The ambitious Japan trip for 6 weeks

Hi,
this is my first post here. I've been a lurker in the forum for years. I was planning to go Japan next spring for 6 weeks.
The plan is to buy a 3 weeks rail pass and utilise it as much as possible. The itinenary is as follows:

- Kansai area 10 nights

- Fukuoka, 2
- Nagasaki, 1
- Kumamoto/Aso-san, 1
- Beppu, 1

- Hiroshima/Miyajima 2

- Kanazawa, 1
- Shirakawa-go, 1
- Takayama, 1
- Nagoya, 1
- Nagano, 1

- Tohoku region, 3?

- Hakodate/Sapporo, 3

and finally

- Tokyo and co, 14


The itinenary is not final, just a tentative plan. Too ambitious? Too tight schedule?
The daily train travel should not exceed more than 4 hrs, the hiroshima-kanazawa route may exempt.
I want to see many places as possible.

Yudanaka Onsen is close to Nagano, worth seeing the infamous bathing apes?
The Tohoku area is pretty much left in the dark as I don't know much about the region. At least I want to visit Matsushima.
Not much of a nature lover, but at least must see one though. Am I missing other "must" sees, please do tell. Okiwana is left out due to the time consuming travel. As for Shikoku it doesn't sound attractive.
The Sapporo-Tokyo return route, plannin take a night train back to Tokyo.

As for accommodation, planning to spend a 5000y per night. Prolly go for a single room. Never experienced a dorm accommodation before (excluding the military service).
What concerns me most is theft like money being stolen and my loud snoring, hehe. Gotta at least experience a night at a ryokan and have a kaiseki meal.

Japan is pretty much cash oriented society, during the 6 weeks a sufficient cash source is needed to carry. Prolly won't have much on Visa as I'm not on a high wage.
I'm not on a tight budget but that doesn't mean splurgin is ok!

The trip starts out in mid march and ends before the infamous Golden Week. The weather is quite mild in Kansai at spring, what about Hokkaido?
Should take winter gears with me?

The purpose of this whole trip is to enjoy as much as I can from Japan. I've been workin hard and of course saving just for this trip.
I may not have a second chance as I have an "adult's duty" to carry out, sigh.

And lastly, any jpop acts held during the mid to late april? Would love to see one! No crossdressed rockers, please.

Recommendation and tips are appreciated!

Pexi

Too ambitious?

Yes! You can't just keep on assigning one day to each destination one day after the other. Don't underestimate the time it takes to move between the destinations, to get to each destination's hotel, check in, check out, organize luggage, etc. That can take several hours each day, leaving you with only limited time for actual sightseeing.

I recommend to mix in a two-night stay from time to time to loosen up the schedule.

These above comments mainly refer to your travel plans for the Kyushu and Chubu regions.

Way too much time in tokyo!! Spring time start south and follow the sakura

It's a silly itinerary! How can you plan one day in a place when most of it is taken up in travel,meals etc.? Then you are off again in the morning. Soon it's all a blur, you "did" Japan, and you never even saw what Japan is about! Chill and enjoy.

Thanks for the heads up! I got quite carried away on the itinenary. I've had doubts about it from the beginning therefore I wanted inquire it. Have to loosen up a bit which means some destinations be dropped. Any suggestion which to be dropped and added?

As for Tokyo and co, it consists of Nikko, Kamakura, Yokohama as well. Hakone?

I forgot to mention this will be my 2nd time in Japan. The last trip in Japan consisted of Tokyo only 7 years ago. I've experienced the splendid hanami, Would love to experience it again!

As for the timing, I'd love to stay past May seeing the matsuri taking place in Asakusa but the golden week doesn't sound attractive. Mid march till late april or early march till mid april? Hanami is quite guaranteed in Tokyo at that time. OR I could postpone the trip till November to see the autumn leaves. Still excited and confused :)

We too are travelling to Japan for 6 weeks after saving madly for years!!
Our itinerary is below - we are using 2 three week JR passes and some of the travel stretches are quite long (Sapporo to Tokyo the longest) but we do get to see heaps. It is all locked in now, we are leaving in 5 weeks, but if anyone has suggestions as to things to see/do in any of the places we are staying, always welcome!! Anyway, I hope this helps with your planning:

18 -22 OCT Fukuoka

22-26 OCT Hiroshima

26-31 OCT Kyoto

31–3 NOV – Takayama

3-6 NOV – Nagano

6-9 NOV – Morioka

9-14 NOV – Sapporo

14-20 NOV – Tokyo

20-22 NOV – Mt Koya

22-29 NOV - Osaka

To the original poster: Pexi, I have to disagree with the other replies here, I did a 5 week trip this year that hit most of the places on your itinary and more. What I would say is that you may need to budget higher than 5,000 Yen a night, as you'll need to be near to main train stations to keep travel time to a minimum. I would look at Toyoko Inns and budget for about 6,300 Yen.

