Itinerary Check: 18 Days in Winter 2024

Since I last posted about this, I’ve refined my itinerary considerably, especially in the top half. I’ve even already booked some of the harder-to-get hotels already, as they’ve started to open up. This will be my third trip to Japan. I’ll be on a 14 day JR Pass that starts on Day 3. I had previously looked at spending a night at Ginzan Onsen but

Day -3: Amtrak from NYP to WAS
Day -2: Washington with friends
Day -1: 11:05 departure from Washington Dulles on NH101
Day 0: NH101 scheduled to arrive at 15:25 at HND. Customs and immigration, change terminals for NH75 which departs at 1800 and arrives CTS at 1935. Get my bags and head into Sapporo on a Rapid Airport. Hotel room overlooks Odori Park
Day 1: Explore Sapporo. Visit a shrine. Go to the Sapporo Beer Museum and the Sapporo Brewery
Day 2: Ski at Sapporo Teine. Explore Sapporo in the evening
Day 3: Take an early Suzuran or Hokuto to Noboribetsu. Spend a few hours at Noboribetsu Onsen at Hell Valley and enjoying the onsen. Reboard the Hokuto for Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto. Change for a Hayabusa to Shin-Aomori and any train on the Ou Line for Aomori Station. Stay at a hotel near the station
Day 4: Get up early to have breakfast at a local fish market. Then board Resort Shirakami 2 which departs Aomori at 0809 and travels via the Gono Line to Akita arriving at 1326. Komachi to Sendai, explore Sendai at night, stay in a hot spring hotel near Sendai Station (surprisingly that does exist)
Day 5: Take a Shinkansen up to Ichinoseki to catch a boat into Geibikei Gorge. Returning to Sendai, take a bus or train/bus (via Yamagata) to Zao Onsen. Stay two nights at Takamiya Hotel Hammond near the base of the Sky Cable
Day 6: Ski at Zao Onsen. See Juhyo near the summit. After skiing, have a nice dinner and unwind in the onsen
Day 7: This entirely depends on how I feel that day. Take any Yamagata Line train up to Oishida and catch a bus to Ginzan Onsen. Spend a few hours, possibly even after twilight, at Ginzan Onsen taking pictures and soaking in hot springs. Bus back to Oishida followed by Tsubasa to Fukushima and a local train to Aizu-Wakamatsu. Other option is spend a bit more time at Zao Onsen before getting the bus to Yamagata Station and hopping aboard a Tsubasa to Fukushima and a local train to Aizu Wakamatsu. Stay two nights in Higashiyama Onsen
Day 8: Apparently there is a bus that runs from Aizu-Wakamatsu to the Tadami Bridge viewpoint. If that’s running, I’ll take the bus there and back. If not, I’ll get up to take the train there and back to see the train going over the bridge. Visit Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle, visit Kitakata for Ramen, relax in the onsen
Day 9: Ride the full Tadami Line, possibly stopping and doubling back along the way but ultimately ending up on a Shinkansen at Urawa heading for Tokyo. At this point, I do not have any more hotels reserved until the final night
Days 10-12: Tokyo, Kanto, go to Shizuoka Prefecture to take pictures of the Shinkansen passing in front of Mt. Fuji weather permitting. This is an area I’m more familiar with at this point, as I’ve been there twice already
Night of Day 12: Depart Tokyo on the Sunrise Express for West Japan. Will make an initial reservation when I get my JR Pass and then change it to a room if possible once I arriveDay 13: Arrive in Okayama Prefecture. Head over to Kurashiki, possibly Okayama Castle. Ride a number of the vintage JNR era trains still in service around Okayama
Either late on Day 13 or early on Day 14: Shinkansen to Kansai
Day 14-15: Daytime in Kyoto and/or Nara, nighttime in Osaka
Day 16: Return to Tokyo either direct on the Tokaido Shinkansen or indirect via Nagoya, Wide View Hida to Toyama, and Hokuriku Shinkansen back to Tokyo. While I do not have a hotel for this night yet, I will probably stay near Shinjuku for the train the next day
Day 17: Fuji Excursion from Shinjuku to Kawaguchiko. Drop my bags off at the hotel, then head out get good views of Mt Fuji, hopefully with more snow in the area than I had last time. Slip into an onsen and watch the sun set over Mt Fuji before heading back to the hotel
Day 18: Get up early to see the sun rise over Mt. Fuji (hotel room has view). Fujisan View Express 2 to Otsuki, Azusa 16 to Tokyo, Keihin-Tohoku Line Rapid to Hamamatsucho, Monorail Airport Rapid to Haneda Terminal 3 arriving several hours early for my flight. Check in, check my luggage to Washington, watch planes from the viewing deck, go through immigration and security to the United Airlines Lounge. UA804 leaves HND at 1625 scheduled to arrive IAD at 1520. Global entry, pick up luggage and re-check luggage for connecting flight home to LGA.

Another option would be:
Night of Day 13: Overnight in Okayama
Day 14: Mizuho 603 to Kagoshima-Chuo, visit Sakurajima if the volcano is not erupting, possible trip to Ibusuki for the hot sand baths, Sakura 404 to Hakata, finish off the “big three” ramen cities (Sapporo, Kitakata, Fukuoka)
Day 15: Day trip to Nagasaki
Day 16: Nozomi 10 to Tokyo
This option would be with the new pass rules that allow travel on Nozomi and Mizuho services. I’ve been to Kansai before, and regardless, this is going to be my first time going west of Himeji.