Final Trip Refining: Obscure Honshu

Hi All,

At present I'm planning my last trip to Honshu to locations that have peaked my interested but I've missed. I call it the odd bod collection but have found this forum to be a wealth of knowledge, even for people who have travelled Japan more than most Japanese. My general plan is below. I'm looking for any big red flags that people may see or impressive hidden treasures which are not on JG.

Day 1: Handea to Kikonai (Hokkaido)
Day 2: Matsumae Castle and surrounds (car hire). Late train from Kokonai to Morioka
Day 3: Morioka & surrounds to Nyuto Onsen (Tsurunoya) - car for 3 nights.
Day 4: Nyuto Onsen to Tamagawa Onsen (some light hiking + lots of onsen bathing)
Day 5: Tamagawa Onsen to Kakunodate (explore old district of Kakunodate)
Day 6: Train from Morioka to Akita. Explore some of Akita
Day 7: Train to Akita to Sakata. Explore old district of Sakata
Day 8: Sakata to Sado. Hire car and visit Sado Gold Mine
Day 9: Explore southern Sado
Day 10: Explore Northern Sado and stay in Niigita at night
Day 11: Niigata to Kanazawa, Visit sites around Kanazawa castle
Day 12: Visit residences, museums and potentially Ninjadera
Day 13: Kanazawa to Fukui. Hire Car (1 night) and visit Maruoka Castle (last of original castles to visit) and Awaru Onsen
Day 14: Visit Mikuni and Ichinodani Ruins. Stay in Fukui.
Day 15: Fukui to Furukawa early Train. Hire car for 5 night. Drive to Yonago via/ Tottori Flower Park
Day 16: Visit Yuushein Garden, Iwami Ginzan and get in late to Hagi (long drive)
Day 17: Visit sites in Hagi
Day 18: Visit outer sites in Hagi and Tsuwano. Stay in Iwakuni
Day 19: Visit Iwakuni, drive to Tonomura and see old fishing village. Stay in Fukuyama
Day 20: Visit Fukuyama castle and surrounds. Take long train to Narita to stay in airport hotel

just one comment: TAKE ME WITH YOU!
(route sounds awesome!)

You don't mind moving about a lot do you :) Anyway it looks ok from a quick glance although I havent visited a lot of those places myself. In Kanazawa if you have not visited the Shinse Kinenkan museum then I thoroughly recommend it http://www.kanazawa-museum.jp/shinise/english/index.html It is one of the highlights of all my trips to Japan & I found it while wandering around & nearly didnt go in.
Without knowing where you have been It's hard to know if you have missed anywhere. For instance have you been to Tono https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5060.html or Takehara https://www.japan-guide.com/community/pby/report-1989 ?

@Stan, click on his name to access his profile.

So this is a summer trip, yeah? That rules out the beautiful snowy views of the scenic railway from Kakunodate to Takanosu, but I guess you could go if you wanted to see lush greenery and rivers.

As for Morioka, I recommend https://kumagairyokan.com/service.html
Don't miss the Baeren Beer Pub too.

You do so many trips, I'm envious!! We went in 2010, 2011 (twice), early 2012, but then started a family so that's slowed us down. Since then, Christmas 2013, May/June 2016, and 4.5 weeks this Christmas will be the next. Will this be your last Japan trip for a while?

Thanks for the info all.

I have already visited Tono along with a reasonable number of places. I've included a link to the cities I've visited. This does not include locations along the way as this would take too long.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1u1PazW_bO2lfuLiTzkEO2nRvAvA8Lw...

At present, I was already planning on visiting the medicine museum mentioned in Kanazawa.

Also, how much time do you think it would take to visit Takehara as I'm driving past it and can miss 1/2 a day in Hagi to cover this location (I've already visited Hagi but really enjoyed it)....

Fair point about the checking the profile :) Takehara would be an ideal couple of hours if you are driving past & the weather is nice. I assume that you have visited the Battleship Yamato museum in Kure in passing. If not then it is well worth it. Looking at your link you seem to have been everywhere else I can think of. Not that I'm jealous. . . much. :)

Thanks for the suggestions Stan.

What I've decided to do is have Takehara as a backup in case I do not wish to stay in Hagi for 1 1/2 days. Unfortunately Hagi seems to be similar to Takehara (through your photos) but it seems much smaller in size. I'll still plan what to visit though, which almost seems as though it will be a rehash of what you did after completing a bit of research.

@Sal

I've also booked flights to Kyushu in December/Jan for 13 nights with a car. My plan is to cover Kumamoto Prefecture and a couple of other locations in Northern Kyushu. This will leave one trip to Japan which will finish my odyssey. That trip will cover Kagoshima (including Yakushima and Ta-somethingshima next to Yakushima) which will mean I've visited every prefecture in depth and have fully covered Japan. I rarely revisit the same location.

I'm an international teacher which involves very long work weeks but also large amount of holidays. Living in Japan previously for 3 years also helped.....

You are right Hagi & Takehara do look similar. I will say that Kagoshima blew me away. I really want to visit again. But that's for the future for both of us :) Enjoy your trip.