I'm planning a Japan trip with my girlfriend from late June to early July. We'd like to go more in the off season, but since we'd like to climb Mount Fuji, our options are limited. I've been to Japan before, working as an ALT with a cool rail journey before I left. My girlfriend hasn't been at all. This plan has us going to many places I've been before, as well as some new ones (notably Hokkaido and Mount Fuji). Though I have some travel experience here, I am looking for suggestions and critiques to my first draft itinerary.
Day 1: Arriving in Tokyo
- Last time I landed in Tokyo it was night, so I’m guessing we won’t have much time to do anything.
Day 2: Shibuya and Shinjuku
Unplanned day to allow adjustment to new time zone and country
Possible visits include: Shibuya Station/Crossing, Shinjuku garden, Shinjuku Marui Annex (specifically Alice on Wednesday), Omoide Yokocho, and Harukor Ainu restaurant.. Maybe a trip downtown to Ginza/Chiyoda if we have a lot of energy and are bored.
Day 3: Mitaka and Ueno
Yes, these places are far apart, but we really only have two things today
Ghibli Museum: 3 hours from 10:00 to 13:00 seems about right
Tokyo National Museum – about one hour from Mitaka.
Day 4: Downtown Tokyo
- Lots of options to choose from here, many of which we’ll have to skip. The Imperial Palace gardens, the National Diet Building, Tokyo Tower, Kite Museum, Art Aquarium Museum, Vampire Cafe, Intermediatheque near Tokyo Station are some places we’re considering.
Day 5: Going to Kyoto
On this day we will activate a one week JR pass
Take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto – arrive around midday. Drop off baggage in hotel
Visit Mimizuka (ear mound), Kiyomizu-dera, Starbucks Nineizaka Yasaka Chaya, Rokudō Chinnō-ji Temple, Nishiki Market, Kaleidoscope Museum and Honke Owariya (the oldest restaurant in Kyoto)
Day 6: More Kyoto
Early morning at either Fushimi Inari Shrine or Arashiyama, whichever we would prefer to be uncrowded
Ryoan-ji, Kinkaku-ji and the Philosopher’s PathEvening at Fushimi Inari or Arashiyama depending on our choice earlier
Day 7: Hiroshima
Take the Shinkansen to Hiroshima (about 2.5 hours)
Visit the peace park and atomic bomb museum
If we have extra time, we could visit the castle or art museum (I went years ago and enjoyed both)
At some point get some okonomiyaki to eat
Day 8: Miyajima
In the morning, take the train and ferry to Miyajima island
See the torii gate at high or low tide, whichever it is.
Cable car to top of Mount Misen and hike down, visiting Henjo Cave and Daishoin
See the torii at a different tide and hang out with the deer
Get back to Hiroshima and take the shinkansen to Tokyo
Day 9: Getting into Hokkaido
Fly from Haneda airport to Kushiro (about 2 hours and $110)
Pick up a rental car from Toyota rental car (they seem like the most popular and therefore easier to arrange one-way travel)
Near Kushiro, visit the Kushiro Marsh observatory and trail. Drive to Lake Akan.
Explore the Lake Akan Ainu village. Stay in a nearby hotel.
Day 10: More Hokkaido
Boat tour of Lake Akan and the marimo algae balls
Drive about four hours to Asahi-dake Ropeway
Hike Mount Asahi (3.4 miles round trip, 2200 feet elevation gain)
Return the rental car in Asahikawa
Day 11: Last day in Hokkaido
Consider visiting Kamuy Kotan, and/or the Asahiyama zoo. Other suggestions are welcome.
Take the train to Sapporo and Hakodate
Shinkansen to Ichinoseki – probably arriving late at night
Rail pass expires the next morning, so we have to make sure to make the most of it to here.
Day 12: Ichinoseki (my old town) and Hiraizumi
Get a new rental car from the station
Drive by my old apartment, get some food at my old grocery store.
Visit Chosin-ji and Takkoku no Iwaya Bishamondo in Hiraizumi
Stop by Genbikei gorge, eat some flying dango and visit the glass park
Drive up to the border with Akita prefecture and stay in the Sukawa Kougen onsen
Day 13: Last day in Tohoku and driving towards Fuji
Hike up Mount Kurikoma (about 5.5 miles, 1700 feet elevation gain)
Drive down to Zao Fox Village near Shiroishi
Drive about halfway towards Mount Fuji (final stop TBD).
Total distance from Sukawa Kougen to southern Mount Fuji is 8 hours with tolls, 14 hours without. I do recall toll roads being insanely expensive in Japan, so we’ll need to figure how much it would cost to shave off those six hours.
Day 14: Finish driving to Mount Fuji
Drive around 3 to 7 hours, depending on if we took toll roads
Find something to do either on the way to the area or near Mount Fuji. I really liked Kawaguchiko and Aokigahara forest when I visited in March years ago, but the stories of crowds in the town bother me.
We may consider sleeping in a mountain hut on Fuji, more for the experience than out of necessity. We can both do this as a day hike.
Day 15: Climb Mount Fuji
Early morning drive to Fujinomiya trail, 5th station. If it’s before July 10, we could arrive directly at the trailhead well before 6 AM. However, if it’s after July 10, we’d need to drive to Mizugatsuka Parking Lot and wait until 6 AM for a shuttle.
Hike the Fujinomiya trail up Mount Fuji. 5.1 miles round trip, 4,350 feet elevation gain. We’ll hike to at least the true summit, perhaps around the rim if we feel good.
After hiking Mount Fuji, drive to Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan (oldest hotel)
Day 16: Winding down
- Consider any final activities near Mount Fuji. Return the rental car to a suitable location and take the train to Tokyo
Day 17: One more chill day in Tokyo
- This will exist to allow us to do anything we missed earlier, or to resolve any problems or delays that might have happened earlier.
Day 18: Fly out of Tokyo
Day 19: Land back in the USA.
A few notes:
Our employer has a fiscal year ending in September, so usually September is the hardest month to take off work, while October is the easiest. However, climbing Fuji is a big goal for us, which locks us in to at least partially overlapping the summer.
I had a rental car when I worked here. I adapted to left-hand driving pretty quickly, but used it mostly to get around Ichinoseki and a few nearby towns (like Shiroishi). As Americans we're used to driving up to eight hours in a day on road trips, not that we like it very much. Personally I don't find train travel very stressful at all.
My Japanese language skills aren't great. Basically I can read hiragana and katakana, and have incredibly basic conversations. It didn't hold me back much while I travelled around five years ago, though I'm a but rustier than I used to be.
by mikerw