Comments on a postcard

Hi There

My husband and I are travelling to Japan for the first time in late April. We'll be there for just over three weeks so are planning to cover quite a bit of ground but I'm now concerned that I'm cramming in too much! Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated.

Day 1 - Arrive Tokyo early morning. Bag drop and then an afternoon walking tour of Shinjuku/Shibuya via the government office.
Days 2 to 4 – Tokyo sightseeing – the fish market, Tokyo skytree, Acihabra
Day 5 - Travel to Shinano Omachi, Nagano
Day 6 - Kurobe Alpine Trail and then onto Kanazawa
Day 7 – Sightseeing Kanazawa – Castle, gardens, markets, local crafts etc
Day 8 - Travel to Fukuoka
Days 9 and 10 - Sightseeing Fukuoka, Sakurajima and maybe Mt Aso – do we hire a car?
Day 11 – Travel to Nagasaki and trip to Gunkanjima
Days 12 and 13 - Travel to Hiroshima and sightseeing Hiroshima or Miyajima
Days 14 and 15 - Travel to Osaka and sightseeing
Days 16 to 18 – Travel to Kyoto sightseeing, cookery course
Day 19 to 20 – Travel to Hakone
Days 21 to 22 – Narita – This is time really to finish off anything we missed, maybe take in Disney and to try and fit everything in the backpacks. Maybe attend a sumo match as one of the tournaments is on.
Day 23 - Depart Tokyo 1050

I'm still planning what to do in the places towards the end of the itinerary so if anyone has any suggestions they’ll be great fully accepted.

I'm currently looking at a 14 day JR pass and probably upgrading it to a Green one. My husband is 6’4” and would appreciate the extra space; we’re also travelling for part of it in Golden week which I’ve heard is quite busy. The 14 days pass will start on day five and will run out at Kyoto. I’m not sure if I should go for a 21 day pass or stick with the 14 day and pay for the remainder of the travel…

Once again any comments/suggestions etc will be appreciated.

Thanks

Paddy

A few thoughts:

- sakurajima is off the coast of Kagoshima. It's a LONG way from Fukuoka.

- Check out the info on regular JR carriages. They have loads of space. (Man in seat 61 website has pictures, as does the main japan-guide site) You could save the money on Green Passes and spend it on ryokan or food.

- check out Hyperdia for all pricing and timing info re train travel. Only be pricing out your main journeys will you see whether it's worth getting a 21 day pass, or whether it's worth getting a shorter pass and paying for individual fares for some of the time. To research your main journeys takes very little time. Stick the costs on a spreadsheet and you'll easily see what pays off for you.

- your pace of travel is pretty quick. I guess you know that, and are happy with it. However, once you research your train trips (and find out journey time as well as cost) you might feel that you're spending a lot of time in trains at the expense of time actually doing and seeing things.

- the main j-g website is pretty much the best resource that I've found for most things related to holidaying in Japan.

Sorry: should have read "Only BY pricing..."

Whew! your head will be reeling!
Look into it carefully... better to do a little bit less and enjoy it than try to cram in too much and forget what you've seen. Moving around Japan, whilst the rail system is wonderful, it can take up some time, to get from one place to another.
A comment about sumo. There is no April Tournament if you were intending to go to one of those. May's tournament is 10-24 May at the Tokyo Kokugikan. You can join in some tours which visit certain heya and see the rikishi practising, but you must book in advance and the day starts very early.

Maybe I misunderstood your dates of travel. If you want to buy sumo tickets visit nihon sumo kyokai website, and you can purchase tickets from mid April. Sumo is becoming very popular again thanks to the younger guys, and if you want to see the big boys then best book early, I think the January tournament was booked out for at least 10 of the 15 days of play.