3 Month Japan Trip - Route ideas

Hi to all!

My name is Bea and i m from Germany. I m planning a nearly 3 month Japan trip. Start is 21.03.2016 from Munich to Osaka. I will stay 11 days in Kyoto, because my mother is there doing a ikebana course and i want to share some time together. After that Kyoto stay, i have to plan the rest of my trip. i m interested in nature, hiking, snorkeling, beaches, mountains, some culture ofcourse too - but mainly old historical things. because i love snorkeling i want to stay long at okinawa and the surrounding islands.

Could you please tell me, if i forgot something very interresting oder if its a realitic plan? i want to use the Buspass (Willer Express) and 3 ANA Visit Japan Coupons for the domestic longrange flights.

Heres my idea for the trip:

21.03.-02.04. Kyoto and Daytrips round Kyoto
02.04. Kyoto - Hiroshima with Buspass
03.04. Hiroshima
04.04. Hiroshima - Osaka - Nagoya with Buspass
05.04. Nagoya
06.04. Nagoya
07.04. Nagoya - Osaka - Tokyo with Buspass
08.04. Tokyo - Hakone with regular train
09.04. Hakone
10.04. Hakone - Tokyo with regular train
11-16.04. Tokyo
17.04. Tokyo - Ishigaki with ANA Coupon
18.-30.04. Ishigaki
01.05.-15.05. Miyako
16.05.-26.05. Okinawa (between Ishigaki, Miyako, Okinawa regular flight)
26.05. Okinawa - Sapporo with ANA Coupon
27.05.-02.06. Sapporo and daytrips
02.06. Sapporo - Osaka with ANA Coupon
04.06. Osaka - Munich

I m not sure, if i will spend to much time in the south and i will be missing something important because of that? will i get bored? i saw so much beautiful pictures of the islands, that its hard to image for me to spend less time there ;-)

opinions, tips, ideas welcome :-) thank you!

best regards Bea

Could you please tell me, if i forgot something very interresting oder if its a realitic plan?

Your trip is highly biased towards large cities and Okinawa. Of course, you will naturally miss a lot of very interesting places. In particular, if you like mountains and hiking, I would consider also spending some time exploring the natural sides of the main islands. I recommend the Tohoku Region, Chubu Region and Kyushu Region, in particular, for their mountains, onsen and rural towns.

I m not sure, if i will spend to much time in the south and i will be missing something important because of that? will i get bored?

Although it is a personal matter, I still feel the time in Okinawa is excessive. 1.5 month of 3 months in Japan. I personally would get bored in Ishigaki and Miyako after a week or so. But I am not a beach person. Miyako, in particular has very little to do besides beach and ocean activities. Ishigaki, at least, has several other islands nearby that can be explored. And the Okinawa Main Island is much larger with lots of attractions of various kinds.

Thank you for your feedback Uji!

I think I will try to spend more time on Okinawa itself then on Miyako to have more opportunities if I get bored. I really love snorkeling & the beach.

Do you think that Hokkaido is worth the visit in my route? Or maybe i could change the visit from Hokkaido to Kyushu instead? Would be also easy to get from Kyushu area to Osaka, where my flight back home starts?

Do you have some must-go places on Kyushu for me?

Thank you :)

Do you think that Hokkaido is worth the visit in my route? Or maybe i could change the visit from Hokkaido to Kyushu instead? Would be also easy to get from Kyushu area to Osaka, where my flight back home starts?


Hokkaido is worth the visit. Considering the location of Okinawa & Osaka , it might be better to visit Kyushu though. Regardless of where you choose, 8 days is sufficient to see the highlights of both areas. Though, you would need a little more time for Kyushu. IMO Hokkaido's mountains and forest are far more beautiful than Kyushu's. Kyushu has more of an old town feel whereas Hokkaido makes you feel like you are sometimes in a countryside resort and other times in Europe.

Do you have some must-go places on Kyushu for me?
Kyushu, the must-go places are
- Sakurajima
- Ibusuki
- Kirishima (spend most of your time here)
- Udo Jinja and Aoshima
- Islands of Nagsaki
- a nice onsen place of Yufuin or Beppu would be nice too

At least in my opinion