**Background:**
My spouse (31 M) and me (30 F) are planning a trip to Japan for Spring of 2024. We’re aiming to catch the very start of the baseball season since he is a huge fan of the sport, and it just so happens that we might see some cherry blossoms too. Our top interests are: trains/ public transport, food, religious/ spiritual sites, baseball, and walks/ hikes. I’ve walked on the Camino de Santiago in Spain and am excited to walk part of the Kumano Kodo and experience the Dual Pilgrim ceremony. This is both of our first visits to Japan, but we’ve both traveled extensively in the US and Europe.
**Itinerary Notes**
Travel times approximated courtesy of GoogleMaps. Any references to baseball games are hypothetical; we want to see at least 1 if not 2 games and it seems our best bets will be during our Kyoto and Osaka legs based on the concentration of teams in that region.
**Questions:**
* Does the 14 day JR pass make sense for this itinerary?
* Should we cut the Koyasan night after our Kumano Kodo days? Staying in a temple sounds incredible but it does add a half day of travel. That said, we’ll be tired from walking, so a few hours on a bus could be relaxing. Alternatively could we possibly hire a taxi to drive us from Kumano Hongu Taisha to Koyasan? It’s much quicker by road.
* Should we swap out 2 nights in Kinosaki for a different location? Looking for something quiet and relaxing to cap off what is sure to be an intense (in a good way) trip. Other options I’ve come across are Kanazawa, Takayama, or Gero onsen village.
* How early should I start looking to book things? I understand that spring is a popular time to travel due to cherry blossoms, so I anticipate dealing with crowds (especially in Kyoto).
**Thanks for your comments and suggestions!** I’ve had so much fun just researching. I can’t imagine how incredible it’s going to be when we actually go… in a year and a half!
​
|DAY|TRAVEL|SLEEP IN|ACTIVITIES (extremely hypothetical)|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|Day 1|Arrival: Chicago to Tokyo|Tokyo- Hotel or private room in hostel|Arrival, rest|
|Day 2|Train from Tokyo- to Osaka (3.5 hours)|Osaka- Hotel|Settle in, explore, street food dinner|
|Day 3|\–|Osaka- Hotel|Explore, aquarium, baseball game|
|Day 4|\–|Osaka- Hotel|Day trip to Himeji castle, baseball game|
|Day 5|Train from Osaka to Tanabe (2.5 hours), bus to Takiriji, Kumano Kodo day 1|Takahara- guest house|Walk Takiriji- Takahara (short leg)|
|Day 6|Kumano Kodo day 2|Nonaka area- guesthouse|Walk Takahara- Tsugizakura|
|Day 7|Kumano Kodo day 3|Yunomine Onsen- ryokan|Walk Tsugizakura- Kumano Hongu Taisha, Dual pilgrim ceremony|
|Day 8|Travel from Kumano Hongu Taisha to Koyasan (5 hours)|Koyasan- Temple|Explore Koyasan|
|Day 9|Travel from Koyasan to Kyoto (3.5 hours)|Kyoto- Hotel|Settle in, explore|
|Day 10|\–|Kyoto- Hotel|Explore, baseball game|
|Day 11|\–|Kyoto- Hotel|Explore, baseball game|
|Day 12|Train from Kyoto to Kinosaki (3 hours)|Kinosaki- Ryokan|Settle in, explore, onsen|
|Day 13|\–|Kinosaki- Ryokan|Settle in, explore, onsen|
|Day 14|Train from Kinosaki to Tokyo (6 hours)|Tokyo- Hotel or private room in hostel|Rest|
|Day 15|Depart: Tokyo- Chicago|Home|Be sad trip is over :(|
​
2 comments
**Does the 14 day JR pass make sense for this itinerary?**
No and it actually does not even make sense to land in Tokyo if you are not even going to stay there for a couple of days. Just fly direct to Osaka, even it it mean a connecting flight. Then one of the JR West pass could make sense if you do most longer distance within 7 days, like Himeji, Kinosaki, Wakayama.
**Should we cut the Koyasan night after our Kumano Kodo days?**
That is kind of up to you. if your main interest is staying in a temple for the night, then that is something you could actually look to do in Kyoto, there is temples that offer that there too.
**Should we swap out 2 nights in Kinosaki for a different location?**
Yes and no. No because Kinosaki is a really nice place and the ambiance is great. But yes for one night, because there is not that much to do in Kinosaki. If you get there around 3pm, when you can check-in your ryokan, take your onsen pass and yukata to go to the public onsen then next day you can check-out, send luggage to the station, do some more onsen, maybe go on top of the ropeway and after lunch you would mostly be done with visiting. If you do not mind really nod doing anything…. maybe, but I would rather check out a different place, for example do a night in Kinosaki and one at Arima onsen in Kobe.
**How early should I start looking to book things? I understand that spring is a popular time to travel due to cherry blossoms, so I anticipate dealing with crowds (especially in Kyoto).**
You can start tracking airplane ticket price 1 year in advance, there is an option to put trackers on [flight.google.com](https://flight.google.com), buy when it is a good price (google flight can usually tell what are good, average and bad prices). I personally do not book accommodation before having my airplane ticket, then just book when you can, however, it is normal for ryokan to only open booking 3 months in advance, so don’t be surprise if “nothing is available”, their booking might not be open yet.
And just a side note, when you look at stats of foreign tourist going to Japan, there is not such a big difference between cherry blossom season and other months and it is not the most popular season for all country. Let’s say that we can expect crowds at different places in different period of the year, but there is a lot of places where you will see a lot of people no matter when you go.
Any reason you’re not flying directly in/out of Kansai Airport (KIX)? Right now there may not be many flights showing up to KIX but by 2024 the flight schedules should be back to normal. 🤞
Flying directly in/out of KIX would save you money on Shinkansen tickets and a lot of travel time. You could also then make better use of one of the regional JR West passes for the Kansai region. And you’d have time to really relax and enjoy Kinosaki Onsen. Two nights there will be a great way to relax at the end of your hike/trip. We loved our two night stay.
– [JR West Regional Passes](https://japancheapo.com/travel/jr-west-pass/)
– [Trip Report: 2 Nights Kinosaki Onsen](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/sna5au/kansai_side_trip_tattoo_friendly_kinosaki_onsen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
– [GaijinPot: Cherry Blossoms in Kansai](https://travel.gaijinpot.com/100-places-see-cherry-blossom-japan-kansai/)
Happy Planning!