From North to Ishigaki on a Low Budget

Hello everyone,

I'm 23 years old and planning a 6-10 week journey from northern Japan to Ishigaki, having previously visited Japan. My adventure kicks off in August, and my constant companion on this trip will be a large backpack with a capacity of 60-70 liters. I'm open to adventure and keen on keeping the southbound journey cost-effective. The JR Pass is not an option for me, so I'm exploring alternatives such as long-distance buses, carpooling, or even biking to travel at a slower pace.

I would appreciate any tips and advice on possible transportation options!

Thanks in advance.

The first thought that comes to me is that August in Okinawa is going to be really brutal.

Where exactly do you mean by "northern Japan"?

There are direct non-stop flights on JAL from Tokyo & Osaka to Ishigaki. You can also fly really cheaply on their JAL Explorer fare for 11,000 yen per flight. And for that or less to many other places.
https://www.jal.co.jp/world/en/world/japan_explorer_pass/lp/
Just be aware there are no date changes, reroutes or refunds.

Not sure why you focus on Ishigaki. It's quite nice of course, and the Limestone Cave is a must. But aside from swimming and scenery, there is not that much - the main island has far more. Watch out for jellyfish, by the way.

Highway bus is a very cheap way to get around, though very time consuming. You also might look at regional rail passes, if staying in one area.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

Buses would the the obvious choice if on a low budget. Easy to move between regions. Local express trains come in second.

Fly to you starting location. I'd suggest north first if the month of May is the beginning.

I believe I may have expressed myself unclearly. My goal, or rather, my dream, is to explore a substantial portion of Japan within a timeframe of approximately 10 weeks, or even more or less depending on the circumstances. I plan to travel from the northern part of the country to the south. Afterward, I aim to visit other countries, although not for as long as I intend to stay in Japan, as it is my primary destination. Consequently, I intend to minimize my budget for transportation costs and proceed gradually towards the southern regions.

O all good. That's how your first post reads.

Not all peeps on this forum are good at English. The fail to read the context properly. Concentrating on one sentence rather that the whole paragraph.

Anyways, my advice of using highway buses still stands. They are Japan version of long distance buses.

The most expensive form of transport is shinkansen. But since you are moving slowly across the country, you won't need to use them.

Yea, I think the Shinkansen are not that what I want and the price is much to high at all.
Are they some companies for highway busses where I can check the prices and routes which they offer?

You mention �gbike�h. I assume �gbicycle �g in this context. It is definitely an option. I did a ~2 month trip North to South in 2017 with my foldable bike. But also using trains, bus, airplanes. (I wasn�ft on a budget). Since then I have done other shorter trips mainly on a road bike. Maybe my blog gives you some inspiration:

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/search/label/TdJ2017?m=1


One word of advise on cycling in Japan. If you want to put the bike on a train/bus/ (airplane)it must be in a bag. That�fs easy for foldable bikes and not too complicated for road bikes. Bags are available in Japan. Those bags don�ft need to be specially sturdy and wrap up to the size of a ~500 ml bottle


Are you camping? Asking because you mention an enormous backpack. If not camping try to keep it small. When cycling I can keep to a bag of 17 L for several weeks. That might be a bit extreme but 25-30 L should be totally doable. But depends on how often you area actually going to transport that backpack around with you.


And last word of warning regarding weather. If you start in Hokkaido and then arrive in Nortgern Honshu at the end of August, early September that should be fine. But mid August nearly everywhere on Honshu is just miserably hot and humid. So spend as much of August as possible in Hokkaido

Plenty of companies for highway buses. But the ate specific to each region. And some do cross-over. Best to hit up google and see which are to your liking.

If travel at a slow pace is your thing - have you considered the 18 Free Kippu which only runs at certain times of the year.

It's basically 5 non-consecutive days where you can use JR trains (non-shinkansen or most major express trains) for around 12,000 yen

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html

I've used it a couple of times - and it also gives you the option to stop at lesser known towns on the way as there is NO WAY you'd get from Tohoku to Kyushu in 1 day.

Ishigaki is also pretty isolated - transport wise. When I visited - I went via plane from Okinawa and Ishigaki airport was bigger than expected.

Getting around the islands is best done via ferry and it will be hot this time of year. If you want something different - have you considered the wildflowers on Rishi and Rebun Island really far up north in Hokkaido?

Certainly! Thank you for all your responses; it makes me really happy to receive such information and tips.

Regarding the Seishun 18 Ticket, can someone provide more details? I plan to start my journey around August and September, gradually heading south. Would that work with the ticket?

@Deniz, the conditions of that ticket are explained in the link PP provided. The one thing is that it isnt available always. There are 3 times of the year when it is available. And the time when you can buy it is somewhat shorter than the time you can use it. Anyway, you'll be here in August, which means you can buy it and then use it until 10 Sep. You can buy as many Seishun tickets as you want. Everyone of them allows you one day to use "slow" JR trains. It can be fun taking these and if you are in rural areas that's the only thing available anyway.
I used it as a student for a trip from Matsumoto, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka, Tokyo. I did also take bus (Tokyo to Matsumoto) and ship (Hiroshima to Osaka). Was an epic travel. For the trip back from Osaka (or Kyoto, I dont remember), I used only one of those tickets although it was the next morning I arrived in Tokyo because back then there were 10er tickets for the Yamanote line and I still had one with me. So I left Yamanote line in Ikebukuro with one of those tickets... instead of paying for Nagoya to Ikebukuro. You can't do that now anymore, as the Yamanote line 10-tickets don't exist anymore. Those were times before IC cards even existed. Long time ago.
But yes, Seishun kippu is great advise.
Plus there are other regional passes which can pay off. But most of them increased price last year, so it has become more difficult to pay off... but still, if you use them strategically some can. You'll need to do the maths. There are people here on the forum that plan their trips around rail passes while most people plan their trip and then check if a rail pass would work out. Both are valid methods of planning your trip.

Thank you for the enlightening message.

I just have the fear that I might make mistakes with the tickets in terms of finances. I'll have to think more carefully about how I'll divide that.