2nd trip to Japan - need new ideas

Hello!

My girlfriend and I went on our first trip to Japan in late March 2014 for 9 days, and it was a blast! We stayed in Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto, Koyasan and made a very short visit to Osaka.

Last year was just a bit cold and the cherry blossoms weren't very close to full bloom, so this year we decided to go in April for a total of 15 days (just before Golden Week).

We are going to visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka again for certain, as we feel that we didn't get enough time to explore them adequately from the last trip. We will likely spend 1 of the 2 weeks in those three areas combined, which leaves an additional 7-8 days to visit some brand new places! We are meeting up with a local friend in Kagoshima, so we are trying to make stops on the way there.

Keep in mind, we WILL indeed have a 14 day JR pass (those things are so convenient!)

Some places we have in mind:

-Mt Fuji area (Trying to find a nice town with a great view of Fuji, perhaps an onsen town that ISN'T Hakone.)

-Nara (Almost visited here last year, but unfortunately didn't have the time. Willing to skip.)

-Miyajima (I've heard great things and I've heard some not-so-great things, let me hear your experiences if you have them!)

-Hiroshima (My girlfriend and I both have an interest in visiting the museums, but we are willing to skip this as well.)

-Yakushima (Considering a visit/stay in Yakushima is just a ferry ride away from Kagoshima, we have a very high interest. Our only concern is the transportation ON the island itself. We have looked into rental cars, but we are very nervous to drive in a foreign country, and would like to avoid it if possible. Any experience/advice with the very limited public transportation on the island would be appreciated. Perhaps it is enjoyable via bike, since there are bike rentals? Please let me know.)

-Ishigaki (I am aware that the only way to get here is via flight, which we have looked into. The "foreigner flight pass" offers domestic flights for $100/per flight~ one-way. Unfortunately I have the same concerns here as I do with Yakushima in terms of transportation on the island itself. Again, please share your experiences. I only intend on visiting one island, ultimately, if any.)

-My final request is for general suggestion for any location in Japan BETWEEN Tokyo and Kagoshima. My girlfriend and I fantasize about riding bikes in the rural Japanese countryside (think rice-fields, plains, coastlines, lightly wooded areas, elevated areas). We have no desire to ride in the big cities, for example, Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto. Please, please, please share any experiences with rural cycling areas that offer natural sights to see and/or a smaller, more traditional town to take in and appreciate. We have no idea where to begin our search. We plan on renting bicycles, so rental options are a must.)

We are arriving and departing Japan via Tokyo-Narita airport, and will be making a round-trip down south and back up north. Once we have our destinations confirmed, we can continue to plan our itinerary and book rooms accordingly.

Any help, advice or shared experienced are greatly appreciated!

Thank you

1. Mt Fuji Onsen
-Atami
-Fuji five lakes has many hotels, hostels, pension homes
-Shizuoka
-Google "Oldest hotel in the world yamanashi"

2. Hiroshima
I find the attractions here to be nothing exceptional. The food is good and the city is easily walkable in a day. So it could be a good idea to cylce the area. There is a bicycle shop at the north of the main station.

3. Miyajima
The gate looks spectacular floating in the night. In the day it is overcrowded and there are gates that are much larger. If you have a thing for seeing nature, eating streey food, or getting massaged by deers (pardon my sacrasm) then you might like it.
Deers are definetly friendlier then Nara's.

4. Cycling
Have you tried cycling from Kobe/Okayama to Shikoku. Three nights about Shikoku and then to Osaka?
But you prolly have to get your own bike.
You could cycle Yakushima.

I watched a video about three guys cycling from Yakushima to Northern tip of Hokkaido before...

5. Nara
The large wooden temple is impressive
But the rest of what i saw did not move me. Kyoto is far better in my opinion. Also, there is too much walking to do in Nara. Getting harrassed by deer is no pleasure of mine either.

6.
Can't help with Ishigaki
Rice fields I would go for Noto peninsular.
Stay at Lamp no Yado. (Ryokan with private onsen on a cliff overlooking the sea)
See stuff at Kanazawa.

I would recommend Kii-Katsura + Ise Shrine, if you have the time and am willing to skip nnara

P.S.

Tokyo 1 day
Fuji area 1 day + 1 night

Fly in to Kagoshima
Ferry to Yakushima

1 day+ 1 night Yakushima
Cycle, bus, rental car
Ferry to Kagoshima

2 days Kagoshima
Must go Ibusuki

Coach or train to Fukuoka
1 day Fukuoka

Go to Yufuin or head straight to Hiroshima

1 night Miyajima

2 days Osaka + 1 night Koya
2 days Kyoto
1 day Ise + 1 night Kii-Katsura Urashima

1 day Tokyo

Thanks for the input Joshua!

