Hospitalization and paid leave

Hello!

I need to be hospitalized for 10days for surgery and i need to take time off from work.

My work is okay with me taking time off but they want me to take the remaining of paid leave.

I would like to use unpaid leave. I know financially it may be better to take paid leave (even if i just found out about the sickness allowance that could cover some of it) but well as a foreigner in Japan i would like to enjoy my paid leave somewhere else than in a hospital bedroom (going back to home country or just travelling).

My surgery is scheduled in may and i have my new paid leave for 2023 the same month, so the remaining of my paid leave will be all of it…

I only talked about it with my superior now and not with the HR department yet.

Do some of you have similar experience ? Can i choose not to take my paid leave?