Hello, everyone. My husband and I will (hopefully) be spending a couple weeks in Japan next spring, and I was hoping folks with knowledge of Kansai/Chugoku/Kyushu/Shikoku could gut check our tentative itinerary. For context, this will be my fourth visit to Japan, and my husband’s second. We’ve both spent time in Kyoto (though we lamented not having more last time), and I’ve visited Hiroshima for an afternoon, but neither of us have been further west than that. We’re interested in smaller towns with a “”traditional”” feel and beautiful natural landscapes to hike around and photograph.
Any suggestions would be welcome! Especially curious if a JR pass makes sense for this plan.
* 22 March – Fly from LAX
* 23 March – Land at Narita, fly to Osaka, transit to Kyoto, sleep
* 24 March – Kyoto
* 25 March – Kyoto
* 26 March – Kyoto
* 27 March – morning transit to Kurashiki, stay the night
* 28 March – morning transit to Hiroshima
* 29 March – Hiroshima (day trip to Miyajima?)
* 30 March – morning transit to Kumamoto
* 31 March – Kumamoto (day trip to Takachiho, Kurokawa Onsen, Mt. Onsen, or Nagasaki? lots of options, though I do have a full tattoo sleeve, so I’m not sure how that would fly with Kurokawa Onsen)
* 1 Apr – morning transit to Yakushima, stay the night
* 2 Apr – Yakushima
* 3 Apr – morning transit to Kagoshima, stay the night
* 4 Apr – Kagoshima
* 5 Apr – morning transit to Iya Valley in Shikoku, stay the night (is that even plausible?)
* 6 Apr – Iya Valley
* 7 Apr – morning transit to Osaka for afternoon flight to Tokyo, then on to LAX