Itinerary check

Hi all,
I've got a 35 days backpack to japan planned out. I'm actually happy with the planning, but there's this second thoughts, like it's not feasible or I would meet up with lots of inconvenience.

I suppose travel would be by shinkansen. Main points of interest are shrines, food, sceneries/nature, maybe museum. Any recommendations or how I could improve my itinerary?

July18-20: Land Fukuoka
July20-21: Hiroshima
July21-22: Okayama
July22-23: Kobe
July23-25: Osaka
July25-28: Kyoto
July28-29: Nara
July29-30: Ise
July30-31: Nagoya
July31-Aug1: Shizuoka
Aug1-Aug4: Fuji
Aug4-Aug6: Matsumoto
Aug6-Aug10: Tokyo
Aug10-Aug11: Narita
Aug11-Aug13: Sendai (probably would explore other towns near of Sendai)
Aug13-Aug14: Aomori(areas around Aomori)
Aug14-Aug15: Take a sleeper train to Hakodate
Aug15-Aug16: Hakodate
Aug16-Aug17: Asahikawa
Aug17-Aug18: Otaru
Aug18-Aug20: Sapporo area

Thank you for the kind attention.

Have you used hyperdia.com to calculate travel times?
Some of those steps don't look very streamlined and involve many hours on the train :o
Though if you don't mind that, it's perfectly fine.

Wall of text incoming.

How are you getting from Narita to Sendai? Domestic flight? I would either fly from Narita to Hokkaido and return to Tokyo via Sendai. Or train to Hokkaido via Sendai and fly back to Tokyo. Makes more sense costs wise.

What time are your flights in and out of Japan? Do you have half/full/no days when you enter/leave Japan?

Fukuoka has hardly anything. The ramen sure is good. The Yatai is an experience. Anything else does not warrant more than a day and night in Fukuoka. Have you considered popping by Yufuin, Beppu, Nagasaki, or Kumamoto?

Two days in Hiroshima is more than sufficient to see Miyajima, the atomic stuff and have some okonomiyaki! Good.

I would spend just a day in Okayama. This is enough for the Garden in the day and for Kushiraki at night.

Kobe is a lively city. But compared to many other Japan cities it has only two main attractions: The night view atop Mount Rokko and the bayfront. Some daylight hours and some twilight hours are all that is needed.

Since you are spending the 21-23 at Okayama to Kobe, perhaps a side trip to Himeji would be possible. Only takes 2 hours to walk from Himeji to the castle, view it, and walk back. Also, it is in between Okayama and Shin-Kobe Stations along the Shinkansen line.

I would personally spend just a day in Osaka, and as much time as possible in Kyoto. Kyoto is unique as it was the ancient capital for centuries. Long lived traditions and cultures permeate through the city and its people. If you really must do Osaka, do note that it gets lively at night. Whereas Kyoto's activities simmers down. You might want to go to Osaka from Kyoto at night. Especially about the Domtombori area.

About a day in Nara. Good.

About a day in Ise. Good.

I recommend Koya San as an overnight stay from Osaka and Kii-Katsura Urashima Hotel for the same reason from Kyoto. Both amazing places with calming night and morning views.

Nagoya is the perfect city to do nothing. Great to see it in the middle of your trip. Nothing better than to do nothing after the many days of intensive travelling. Cafe de creme for some coffee. Good. P.S. If you really want to do something: Aichi Prefecture Science Museum

People go to Shizuoka to view Fuji. You don't need so many days for both Fuji and Shizuoka. If you plan to ascend and naturally descend Mt Fuji plus some lake + mt view three to four days is sufficient.

Fuji 5 Lakes, and Hakone have good views of Mt Fuji and have onsen too. Sadly they aren't along the Shinkansen route.

I personally like to go to Kanazawa from Kyoto. Then onto Takayama. Then onto Shirakawago. Then into Tateyama Alphine Route. Nagano. Then Karuizawa. Then Tokyo.

