One month trip to Japan

Hello people,

I am posting my 1 month trip here, seeking for helps and tips, it will be my 5th trip to Japan and with that I'll finish visiting the 47 prefectures. So here I go

28/07 Arrive Haneda airport
29 to 31/07 Stay in Tokyo

01/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Kusatsu Onsen to soak in the onsen, it should take 3 h or a bit more one way. I know

02/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Ushiku Buddha and from there to Hitachi Seaside Park. I hope it is doable if not I will search acommodation in Ibaraki.

03/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Ochijuku (Fukushima) 4 hours one way, so get up early...I hope the place is not too big.

04/08 Go to Aomori Nebuta, If I cannot find acommodation try to stay awake until first train departs from Aomori.

05/08 From Aomori go to Hiroshima. Yes around 8-9 hours by shinkansen but I'll sleep in the train. Arrive Hiroshima and just sleep.

06/08 Guess why? 75th anniversary of Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima

07/08 Akiyoshidai from hiroshima

08/08 Fukuoka

09/08 Bus from Fukuoka to Takachiho bus center and visit the area. Sleep in Nobeoka.

10/08 Nobeoka to Kagoshima, yes 4 hours by train. Rest in Kagoshima

11/08 Kagoshima to Onomichi, 4 hours by Kyushuu and Sanyo Shinkansen. Visit Onomichi and rest there.

12/08 Takamatsu

13/08 Daytrip to Naoshima from Takamatsu.

14/08 Day trip to Tokushima from Takamatsu to enjoy Awa Odori.

15/08 Kochi, sleep in Kochi.

16/08 Matsuyama and visit Shimonada station at sunset.

17/08 Go from Matsuyama to Fukui city, around 6 h and half by train, yes, visit this prefecture a little bit. Maybe Tojimbo cliffs? or just the city and the dinosaur stuff?

18/08 Niigata from Fukui, actually pick the first ferry I can to Sadogashima)

19/08 Sadogashima, any way to travel around without renting car?

20/08 Niigata to Kyoto and rest.

21/08 Mount Koya daytrip from Osaka or Kyoto.

22 to 25 Okinawa main island (3 days is OK for just a brief visit?) I go solo, so better a tour right? not planning to rent a car

26/08 Osaka and Kyoto

27/08 Back to my country

What do you think?

What do I think???
Well I think it�fs an itinerary like a flipper. Jumping restlessly from one place to an other.

Yes you have a months, but apart from the first few days in Tokyo you are generally sleeping in a new city nearly every night and have a lot of days with a lot of time on transport.

I get it that you have a to-do list of places, but I�fd consider to have a 6th vacation in Japan sometime in the future and remove at least a third of not more of the destinations you now have for a bit of actual sightseeing time.

And yes, you are going to say that each day individually is doable, but I don�ft feel it makes sense to jump so much around.

To your specific question on Sadogashima:
- no need to get to Niigata, you can take a ferry from Naoetsu
- transport on the island: local bus, your own bicycle or tour bus

Being this your fifth trip I guess you are aware of the heat/humidity in July/August.

Enjoy planning your trip to Japan!

I am aware, but I don't care moving around too much, I am used to that, as long it is doable I can make big effort.

From Matsuyama to Fukui? The dinosaur museum isn't in Fukui City. It's in Katsuyama. It will take you 7.5hrs to get there and you won't have time to actually see the exhibitions, which is a huge shame because it is an excellent museum that deserves more than a "blink and you'll miss it" visit.

Honestly, I get that you want to tick off the 47 prefectures but your itinerary reads more like an episode of The Amazing Race than a travel plan. Sorry.

Next month I will be visiting my last two prefectures to complete all 47. That will be my 13th trip to Japan as a tourist (14th time in Japan overall). It takes time to "tick off" prefectures from the list....

From Aomori to Hiroshima is brutal (3 trains, 2 transfers) . I once did Kanazawa to Kesennuma and vowed to never again take so many trains in one day. That's why I never buy the JR Pass. I fly to the furthest point of my trip and use regional passes and fly back to Tokyo when I'm done. That way I keep my elite status with the airline, but also save a lot of time.

In summer 2018 I did manage to get from Sapporo to Tokyo by train, took me 8 hours, just take it easy... and relax, sleep in the train...etc

So following your advice seems too rush, I decided to make some changes:

28/07 Arrive Haneda airport
29 to 31/07 Stay in Tokyo

01/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Kusatsu Onsen to soak in the onsen, it should take 3 h or a bit more one way. I know

02/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Ushiku Buddha and from there to Hitachi Seaside Park. I hope it is doable if not I will search acommodation in Ibaraki.

03/08 Day trip from Tokyo to Ochijuku (Fukushima) 4 hours one way, so get up early...I hope the place is not too big.

04/08 Go to Aomori Nebuta, If I cannot find acommodation try to stay awake until first train departs from Aomori.

05/08 From Aomori go to Hiroshima. Yes around 8-9 hours by shinkansen but I'll sleep in the train. Arrive Hiroshima and just sleep.

06/08 Guess why? 75th anniversary of Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima

07/08 Yamaguchi city for a festival.

08/08 Akiyoshidai or a tour to Motonosumi Inari and Tsunoshima. Depends if I can book the tour, if not I will go to Akiyoshiday, I hope 1 full day is enough?

09/08 Day trip from Yamaguchi to Kagoshima, if I take first train is it enough time to visit the park and Sakurajima? My idea is to sleep back in Yamaguchi.

10/08 Yamaguchi city to Onomichi.

11/08 Takamatsu

12/08 Daytrip to Naoshima from Takamatsu. (Is it worth Naoshima? I am not a big fan of art but the island itself is nice right?)

13/08 Day trip to Tokushima from Takamatsu to enjoy Awa Odori.

14/08 Kochi, sleep in Kochi. (Again is Kochi very big?)

15/08 Matsuyama and visit Shimonada station at sunset.

16/08 Stay half day more in Matsuyama and pick train after lunch to Osaka

17/08 Osaka tu Fukui and sleep there.

18/08 Niigata from Fukui, actually pick the first ferry I can to Sadogashima)

19/08 Sadogashima, any way to travel around without renting car (still, is it good idea to go without car? Will I be able to see something?)

20/08 Niigata to Kyoto and rest.

21/08 Kyoto to Hikone in a day trip

22/08 Mount Koya, should I stay in a shukubo or just a day trip is fine?

23/08 to 26/08 Around Osaka, Kyoto or Kobe.

27/08 Back to my country

My biggest concern is if I should eliminate Naoshima in my trip so I can get to Sado Island for Earth festival which lasts from 16 to 18 August, is it worth the Earth festival? What would you do?

10:30 is the earliest you'll get to Niigata. Add another half-hour to get to the pier from the station. That's 11:00 at the earliest you can catch a ferry. If you just nail the times and manage to jump on one right away, you'll get there by 12:00pm. If not, you'll have to wait anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, adding another hour to the trip. So you can be there by 1:00pm or 3:00pm on the last day of a three day festival. Not much time to enjoy.

I still think you're trying to cram too much from too far away on this trip. Go back to Spain wanting to return to Japan for another trip in the future!