Hello Everyone,

I am going to go on a 3 week trip to Japan and would like to get some feedback on my initial travel plans. I was thinking of visiting the following: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, Nara, Mt. Fuji, Fukuoka, Hiroshima (Miyajima), Okinawa, Niigata (I just want to see the Pokémon exhibit they have) and Nagoya.

Here is what I am thinking:

March 18th (this is the day I arrive at about 3pm) through April 7th (the day I leave, 5pm flight)

March 18 -arrive in Tokyo and fly to Okinawa

March 19 - Okinawa

March 20 - Leave Okinawa and go to Fukuoka

March 21 – Fukuoka

March 22 - Fukuoka

March 23 - Leave Fukuoka and do a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima, go to Kyoto

March 24 – Kyoto

March 25 - Kyoto

March 26 - Kyoto

March 27 - Osaka

March 28 - Osaka

March 29 - Nara

March 30 – Go see Mt. Fuji, spend some time at Nagoya then head to Tokyo hotel

March 31 - Yokohama

April 1 – Niigata and Tokyo

April 2 - Tokyo

April 3- Tokyo

April 4 - Tokyo

April 5 - Tokyo

April 6 - Tokyo

April 7 – Tokyo and leave from either NRT or HND

Hotels: get one in Okinawa, get one in Fukuoka, get one in Kyoto (from here travel to Osaka and Nara without getting hotels there and end my nights back in Kyoto, from there go to Nagoya and see Mt. Fuji on the way to next hotel), and get one in Tokyo (from here travel to Yokohama and Niigata and end my nights back in Tokyo).

Transportation: Fly to Okinawa, Fly to Fukuoka, when leaving Fukuoka (March 23) pick up a 7 day JR pass. From what I understand I can use this pass to help me get to Miyajima, I would use the pass to move from locations until March 30th, from there I could use a Suica card to get around or perhaps get some type of regional pass?

This is the feedback I’d love to get from everyone; Does this seem doable and realistic to you? Does the order I propose below seem like the right order to go about the trip for all these locations? Does it make sense how long I would stay in each location? What transportation would you recommend to get from each of these places? Where should I get a hotel since I don’t want to get a hotel at each and every place?

Thanks,
Cristina

>> March 19 - Okinawa
I think it is not worth two travel days for one full day in Okinawa. Up to you though, if you have an overwhelming desire.

>> March 23 - Leave Fukuoka and do a day trip to Hiroshima/Miyajima, go to Kyoto

ok. A 7-day JR Pass activated on the 23rd would be valid thru day 7, the 29th. The 30th would be day 8. I doubt that a 7-day pass would do you any good. You should look into regional passes (go to japan-guide.com for this) that cover Fukuoka to Osaka. But really the cost would just be a Fukuoka to Kyoto trip with the Miyajima fare added on, and maybe a 200 yen difference and the cost of a second reserved seat if you used reserved seats on both legs.

>> March 30 – Go see Mt. Fuji, spend some time at Nagoya then head to Tokyo hotel
this does not make sense

>> April 1 – Niigata and Tokyo
what? no

The part about basing in Kyoto to visit there, Osaka, and Nara is ok. But two day trips from Kyoto to Osaka is not a great idea. If you really want two full days in Osaka then you could move to Osaka and visit Nara from there - you might get better hotel rates in Osaka vs Kyoto. I think you are at the point of allocating days to places and probably still need to figure out what you are going to do for those longer stops (Kansai and Tokyo).

Match 23, do you plan for luggage storage?

Or luggage shipping from Fukuoka to Kyoto

The trip would be Hakata station to Hiroshima on the shinkansen and then a JR local to Miyajimaguchi. There are coin lockers at Hiroshima station (on the shinkansen side of the station IIRC they are at the bottom of the escalator that comes down from the platform; there probably are lockers on the city side, Sanyo Line side, of the station; maybe at Miyajimaguchi).

Using a koin rokka wouid be a lot cheaper than shipping.