Matsumoto. Good. But I think you can cut a day unless you are planning to do some trekking.

Tokyo. I know people who love this city. It is a mesh up of all the different cultures of Japan. To me, and to you after that many days, I would rather go to the respective cities to experience their culture than to go to one that is all. To me it is a culturally confused city. Still, it is one the world's leading commercial centres and has high-technology. That must count for something. It also has the most number of Michelin star restaurants compared to any other city.

For you Sendai and Aomori experience, can i recommend Yamadera and Hirosaki?

Sleeper trains are usually booked out early so reserve now!

Hakodate requires a full day (if speedy is your middle name) plus some moonlight hours to view the view atop Mt Hakodate. One of the tree best in the WORLD.

I have no idea why you would be going to Asahikawa. Nothing personal against the city, but it isn't exactly a place for tourist. It is nice and I like the architecture and city layout.... but not enough to be a pulling factor.

I would spend my time at
1. Daisetsuzan (Sounkyo Gorge)
2. Furano/Biei for the Lavender provided there are still in season. Additionally, the lake and trees are nice to look at. Especially the view of Daisetsuzan range.
3. Lake Toya. An amazingly serene circular lake. G8 was once held here. Has fireworks at night over the lake if that rocks your boat.
4. Noboribetsu onsen. One of Japan's most famous onsen resort towns. Nice to end a trip, soaking in the hot water. Relives tension in the muscles and improves blood circulation. Plus the hotels there serves sumptuous feasts. The buffets and/or Kaiser Ryori have a wide spread of treats.

Otaru. Good.

Sapporo area. Good.

Note:
Each region or city of Japan have their own local speciality. Hokkaido Wagyu beef steak is a thumbs up. Being summer, Hokkaido has fresh fruits and vegetables that can be eaten raw.
Hiroshima has Okonomiyaki.
Osaka has Takoyaki.
Kyushu, specifically Fukuoka, has Ramen.

Also note:
Each region or city of Japan have their own local alcoholic drink/sweets. Kyoto sweets mostly go with Green Tea and Matcha.
The snacks of Onsen Towns mostly go with sake or some other form of alcohol.

As for how you wish to travel... Shinkansen and overnight bus might be an idea. If you use a 7 day JR Pass for Fukuoka to Kyoto that would work well for you.
You can use the 14 day Pass too if from Kyoto you go to Kanazawa, Toyama, Nagano, Karuizawa as mentioned above.

Since Fuji area is mostly buses, the pass would not help you. Shizuoka Station and Shin-Fuji Station is covered in this train pass but Hakone and Fuji 5 Lakes are not.

The recommended mode of transport in Hokkaido is rental car. I am unsure how you are going to overcome this problem. No rail pass is beneficial to you.

Hi MilesVor, thanks for replying.
Not initially, but I've looked at the timing recently. And yes, the time taken are quite long, so I guess I would have to start traveling earlier on the day itself.

Hi Joshua, Thanks for that wall of text.
I suppose getting to Sendai from Narita would be by train(living out earlier in the day)
Hmm, I suppose I could explore the places near fukuoka area after hearing what you told me.

I'm actually thinking of ascending Fuji since it's the summer period.

Was actually thinking the same thing of going to the alps by Matsumoto.

Wow! I didn't know that about the sleeper train would be booked fast. Thanks for notifying!

Mmm, Asahikawa wise, I actually thought of exploring Hokkaido more, but some of the places I've looked on the map are quite far from Sapporo/Chitose.
Ok, I might change Asahikawa to Furano/Biei, that was the initial plan, but thinking it's going to be summer. Thought there might be some closure to the ski resort and stuff.

Many thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it guys.

Of course everyone has his/her own preferences, but I wonder why you did not list nature things. Most of the places you listed are cities which are not so small. Did you consider the places below?

