A little about us: My husband and I are stoked to be going to Japan for the first time. We’re primarily going to snowboard in Hakuba, but want to check out some other places with our 2 weeks there. We prefer nature/active-focused trips/cities/activities. We also prefer options that help us learn more about the local culture/history. Any and all feedback/recommendations are welcome! Thank you!
* Arrive 1/21 afternoon, use service to ship snowboard gear to Hakuba lodging, take train to Tokyo.
* 1/22 Tokyo: explore and try to attend Sumo competition.
* 1/23 Tokyo -> Nagano: train to Nangano. In Nangano, hoping to check out Cedar Trees at Togakushi Shrine, Zenko-ji Temple, Winter olympics 1998 sites, Jigokuini, an onsen, Togakushi Shrine – any suggestions?
* 1/24 Nagano – explore more of the above
* 1/25 Nagano -> Hakuba: train to Hakuba. Board and explore. any explore and food suggestions?
* 1/26 – 1/31 Hakuba: Boarding and explore some of this: Oide Park, Tsugaike Natural Garden, snowmobile, onsen
* 1/31 – 2/2 Hakuba -> ?? Debating Kyoto to check out Kyoto and Osaka. Or going to Shirakawa-go. Thoughts on where we should go?
* 2/3ish – Travel back to Tokyo. Maybe do one more night/day there for final exploring.
* 2/4 – Tokyo and fly out
1 comment
where are you flying internationally from?
I am not sure if you researched the sumo watching ,but if you are expecting to attend a sanctioned match, it will be very expensive and you will be very lucky to be able to attend. Have a search of this sub – this idea comes up often. The process of the ticket buying to finding your way and so on will be very challenging if you cannot read Hiragana or have the ability to converse. There is very little allowance at ‘Basho’ (Sumo) in English. Not putting you down, just don’t want to see you waste time and money if you have not looked into this.
When you ‘take the train’ to Hakuba, consider the JR Bullet to Nagano station and consider the Hakuba Valley shuttle system just outside the station. Buses leave nearly hourly (pre Covid) and are direct. The local JR service to Hakuba did involve a transfer from one side of the plat form to the other about 2/3rds of the way towards Hakuba. Note this is more a ‘rural’ service and only several times a day. The bus is much more tourist friendly.
Keep the [Jorudan trip Planner (English)](https://world.jorudan.co.jp/mln/en/) book marked for all things transportation in Japan