You have me incredibly interested in Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan and Lamp no Yado! I will be looking more thoroughly into those.

As for the deer harassment, not only does it not bother us, but we are hoping for it! We would love animal interaction while we're out and about ^_^

Would you say you prefer Miyajima to Nara? To be honest, the deer are the most interesting aspect of Nara to both of us.

Lake Kawaguchiko (Fuji area) is nice place to stay.. alot of onsen inns facing Mount Fuji..
great place to see the blossoms too if you catch it right time....

i took alot of nice pics with the sakuras and mt fuji in the background... postcard perfect!

its a quiet area though so most inns/ hotel serves dinner and breakfast...

Hello!
Hiroshima is a very nice city. There is much more to see than the museum and Peace Park. I think to stay one full day is worth it.

I like Miyajima! It's real that there is a lot of people but the temples are beautiful and you can have a nice walk. If you can stay one night it would be even better.

Nara is a must see for me! All the temples are beautiful and the deers are friendly. It will not bother you if you don't have food. You can buy some deer cake and you will see them comming all at once to you!

You can cycle the Kibi plain. Never done it by myself but it seems cool.

So here is my opinion! Enjoy

Count me in for a not-so-great opinion of Miyajima. It has a torii which sorta-kinda seems to be floating on water at high-tide. That's about it. Other than that, it's a small, old-ish seaside town. There are countless others like it, but they are much less crowded.

What do you want to do on Ishigaki? Basically, the places which are easily accessible are along the island's west coast: the harbour/downtown and Kabira bay areas. Kabira is really nice, whether or not it's worth the trip to Ishigki is up to you. By the way, a Peach flight from Osaka might be much cheaper than $100 (depending on the date).

And as for the general suggestion, I'd say Iwakuni or Matsue.

We actually liked Miyajima. It is touristy but fun, the walks up the mountain are great, and the seafood is awesome. But if I had to choose between it and Nara, it'd be Nara I think. We have stayed at Nara several times, up to 4 days at a time.

If I had to plan an ideal trip for me, say starting from Narita and ending at Kansai, it would be to go to Enoshima, Karuizawa, Matsumoto (maybe a half day but overnight is OK), Kamokouchi, Takayama, Hikone, Kyoto, Nara, Kansai. Each of those places have great walks and great food.

I personally prefer Miyajima to Nara.

But I went during autumn and Miyajima had better colors. The deer in Nara, depending on which deer you encounter, may ram you with their horns; kick you, or bite your pockets and maps even if you do not have food. But not all the deers are like that. Depends...

But if not going to Hiroshima, it is not worth the side trip to Miyajima. It is an excellent night photo shoot with excellent street food BUT Nara is quicker to reach.

Nara is definitely a must-see city. The Todaiji is marvelous - and the deer, plus Kasuga Taisha Shrine are great as well. The deer pretty much ignore you until they see you have food. Even then, only a few are really pushy.
As for Hiroshima having "nothing exceptional", I beg to differ. There are fortunately still few cities which have been nuked to ashes. But the Peace Park and Museum are very sobering places, and hard to leave with your eyes dry.
Not to mention worth seeing is the castle, Shukkeien Garden, and Mitakidera, which is a lovely and largely unknown mountainside temple.
Miyajima was well worth it - it is highly regarded among travelers for good reason. Of course the torii is nice, but the Daishoin Temple was also delightful. Mt. Misen was a devil of a climb but the view from the top was very refreshing.
If you want to bicycle, two popular places are the Kibi Plain in Okayama, and the Shimanami Kaido in Hiroshima, the latter totals about 70km as you hopscotch across various islands on a dedicated bike road and bridges. It's also one way to get to Ikuchijima Island and see Kosanji, one of the most colorful temples in the area:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Q5EjEOXI8
About Yakushima - it is an extraordinary place, and be ready for lots of rain. But if you think it's "just a ferry ride away" you may be in for a shock. Miyajima is "just a ferry ride", about 10 minutes. Yakushima by a car ferry is 4 hours, and from a high speed boat up to three.
Since you are meeting up with a friend in Kagoshima, be sure to see Sakurajima - not many chances to walk by a live volcano. The Senganen Garden is also nice with the bay and volcano in the background:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7LcPcmoSg-irtXXB8IJMdkB9mF0qjn...
You also might want to stop along the way there, since it is quite a distance. Iwakuni is not far from Hiroshima, and makes a nice little visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM
Fukuoka has some nice, largely unknown gems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT4VQFmHFyM
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7LcPcmoSg-j4RLa6iC7ayvBAbOn8-0...
Kumamoto has its castle, plus Suizenji Garden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9xyXmU8U1g
Nagasaki would be an excellent place to visit as well, but you may be pressed for time.