Mountains

Aso
Kirishima
Kamikochi
Daisetsuzan

Sea shore
Okinawa
Tanegashima
Rebun

Small towns
Yufuin
Takayama
Shirakawago

Hi frog1954,
Yes, regrettably I overlooked the small towns. My initial plan was to actually look around the main attractions and sites of Japan during the Sakura season. However, due to some circumstances, had to push back the flight to July.
Would love to look at those nature sites in my future trip to Japan.
Would keep your advice in mind, and research them further. Thanks!

If you do plan on returning to Japan, I have some opinions. I believe you should cover each area in depth. Mostly because there are regional rail passes.

For example, there is the northern Kyushu, whole Kyushu, Eastern Japan Pass.

What i am trying to say is that, skip out on Tohoku and Kyushu. When you return next time take your time to explore those regions . They require a week or more to cover, so might as well.

Although, Okinawa and Shikoku does not have these passes, since it is a bit of a hassle to get to, I recommend not doing them together.

Another option is to skip out on both Tohoku and Hokkaido. You could use the time to head to the Japan Alps (Northern). In summer, it is really hot. If you pop by cities like Nikko and Karuizawa on weekdays you can cool yourself down. Also Kyushu has a number of mountainous regions so it makes travel easier.

Tohoku and Hokkaido is in the north so you won't feel the heat as much. So I would recommend choosing a few regions and cover them in depth.

Kyoto has river dining in Summer. Check out Kibune.

Besides these I can't think of any other way to beat the summer.

I am stating all these in the assumption that you are returning to Japan. If not, stick to your current plan as it gives many of the best that Japan has to offer.

On a separate note: What is your take on onsen?

Hey Joshua,

Yes. I do intend to return to Japan in the future. Ah, yes, that's what I was thinking. Like exploring different region and their uniqueness. This itinerary was sort of a "getaway" trip I planned before I get preoccupied with studies. Main intention was to see most of Japan as I'm always fascinated by how things are over there (culture, people, etc).

Mmm, I actually went to Noboribetsu's Onsen some time back. It was winter season coming spring. Didn't really went for the onsen, just saw how it was.
Would love to try it out sometime, but I don't think I would be doing it this summer, unless you convince me otherwise with some health benefit to dive in an onsen during summer.
Saw some interesting ryokan the other day on a show, but not sure if it's the same as an onsen. What do you think?
Also was reading on konyoku the other day, found it quite interesting with how it's becoming.

35 days is a good chunk of time in Japan - but I feel that one of the main errors that many travelers to Japan makes is that they try and jam pack as much as possible into the time that they have.

So is it possible to visit all of these locations? Yes

Will you probably have a good time? Yes

However, what I'd suggest (as mentioned above) is to slow down how much you are moving and to also focus on specific areas such as Kyushu, Chubu or Hokkaido etc....

After much trial and error, I've found that travelling extensively in one area tends to cut down on travel costs, secondary cities have much cheaper accommodation and you tend to see some amazing things which have much fewer tourists and it's easier to get to know the 'real' Japan.

If you are worried about not being able to find where to go - almost every town that has something to see has a tourist office with something which resembles an English map with suggestions of where to visit. These places are not in guide books and would be overrun with tourists if they were in a more prominent location.

As it is summer, I'd probably spend most of my time focused on Tohoku and Hokkaido first because it is cooler but because it's the best time to travel.

If I had the choice, I'd probably land in Fukuoka and head straight over to Hiroshima and then spend a week in Kyoto. I'd spend this long in Kyoto as you might want to spend a lot of time there - or use it as a base to travel around Kansai. If you want a link to cheap accommodation in Kyoto that is not backpackers - PM me!

Then, I'd spend a short amount of time in Tokyo (3-4 days) and then 2 weeks in both Tohoku and Hokkaido.

The other locations are still going to be good - but I feel as though these two regions are at their best for the time you are in Japan.

Japan is very much a land of seasons, with travelling in the correct season can make a big difference. For example, Cherry Blossom and Fall seasons are when Japan is at it's best. For me, Hokkaido and Tohoku in summer is Japan at it's best.

