favorite places to visit in Japan?
 

We will be in Japan for almost the entire month of May and are looking for destination suggestions. We plan to buy a rail pass for transportation and will be using Hiroshima as a home base as we have friends living there. We love adventure, the outdoors, rural areas and new cultures. We'd love to hear your ideas!!

Shikoku! Great island. Unique, different than Honshu. I have only been to Takamatsu, but the island has great rural areas, beautiful scenery and hiking opportunities, other cities, and is close to Hiroshima. And it has Dogo onsen.

A month in Japan in May. How cool is that.

Thanks...we will definitely check out Shikoku..sounds perfect! Hate to show my stupidity...but what is Dogo onsen?

I am sure mrwunrfl will chime in on that, and others who have been there. Google it also- very famous.

Bonjour bobobob,

For lots of suggestions, have a look at "lens on Japan", "cultural inroads", and "stations" at

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/columns/

Kyoto is fabulous!!! They have gorgeous temples all over the city, and you really need several days just to see the top 5.

We stayed in a traditional Japanese B&B or ryokan in Kyoto – Yoshi-ima. We had a wonderful experience, and I would highly recommend it even for one night. (Make sure you have a bathroom in your room. Some of the rooms you have to share the facilities.) Our room overlooked a beautiful garden and the decor was simple and beautiful. They serve you breakfast and dinner in your room (fabulous dishes, beautifully presented), and you get to sleep on the traditional futon, which was really comfortable with the feather duvet. We were lucky enough to go to a tea ceremony that they have on their premises. Since their building has been there since 1747, they are one of the only ryokans to have their own tea house. They are right in the old wooden building section of Gion which is where the Geisha girls live, and you can still see them walking around. Fabulous antique stores line the streets, and it is truly a wonderful Japanese experience that you just can't get at a Hilton or Hyatt.

Here is the link to their web site: www.yoshi-ima.co.jp

Thanks for the response...sounds fabulous!!!!!!

Yes, Shikoku. In particular Matsuyama where there is a magnificent castle (a relatively complete, original castle as japan-guide puts it).

Matsuyama is also home to Dogo Onsen:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5502.html
http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/dogo/index.htm
The honkan (main building) is worth a visit even if you don't go in for a soak. Worth it to Japanese anyway, as I saw several groups pose in front of it for pictures without going in.

To travel between Matsuyama and Hiroshima you would take a hydrofoil boat. It is actually a national park area that the boat travels through, so it is scenic. The one-way fare is about $40, maybe more, and it is not covered by the JR Pass. It is a short trip, maybe 60 minutes.

The rail crossing to Shikoku is farther north, and very scenic, but it would take several hours to get to Matsuyama from Hiroshima.

It would be an interesting loop to make. Leave Hiroshima and visit Okayama and/or Kurashiki with an overnight. Then go to Shikoku locations, eventually to Matsuyama and then the boat back to Hiroshima.

Hagi is a nice town on the Japan Sea coast. It is a 3 or 4 hour train trip to get there. If you are into pottery then you want to go there.

From Hiroshima you will of course want to visit Miyajima.

Find the Chugoku and Shikoku section on the following webpage and you'll see some guide for the region you will be in:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/index.html

Definitely take a look at the Fukuyama guide and read the blurb about the Shimanami Sea Route. You can walk or bike 60 km across 10 bridges and 6 islands to get between Honshu and Shikoku.

You've given us some great tips...now we must get busy and decide on a travel schedule. For some reason, eventhough we have traveled extensively through Europe, we are having trouble with the logistics of travel in Japan...train schedules, how long to stay in each area, are we trying to do too much...etc,etc. Thanks for your help!

With the entire month of May, you should not miss Kyoto also. Kyoto and Shikoku would be a great loop trip; Kyoto is not that far from Shikoku. Shikoku is an island that you could spend some time exploring, outside the cities, esp. if you like the outdoors and adventure.

You would benefit from looking at the JNTO website pages (pdfs) on Shikoku and Kyoto. I'll try to dig up the links tomorrow.

Be sure to go see a Carps baseball game in Hiroshima.

Ok, so you are landing in Nagoya and staying with a Japanese family for some of your time in Hiroshima.

To answer your question on the other thread: yes there is very much to see between Nagoya and Hiroshima. Kyoto for a few days or a week. Nara, Himeji.

No need to be too concerned about the logistics yet. Give us an idea of the places that interest you and we can give you and idea of how long to stay and help with the travel. A fast-paced fun trip is another person's idea of trying to do to much so it would be worthwhile to know your travel style.

With the time that you have, if you want outdoors you could go to Hokkaido. I know there are nonstop flights between Sapporo and Hiroshima and I believe there are nonstops from Nagoya to Sapporo

With one month to spend, do try to go to Beppu. The hells are touristy but the gardens around them are gorgeous. The sand bath is also a lovely experience and you can get there by ferry or night train.

Hi

My wife and I went to Japan in may a couple of years back. We went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Himeji etc. I have posted a trip report with pictures on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/japan_tokyo.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there :d

regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Hi, bobobob! I spent 3 wonderful weeks in Japan last year. When I began planning that trip, I felt quite out of my element, but then I found some wonderful resources, including www.japan-guide.com (which has a lot of very helpful information about locations, transportation, sightseeing, norms, etc.), www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/e-norikeyin (a site that you can use to plan travel by train), and Japan Solo (a guidebook with the best maps I found in advance). In the end, planning my trip to Japan was easier than planning any number of trips I've taken to Europe! The most difficult part for me - as with any trip - was deciding what to skip. Hope that helps, and hope you enjoy Japan as much as I did!

A whole month in May--how lucky you are! If your base is Hiroshima, definitely travel around Kyushu. Very interesting scenary--volcanos, Yufuin hot springs. Fukuoka has lots of food stalls at night. I'm also tempted to recommend Okinawa though of course you won't be able to use the rail pass. It has its own distinctive culture, renovated ryukyu palace, great food/drinks, ceramics and quite good beaches--somewhat of a SE Asia feel to it.

I agree with Kyushu.

To get to Okinawa you can fly on a "Visit Japan" fare or "Welcome to Japan" fare. These are special priced tickets for visitors to Japan (see my thread "Japan domestic airline passes" for links).

If you are arriving in Tokyo you could visit there and then fly to Okinawa. Then you could return to Fukuoka and visit Kyushu (Beppu, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Unzen, Ibusuki). Or fly to Hiroshima.

I mean fly from Okinawa nonstop to Fukuoka.

Hiroshima style onikamiyaki was my favorite food in Japan. Have a couple for me.

I lived in Japan for 2 yrs. On Kyushu island. That pass is great. I saw all of Japan.
If you like outdoors,etc... I will HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND a book/guide-- GATEWAY TO JAPAN. Let me know if you need more info. It is great.
Also-- do make your way to Nagasaki and Beppu. I don't think you need to fly to Okinawa. I would rather go north to Hokkaido. We rented bikes up there and had a blast. Onsen- the hot springs everywhere are great.
Fukuoka is a city. Not much outdoors. If you hit Tokyo or Kyoto or Osaka, you will see the same food stalls. Also, check to see what holidays there may be. And I can't remember when Golden week is-- it is the only week that Japanese people really do take off and travel.
Try everything! The peace park in Hiroshima is moving.