It's my second time to Japan (I previously lived in Tokyo for ten months) and my fiancé's first. He likes biking, mountain trails, watches, and is interested in nuclear fallout. He's never been on a train and is really excited for that. Excluding the days of our flight, we have 20 full days in October.
Neither of us particularly care for the city or shopping (I do like kitchenware stuff however), and I was underwhelmed visiting Kyoto, partly because I'm not big on temples, partly because of the mass of tourism and shopping streets. However, I think it would be a shame for my fiancé to miss out on the cultural heritage of the city!
Places I've visited include:
- Tokyo, Yokohama, Saitama, Nagoya, Gifu, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Okinawa, Lake Nojiri in Nagano
Here's the current plan:
Day 0: Land in Narita in the afternoon, stay in Ikebukuro
Day 1-2: Revisiting my favourite places & visiting friends. Studio Ghibli museum, karaoke, Shibuya area.
Day 3: Shinkansen to Kyoto (10a-12p). Explore Higashiyama ward on foot (12p-2p), take shuttle to onsen (3p-3:30p) in Ukyo ward, explore local temple & enjoy onsen.
Day 4: Shuttle back to Hanazono Station (10:30a). Explore 19th century hall (10:40-11:00a). Walk to Mayumura & have lunch nearby (1:00p). Not sure if the romantic train is worth it, especially since it'll be a Saturday and at the beginning of Oct? I'd imagine there wouldn't be much to see in terms of leaves. But the Arashiyama bamboo area would be equally crowded on a Saturday afternoon.
Take the Garaku Kyo Train Hankyu from Kawaramachi to Osaka Umeda (4:30p-5:30p). Check into hotel in Tsūtenkaku and enjoy the nightlife + food.
Day 5: Tennoji Park (9-11a). Fly out of Itami to Nagasaki (1:30p-3p). Bus + tram to hotel and have a quiet dinner.
Day 6: Kunchi festival at Otabisho (9:40a). Peace Park (10:20a), Atomic Bomb Museum (10:30a-12:00p). Quick ramen lunch (12:00-12:30p). Fukusaji (12:50p), Museum of History (1p-2p), Dejimamachi (2:25p-4p) (considering renting yukatas or kimonos here), Mount Inasa hike (4:45p-5:45p), dinner at observatory (6p-7:30p). Back to hotel (8p).
Day 7: Kunchi festival at Yasaka shrine (7a-8:10a). Gunkanjima cruise (9a-11:30a). Lunch (12p-1p). Willer bus to Fukuoka (1:30-5p). Hakata ramen dinner.
Day 8: Bus/ferry to Shika Island (9a-10:15a). Rent tandem bikes and bike around Shika island/have lunch/see flower hill (10:15a-1:15p). Marine World (1:30p-3p). Rakusuien Park (4p-4:30p). Canal city mall (5p-6p). Yatai dinner (6:30-7:30).
Day 9: Round 1 Stadium (10a-12:30p). Fly from Fukuoka to New Chitose (2:25p-4:45p). Check in and have zangi or soup curry dinner (6:30p).
Day 10: Walk & clothing shop from hotel to lunch place (10a-11a) and enjoy lunch (11-12). Pick up rental car. Historic village of Hokkaido (12:30p-2p), Farm Tomita (4p-5p), and arrive at onsen in Asahikawa area by 7 for dinner. Not sure if Farm Tomita is worth the detour? It adds 1.5h to the drive.
Day 11: Asahiyama zoo (10:50a), City Museum (11:30a), lunch (12:30p-1:30p). Evening spent at the Asahi-dake area ropeway and onsen.
Day 12: Fox farm (11:00a), fishing tackle shop stop (12:00p; we're bringing our own collapsible fishing rods), lunch in kitami (12:00p-1:00p), another tackle shop (1:30p), Abashiri Chipmunk park (1:50p), Prison museum (2:45p), city folk museum (4-5p), and a yakiniku dinner (6p).
Day 13: No set schedule, it will depend on weather/temp/mood, but Mount Io, Lake Mashu, fishing at Lake Kussharo, and hiking/walking around Wakoto peninsula & enjoying the public hot springs. Sleep in Teshikaga.
Day 14: Again will depend, but eco museum, mud volcano, Ainu village, and mount Akan area. Sleep in Obihiro.
Day 15: Return car in Sapporo (12:00p). Take shuttle bus from Sapporo to Noboribetsu onsen (1:30p-3:30p). Enjoy Noboribetsu hot springs area.
Day 16: Bus + Train to Hakodate station (9:30a-12:35p). Morning market lunch (12:40p-1:40p). Goryokaku (4p) and Share Star Mall browsing (5p) with a seafood izakaya dinner.
Day 17-19: Fly from Hakodate to Haneda (11:50a-1:15p). Stay in the Taito area. Enjoy the last few days in Tokyo, load up on shopping, visit Ginza, buy some knives, maybe take some kind of hands-on class.
Day 20: Fly out in the evenings.
I know it's a lot of flying/moving around/changing hotels but in my experience it's not that stressful if you just have a light, carry-on backpack. Neither of us are big shoppers anyway. Looking for advice for Day 4 re romantic train/bamboo forest (I have seen the bamboo forest before for a night light show but I wasn't particularly impressed. But it was also night and hard to see). If we do take the romantic train then we'll probably just take the normal train right back. Also wondering if Farm Tomita is worth getting to the onsen later (keep in mind we would be visiting it in mid-Oct. Is this something we should decide based on how the weather/recent pictures of it look during our trip)?
by NattyK11