nye: hamamatsu, kyoto,...?

Hi, I've found this site an invaluable resource in the past and thought I'd post my own question.

I'll be travelling in Japan during Seishun Juhachi Kippu season. Will be leaving Osaka on the morning of Dec 31. Must be in Tokyo by the January 2.

Hyperdia says just over 9 hours for the journe via Tokkaido Line. I want to break the trip up.

Kyoto seems the most popular choice, however, I'm flying out of Osaka a number of weeks later and will have plenty of time to visit Kyoto later. I'll be returning on the Chuo line so perhaps somewhere between Nagoya and Tokyo. Hamamatsu? Toyohashi? Shizuoka City is probably a bit too far for me (on New Years Eve at least).

Thanks!

forde, I strongly recommend staying in Kyoto on the 31st-1st(if you can find an accomodation!). It is really special to spend New Year's Eve there. The city is full of a festive mood. Many shrines and temples open all night, bells start ringing at around 10pm (At some temples, you may have a chance to ring a bell) Visit Yasaka Shrine in the evening and you can see people coming to get a sacred flame for the new year's day (called "Okera mairi").

Kyoto is just 30 minutes from Osaka, but still 9 hours from Tokyo. Not a good city to split the trip. But an exciting place to spend the New Year night!

I'll be returning on the Chuo line so perhaps somewhere between Nagoya and Tokyo.
Hamamatsu? Toyohashi? Shizuoka City is probably a bit too far for me (on New Years Eve at least).

These are all cities along the Tokaido Line, not the Chuo Line. With the exception of Nagoya, they don't have much to offer. I would stay in Nagoya. It leaves you with "only" a 6 hour trip to Tokyo.

. . . be any tourist attractions open between Dec. 31-Jan 2nd anyway, so all the activity will be at temples and shrines.

I happened to have spent one New Year's around Toyohashi, mainly because I ran out of temples and shrines in Nagoya. There is a famous shrine (I think one of the three major Fox shrines) near Toyohashi that took 45' in line to get to the main temple where you toss the coins. The town it's in is known for bridges over a river that runs through it (sculptures, etc.). There is also an island offshore that area with a temple or shrine on it that is linked to the mainland by a long, picturesque bridge. Amazingly, the tourist info office in Toyohashi (at the end of the train line you take to get to the island) was open on Jan. 2nd!

Sorry, I don't recall the details.

Hamamatsu doesn't have much to see except during Kite Festival Week in May; only other thing is a big flower/fruit park nearby and Nakajima (?) Sand Dunes. It's known for unagi (eel).