My wife and I are taking a long weekend trip to Japan end towards the end of October. We will be landing and leaving from NRT. We have explored Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara on previous trips - this one we are wide open to a good explore, and great hotels/inns. Leaves might be changing somewhere (Kyoto is fantastic for this), or a wonderful shrines or towns. Would welcome any suggestions. Thank you in advance. WT

Have you been to Nikko? (2-3 hours from Tokyo). Late October is peak in this area for leaves changing; very beautiful--it will be very difficult to book hotels, though. Nagano/Shinshu area should also be beautiful this season, and there are nice traditional inns with hot springs, and if you take the new Shinkansen, it's easy travel from Tokyo.

My suggestion would be Hakone. My friend and I just spent several days there and loved it - you can get a 3-day pass which includes all of the local methods of transport throughout the Hakone area - a great deal for Japan. They have a great open air museum, and some interesting modes of transportation, not to mention wonderful hot springs. If you're lucky, you'll catch a glimpse of Fuji like we did, and can even climb her if you are really ambitious! If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail and I'll share more specifics. Cheers!

Hi World Traveler, <BR> <BR>Are you interested in onsen (hot springs)? Why not consider the Izu peninsula in Shizuoka-ken? Beautiful places both in the mountains and on the coast.

Why not going north ? Sendai and Matsushima bay for example <BR>Sendai City : http://www.city.sendai.jp/index-e.html <BR>Matsushima: http://www.pref.miyagi.jp/matsushima/ <BR> <BR>and the "Kokeshi trail" (wooden dolls) in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures. Look at the "virtual museum of traditional crafts" at Japan Information Network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan: http://www.jinjapan.org/