[Itinerary Check & Recommendations] November 2022! Hopefully!

13 comments

1. That’s a nice plan! Not too cramped, very relax, I like it. I can only suggest to do stuff instead of chilling and chill instead of doing stuff on some days.

2. Itinerary looks good, but I always very strongly recommend you build in at least a couple days at the start for very low impact things since the jetlag can hit like a train.

3. I would probably get some idea of things to do in the different cities, even if you are not following the plan. Fukuoka have a TeamLab exhibition, Fukuoka City Museum is a great history museum and obviously you wand to go check Nakasu for the yatai. As your first day you are likely getting there, I would say it is not much time there, the city is easily worth 2-3 days.

   Nagasaki, do not miss Mount Inasa night view, it is great. Dejima is also pretty cool if you are into history.

   I am also considering Kyushu for my next trip and I would easily do 2-3 weeks for it and I’ve already been for almost a week. So for me, I would just completely skip going to Tokyo and just stay in Kyushu.

   To replace Akihabara, you could consider going to Kitakyushu, there is a place called Aruaru city that is a building with only anime/manga related stuff and a manga museum, with a focus on Reiji Matsumoto that is from that area, and you will find things related to Galaxy Railway and Harlock around the station and city. There is also a castle in town or can go a bit outside to check Mojiko Retro.

   Could also stop by Matsumoto on the way to Kagoshima. Also, did you consider stopping by a onsen ?

4. From the top of my head in Nagasaki:

   Gunkanjima is pretty interesting. The museum is pretty informative and the tour was interesting, albeit somewhat underwhelming. But it’s a nice way to spend an hour or two, don’t remember how long it was but not too long.

   Don’t sleep on Kumamoto; the castle was damaged ten years ago or so and has been undergoing repairs and the inside is finally open to the public, though other parts of the grounds are not. Suizenji is also a nice garden to check out if you have time and like to take it slow, which it seems like you are.

   In Kagoshima, I visited Sanganen and the aquarium. Both were really nice though I unfortunately had to rush through the aquarium a bit. I actually managed to visit Suizenji, Sanganen, and the aquarium in a single day as a daytrip from Fukuoka but it did get tight at the end.

5. Ooh, arriving into Fukuoka directly?

6. Koenji is my favorite neighborhood. Any specific types of recommendations you’d like in that area?

7. While in Nagasaki don’t miss Gunkanjima. Even if the tour doesn’t dock on the island the ferry trip and views of the island are still really cool. Grab the cable car up to Mount Inasa around sunset, it’s worth grabbing a beer at the restaurant up the top for the beautiful views. Nagasaki also has a fantastic China town that’s worth a visit.

8. That is so much chilling around. But yeah that is true, after first visit, you usually just wanna chill and take everything else that you missed on your first trip.

   Tbh for me, I would spend my time playing crane game and buying stuffs that I missed my first time and 2nd time around.

   Do things you never thought you would do, I ended up buying a headphones at bic camera in akiba and I never planned that (they have like 50-100 headphones to try). Akiba for me supposed to be anime anime and anime, but then my friend left me alone for 2 days, got bored, and go to bic camera to look for something interesting, and suddenly, a big purchase lol

9. I like your plan, because you’ve got ideas, but it’s not overly planned out. It all looks good. I’m surprised you’re flying in to Fukuoka. That’s interesting.

   In Nagasaki you can also go to Gunkanjima, Battleship Island, which is an abandoned mining town which was heavily populated. It’s sort of apocalyptic. You can also see Dejima which was the only place foreigners were allowed in Japan for a long time. The Dutch and Portuguese used that small island. Now it’s surrounded by reclaimed land. There’s also a hill with a lookout. The view at night is quite nice.

   Akihabara’s less than an hour away from Odaiba. If you don’t like the train, you can always take buses, but they take longer. You get to see more of Tokyo though. You could always walk over the Rainbow Bridge too if you’re up for it. You could walk from Odaiba to Tamachi Station, then it’s just a 20 minute train ride with no transfers to Akihabara.

10. You may be disappointed by Odaiba – many of the big attractions have been closed ahead of a massive redevelopment, including the Palette Town complex, VenusFort (which closes next month), TeamLab Borderless, that Toyota car museum/showcase/test track thing, Zepp Tokyo *and* Shinkiba Studio Coast (which is in a different area of Odaiba, mind you)… so very slim pickings in general.

11. Why don’t you enjoy Onsen(hot spring)? It’s nice to take Onsen in cold season.

12. If they have it still, the JRPass is worth it. I got one for ~$300 USD last time, helped with train costs, and free subway access on a JR lines. Not sure if it’s still a thing though.

    I’d also suggest BookOff/HardOff at least once while there for Weeb stuff. Got NRFB Japanese Pokemon Stadium for ¥500.

    Also train bento is great.

13. I love Fukuoka. I would recommend considering a car rental in Fukuoka and driving to Nagasaki instead of taking the train. I did this, made it up to the Unzen mountains, and it was an absolutely beautiful drive in the area. Price for rental, plus gas/parking/tolls, for 4 days was around $400-450, but it was worth the price.

    Also, the peace park in Nagasaki wasn’t that impressive, if you do have a chance, make it out to Hiroshima instead. It’s much more impressive, and will hit you much harder than in Nagasaki.