Honestly, every place you mentioned is a great area and you really can't go wrong. Miyajima vs Nara...... I really don't know what I'd say I prefer though :s Hiroshima is great in my opinion, but I can see how it'd be more of an acquired taste. The best place you'll find around Fuji is ON Fuji in my opinion, but I'm pretty sure it's not open to climb in April. Miyajima and Yakushima are exceptional places to hike, but the hikes can be demanding, so don't expect not to sweat a little ;)

Hiroshima is worth visiting please give a try!

In my opinion, it's not worth to start from Tokyo at all for this trip. Better arrive at Osaka and go westwards from day 2.
Even better if you can only focus on Kyushu + Okinawa, then you'll definitely feel like you've visited a totally different country (than what you remember from your previous visit).

A few tips.
There are many onsens in Kyushu but the onsen town with easy access by JR Pass is Yufuin. We frequent Yawaraginosato Yadoya that has 3 private time chartered roten outdoor onsens which is included in their low rate with free bfand optional dinner package. The location is great that you can walk to any attractions, Kinrinko Lake, souvenir shops, street foods, craft shops, etc.
Beppu is too touristy but still good to see the hell holes.
Hiroshima A-Bomb museum is good but imo, Nagasak museum has more lasting impact.
In Miyajima, we stayed at Mikuniya Guesthouse. It is a low rate backpacker's inn but it was a Finance Ministry's retreat before 2013 and you can see the beautiful quality structure and rooms like a high end ryokan with separated table/chair balcony with the garden view with visiting deer roaming in it. Do not feed deer in Miyajima. They look much healthy compared with sick looking Nara deer. The place is situated very close to the Itsukushima shrine and also to the cable car station to the mountain top. The Itsukushima shrine ticket has two kinds, one just for the shrine and another for the shrine and the treasure museum located just past the shrine exit. It is worth visiting there. If you are lucky, you may see a ceremony at the shrine with all the priests praying with performing music. Also, if you time right with the tide, you can walk all the way to the Torii gate and touch and look back the shrine. It is free to do so w/o the shrine ticket. Go past the shrine, you may rent a kayak to paddle around the Torii. If not, there are many restaurants in this area that are less crowded. In case you want to see up close the torii in a high tide, ride a tour boat that goes through the pillars.
Miyajima/Hiroshima is famous for oysters and you will see the oyster beds.
Off the beaten path in Kyoto is Nyoshinji temple complex. In it is Taizoin temple garden with Ying-Yan rock gardens and Koi pond that is better than Ryoanji. Daishin-In Zen temple is a good place to stay with morning prayer.
Jigokudani monkey onsen in Nagano is a great place to visit to see them enjoying onsen just like us, if you can hike up about 40min.
Oshino Hakkai from Fujisan station before Kawaguchiko station has the Fujisanvolcano mountain filtered springs which water is so cold, clear and delicious to drink.

I liked Hiroshima for its people; I am from Europe and live in North-America, my best friend was born in Japan.
Both old and young Japanese were interested in my knowledge of the history of Hiroshima and having my friend as translator helped a lot..
Some teenagers could speak some English, other some French (in many countries, including China, if someone has trouble with English I switch to French..it very often works)

I wasn't interested in Miyajima as I thought it might be a tourist trap but,as I love tramways, we went all the way to the dock where the Miyajima ferries are by tram..and then decided we might as well have a look at the island.

Once on the island we saw that there were too many people going to the shrine so we went on the opposite direction..

A few blocks away, in a plain residential area, a small deer appeared out of nowhere. We petted him then he started walking away, stopped, looked back at us then started walking away again, stopped, looked back at us again, so we followed him..for at least 2 hrs..and then he ran away..

It was as if he had been trained to show us the "real" Miyajima...
I have to say that I am always more interested in any town by ordinary streets, houses, stores..etc. than by famous sights as the former shows the culture of the average people, while famous monuments were erected for aristocrats etc.

We had a look at the shrine, eventually, but also at other districts with older houses etc.
I had planned to stay one hour on the island...I did spent one hour looking at the shrine and Torii..but we spent over 6 hours in the non-touristy parts of the island..and loved it a lot.

Same with Nara..Arashiyama.. etc. there are all sorts of interesting streets, small shrines etc. away from the most famous over-touristy areas..
It is the same in any old town of any country...obviously..

By the way...have you looked at the travel section on this site? Both at the very top of each page and at the very bottom..

There is so much info, including basic maps showing major train lines in this and that area..

if youve been to tokyo already i would just skip it all together this time. then again im not the big city type. kyoto is always worth a visit and i highly recommend yakushima. just rent a car, you will be fine as long as you have common sense