!

You will probably enjoy Nikko quite a bit, also, Kamakura is quite close to Yokohama so that's a must!. I would personally not add more places to your itinerary when you leave for Kyoto and further. You have plenty of places to visit in your current plan

Whats the exact dates you will be there?

You have enough time to go all the way to Kyushu, which has endless opportunities for nature, culture, and going out and getting drunk at night. Consider a carefully chosen itinerary of 3 to 5 nights there (don't try to go to too many places, and skip any place where you have to take a bus). Of course, that will cut into the time you spend in Kanto and Kansai, but you will get a richer view of Japan in general. And you will get great value from your rail pass.

Thanks for the replies!

We arrive on Friday 03/10/2014, and fly out on 18/10/2014.

I'm personally a fan of setting up a loose plan when travelling, and just going with the flow day to day, it's half the fun to discover things on your own in my opinion!

seeing authentic Japanse history / small towns

Take a train to Nakatsugawa (from Nagoya or Matsumoto) and a bus to Magome, and hike the Nakasendo from Magome to Tsumago.

Take a train to Kisohirasawa from Matsumoto, look around at the laquerware shops and museum, then walk along the river to Narai and check out the old architecture in this post town.

Take a train from Nagoya to Takayama and check out the old buildings in the old section of town and the building museum at Hida-no-Sato.

Take the Kamakura Line train to the end to Kurihama and then the TokyoWan ferry to Kanaya, and take the cable car up Nokogiriyama. Hike down to the largest stone Buddha in Japan, then continue down through Nihonji Temple to the coast and follow the coast back to Kanaya.

Head to Takaosan on the west side of Tokyo and take the cable car up to the Yakuo-in Temple for views to Mt. Fuji and over the Kanto Plain. There might be some decent fall colors also.