One week of Eastern Japan in January 2016

Hi,

May I have some suggestions on where to go and what to do for one week in January for Eastern Japan? Found out that most of the festivals are not ready till February.

Travelling period: 9th Jan - 16th Jan.
Will be flying to Tokyo and most likely getting the JR East pass depends on the place to visit and cost.

Current plan:
1st day (Sat, 9 jan)- Tokyo
2nd day (Sun, 10 jan) - Yudanaka *Activate JR East Pass
(visit Jigokudani Monkey Park and Shibu Onsen) will base in Yudanaka
3rd day (Mon, 11 jan) - Shiga Kogen (will base in Yudanaka)
4th day (Tue, 12 jan) - ...
5th day (Wed, 13 jan) - ...
6th day (Thu, 14 jan) - Back to Tokyo *Last day of JR East pass
7th day (Fri, 15 Jan) - Yokohama (Cup Noodle Museum & Cosmo Clock 21)
8th day (Sat, 16 Jan) - Tokyo till departure time

Anything interesting to see or do in winter for Akita/ Yamagata/ Nagano/ Niigata/ Matsumoto areas? Please feel free to suggest other area in Eastern side.

Or Nikko/ Kamakura/ Odawara day-trips from Tokyo is good to visit?

Previously planning for
- Yokote Kamakura festival in Akita but found out it won't be ready till Feb
- Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route closed in winter

Another question, If I get a shinkansen ticket only without reserved seat, is it meant I can get any empty seats in the non-reserved cabins? Any chance that the seat might be reservable and someone that board in between the journey might get the seat?

Thank you for the help :)

For the shinkansen, unreserved cabin means all seats are unreserved, so you don't have to worry about seat reservations. If you sit in a seat, it's yours for the whole journey.

I think Matsumoto Castle would be really nice, and/or Zenkouji Temple, since you're in that area anyway.

Have a nice trip!

Since going to the Shinshu region why not go to the nearby:
Karuizawa
Kusatsu
Ikaho

You know that the cold winter is best fought with a dip in the hot springs!

Nikko is interesting though it is more of a summer place. It is too cold to go on to the lake to go trekking to see the waterfalls.

If you are a ski person, Zao mountain in Yamagata, Yuzawa in Niigata has wonderful snow! Niigata is a place that are famous for rice, therefore there are lot of sake breweries and that might be a fun round to go.
For Yokohama, I would recommend to visit China Town to grab some dim-sum, they are really nice. Tokyo, definitely lots to see but I would recommend to spend more time on the country side :)
Dipping yourself into onsens will be so nice in January with snowy sceneries.
Have fun!

Those unique Juhyo snow monsters in Zao will start to form from late Dec and on specific dates in January next year (marked with blue circles in the following webpage) there is light-up during the evenings.

http://zaoropeway.co.jp/zao/winter/lightup.html

Hi All, Thank you so much for the suggestions, I will check on the places mentioned and improve on my itinerary.

Actually It will be my first time to see snow and ski and I think I would love to ski till I fall and roll into a snowball :X

So before I become a snowball, any recommendations on an english speaking ski instructor? I have tried to dig old threads in this forum but only found some websites for other ski resorts.

Just for reference, for newbie, how many hours of lesson needed to learn: how to go straight, fall the correct way, and brake?

Hi All,

Is it the correct timetable for Nagaden express bus schedule for Nagano Station - Shiga Kogen (Hasuike stop) in January 2016?
http://www.nagadenbus.co.jp/robus/2015fuyu/shigawin.htm

Any idea where I can get the schedule of other local bus services for Nagano - Yudanaka - Shiba Onsen - Monkey Park - Shiga Kogen?

Thank you :)