Also have a good look into the 18 Free Kippu which is an uber cheap train pass that allows you to travel on slow trains on the days that you choose. This can be purchased in Japan and is perfect when you are travelling around regions. If you need another pass - then you just buy one in the country.

If you want some suggestions on where to go - feel free to ask. Also feel free to ignore what I have said - as it's your holiday and another person never truly knows what another person wants to do or what their preferred travelling style might be.

Of course 35 days is quite a long time, though still not enough to see all that there is in the huge swath of land you are crossing. But let's start at the beginning. First, saying that "Fukuoka has hardly anything" is not true by any stretch. It's just that a lot of its sights are not well publicized. Kitakyushu would be more apt for such a snub. The Nanzoin temple near Hakata Stn. is one of the most fantastic you will see in Japan, yet next to nobody has even heard of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT4VQFmHFyM
You could spend a few hours to half a day there exploring. The castle ruins, Maizuru Park, and Ohori Park make for a nice stroll. Atago Jinja offers a great view over the city and bay. Fukuoka Tower has a great (but perhaps overpriced) city view. Yusentei is a beautiful villa and garden. Nokonoshima and Shikanoshima also have some good hiking and exploring.
The real gem of Kyushu though is Nagasaki, and well worth a couple of days. The chanpon and saraudon are to die for. Unzen is nice too. A couple of days for Hiroshima is good, but before that, Akiyoshido is one place you will never forget,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3Bdin23yXQ
and Iwakuni with its iconic bridge and mountaintop castle make a nice half day trip also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM
For the Kansai area, I didn't see Himeji listed, which would be a terrible omission. And you can largely skip Nagoya which is, as far as the big cities go, the more boring. Some other places like Inuyama though are well worth the time.
If you really want to go to Hokkaido, I'd say take a cheap Jet Star flight is the best and most time effective way. But using some regional passes and really seeing some of the best places in an area (just using a book like Lonely Planet would be a terrible disservice) thoroughly would result in less tedium on trains and more enjoyment over all.

Well to each his own i guess. Did not find the parks of Fukuoka any part interesting. many other locations in Japan have great greenery.

I do agree on Nanzoin. But as i said, you can do it all in a day.

I disagree with mfedly on Tohoku. It is a winter/autumn place. At least in my opinion. It is surely cool in summer. But i would rather be there in autumn. Winter for the onsen towns and Hirosaki like towns.

Hokkaido is a summer /winter place. Summer to escape the heat, pretty flowers, and harvest season. Winter for ski. Of course, you could also go in Summer as there are many national parks. Though, visiting them in Autumn is possible too.

I feel you should have a visit or two in an onsen hotel. Especially with such a long trip. You would need to spend some time eating food and soaking in minerals to energise your body for the next leg of the race.

So OP, what is your end plan?

Hi mfedley,
Yes I have to agree with you on the point on the cramming all into one a fixated period of time. Thank you on the advice that you have provided. Especially the 18 free kippu, I think that would help me with some travel around.

Hi Ken,
Hmm, I will definitely take a look at the garden in Fukuoka. I think I've got it in my plan of places to visit. However, I suppose I can't do much in this short span of time. Probably like the other users have suggested, would have to come back and explore each region to their potential. Yes, I wanted to go to Himeji, just thought like there wasn't a need to stay a night there. I guess I would just take a look while I'm heading towards Kobe.

Hey Joshua,
Mmm, I probably might visit an onsen hotel in Tokyo. Doubt it would be a wise choice, but I've got an Uncle staying around Akihabara. So I suppose I would ask him for some advice.
Well, I might do as you've suggested about the first few days of my trip. I'm actually thinking of changing Nagoya and Shizuoka to like a day trip of sightseeing, and move the days to Kyoto. Since I'm getting good feedbacks about Kyoto. Got to head back to office to do the changes before I can finalize my end plan.

Many thanks for taking your time to reply with such detailed descriptions. :)