Genereral comments on your schedule. 10 nights in Kansai area is a good amount of time, I would do 6 in Osaka and 4 in Kyoto, with day trips from Osaka to Nara, Himeji/Kobe using the Kansai Area Pass.

Nagasaki can be done as a day trip from Hakata/Fukuoka. I would do two nights in Kumamoto and do a day trip to Kagoshima on the second day. One night would be good enough for Hiroshima unless you plan a day trip to somewhere else, like Iwakuni.

For Shirakawa-go, stay two nights in Takayama and do it as a day trip. Depending on the start date of your trip, it might be that you find yourself in Takayama during the Spring festival, which will probably mean you have trouble finding a place to stay.

I would not bother staying in Nagano, I would suggess an overnight stay in Matsumoto (for the castle), then the next day travel to Nagano and maybe spend a few hours there before catching the Shinkansen to Omiya and heading north, staying one night, maybe two, in Sendai. From Sendai, head to Hokkaido and spend a night or two in Hakodate, followed by 2-3 nights in Sapporo with a side trip to Otaru. The night train from Sapporo to Tokyo (Ueno) will cost you extra money, even with the JR Rail Pass. I would suggest taking the day trains and stopping for a night in Aomori or Morioka on your way back to break up the journey.

I would agree that 14 days in Tokyo is too much, you could cut that down to 7-10 nights, including side trips to Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone.

For Aleph: I can only say that I think you are spending too much time in places like Hiroshima, Nagano and Morioka and missing out a lot of interesting places in between. Do you know what you are actually going to do in Morioka for three nights? Also, you are spending five nights in Sapporo, but you will do nothing more than change trains at Hakodate. That is a great shame.

Thanks for your thoughts, Rob. Our main plans were to spend a few days in each place to get the feel of each town/city and to avoid the jetlagged 'what city am I in this morning' feeling you can get when you spend only one day in each place. In Hiroshima, we are also planning on spending a day in Miyajima, and from Nagano were planning on travelling to Matsumoto to see the castle one day, as well as the Monkey Onsen another day. We will do Kakunodate from Morioka. This usually leaves about one day to just 'mellow out' in the city, walk around, check it out, chill a bit (it is a holiday!!). I know a number of people have said Hakodate is great - is it do-able as a day trip from Sapporo? Are there other places you would suggest as day trips in Sapporo? Also what are the other 'interesting' places we are missing - I am sure we can fit a few in!!
Cheers and thanks for the great advice.

I know a number of people have said Hakodate is great - is it do-able as a day trip from Sapporo?

Only if you are willing to spend 6 hours on the train. But note that Hakodate is conveniently located along the route between Morioka and Sapporo.

Aleph: Can I assume that you have booked your hotels already? Is it possible to cancel? As Uji said, Hakodate is not really possible as a day trip, and as I already pointed out, you have to change trains at Hakodate to get to Sapporo. If you could change your bookings, this is a good wayto break up the long train ride to Sapporo. Toyoko Inn still have rooms for November 6th and 7th at their location next to the fish market:

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00063/index.html

As for day trips from Sapporo, Otaru (more like a half day) for the canal, etc.

Regarding Matsumoto, in some ways the same situation applies. You will most likely pass through Matsumoto on your way to Nagano (if you take the fastest route). I just thing it is crazy going over the same route again and loosing nearly two hours sitting on a train.

Places you are missing? Nagasaki and Kumamoto (day trips from Hakata/Fukuoka). Tsuwano, you could do this as a day trip from Hiroshima, it's about 3 hours one way. Kurashiki, near Okayama, you could do this from Hirishima, but something else would have to be dropped. Kanagawa as a day trip from Kyoto. Shirakawa-go as a day trip from Takayama. I'm sure you will already be doing day trips to Nikko and Kamakura from Tokyo, along with Nara, and Himeji/Kobe from Osaka.