Planning an unconventional 10 day trip to Japan in early spring of 2025. We are a family of 5 with three kids who will be ages 7-12.
Unconventional because we are not trying to hit all the tourist spots. I have been to Japan before, albeit long ago, and my husband and I plan to travel there more extensively once we’re empty nesters. Instead the idea of the visit is to give the kids exposure, enjoy/explore while also relaxing, but ultimately kindle enough a travel bug in the kids that they feel compelled to return themselves (and then hit all the tourist spots we skipped and everything else too) :). To be clear, the kids have visited over 20 countries already so they are seasoned travelers. Just looking to slow this trip down into a more immersive experience despite the tight timeline.
To that end we are envisioning something like the following:
Day 1: depart the US on a direct flight to HND
Day 2: arrive in the evening and head to Tokyo hotel, walk around in a park outside, for some fresh air and to tackle jet lag, eat 7-11 fried chicken and crash for the night.
Days 3-4: intense Tokyo with an urban/techy/pop-culturey focus (Team Lab Planets, and either poop emoji museum or yayoi kusama, Tokyo food tour, harajuku district / shibuya crossing, skytree views, maybe a little shribe/palace stuff).
Day 5: leave Tokyo either via Shinkansen or a puddle jumper flight and head to either Kyushu or Shikoku.
Days 5-10: I want to stay somewhere off the beaten path. Ideally a ryokan or farm stay. A place with private Onsen would be ideal. A place where we can take a cooking class and maybe experience a tea ceremony (but not with the throngs and masses). We’ll want to see isolated shrines and/or castles. Perhaps Sakura too. Eat well. Immerse ourselves in something peaceful/authentic/beautiful. We could potentially rent a car but would prefer not to. We can take trains from Tokyo or could fly. We can stay in one location and day trip around or we could move location maybe once. We want to feel disconnected but cannot actually BE disconnected bc both my husband and I will have to check emails every morning and evening.
Day 11: get back to HND as quickly as possible (likely fly) so we can catch an evening flight back to the states.
Basically, I need help with the days 5-10. Where can I find my fantasy. Bc it’s March, I’m thinking Kyushu will be our best bet weather wise. Any recommendations on a home base – whether a town or village or an actual establishment (ryokan, farm stay, etc). Our budget is flexible/substantial.
Thanks!!
by bobhood1