Hello,
This is our first trip to Japan from Belgium and it is seriously overwhelming.
We already booked our flights from Brussels to Tokyo and back from Tokyo to Brussels. We are now trying to put together our itinerary and try to reserve our hotels in these places asap. We will be traveling using public transport, so we will not have a car during our trip.

We were thinking of following route:
15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Hakone (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Hakone)
17 jul 11: Hakone - Kyoto (Hakone loop during morning)
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Osaka)
21 jul 11: Kyoto
22 jul 11: Kyoto - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)
23 jul 11: Miyajima - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
24 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
25 jul 11: Takayama - Shirakawa-go
26 jul 11: Shirakawa-go - Kanazawa
27 jul 11: Kanazawa - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
28 jul 11: Matsumoto (Castle + Visit Kamikochi)
29 jul 11: Matsumoto - Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
30 jul 11: Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

I would be grateful for all your input/suggestions on this schedule. Besides the flight, nothing is booked yet and can be altered.

PS: Nagoya is must because of visit to Toyota factory (Wife is a logistics nerd ;-). Sumo game would be great, but no absolute must.

Cheers

Is Himeji Castle open? If so, add that to your list. We visited Himeji in the morning and Osaka in the afternoon and evening.

It's hard to comment without knowing your particular interests, but you might want to add a day in Kanazawa - it doesn't look like you'll have much time to see anything there.

Public transpo is your best option. I think Himeji castle is closed for renovations but there are others. Tokyo disney is near Narita airport so it may be a ways from your location. Make certain you're adding in the train times, missing a train (which is VERY possible in Japan), and adding in time to get lost--it can be very hard to navigate around Japan...or at least it was for me for a few days ;-) Japan is awesome...you'll love it. Try to add in a visit to Kamakura, take in a Kabuki show (standing room only) or at least see the theatre in Ginza (I didn't want to stand for 3+ hours) but that's just me. Happy travels!

Himeji Castle is under renovation until 2014; may be closed.
The Kabuki-za in Tokyo was leveled in 2010, and won't be reopened until 2013.

Your Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route will be very very tight schedule. First, you have to take JR Hokuriku Line from Kanazawa to Toyama, then your Alpen Route travel starts from there. It is possible to do it but you will not have enough time to stop by & enjoy the views, taking pictures...you must keep moving to the next spot...still takes more than 8 hours to complete, I think.You probably need to use rest stops/taking lunch too.
I'd suggest to start a day from Toyama, not Kanazawa, it will save hours. It is really really REALLY beautiful out/up there!

And, if you go to Kamikochi from Matsumoto, start early too. Same as Kurobe, it is a high season, soooo many people will be there, traffic can be madness unfortunately.

Disney in summer is horrible... Long lines everywhere, kids everywhere..hot, humid. Unless this is your 'must go', I will not recommend.

From late July to mid Aug is fireworks festival season. The schedules/details are not set up yet though, very popular Sumida River Fireworks Festival might be held on 07/30 or 07/31. This is must see.

Thank you all for your constructive input. Based on this, we adapted our schedule a bit, hoping to come closer to our final itinerary:

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Hakone (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Hakone)
17 jul 11: Hakone - Kyoto (Hakone loop during morning)
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Osaka)
21 jul 11: Kyoto
22 jul 11: Kyoto - Miyajima (Visit Hiroshima on way to Miyajima)
23 jul 11: Miyajima - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
24 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
25 jul 11: Takayama - Shirakawa-go
26 jul 11: Shirakawa-go - Toyama (Spend day in Kanazawa)
27 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
28 jul 11: Matsumoto (Castle + Visit Kamikochi)
29 jul 11: Matsumoto - Tokyo
30 jul 11: Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

Perhaps we could take one day off our stay in Tokyo in favor of the Alps. But where would you guys suggest we add a day in our Alp schedule?

Also another question: We really want to see Mt Fuji and surroundings, but it was my understanding that this would be from Hakone? If not, perhaps its better to leave the extra Tokyo day and do a daytrip to Mt Fuji and surroundings from Tokyo?

PS: Disney at Sea is not really a must, but if it's at all possible, we would try to fit it in our schedule.

Cheers

this seems to be harder than expected
Ofcourse, we want to see as much as possible during our time in Japan. That being said, we are used to a tight schedule when traveling, but we do not want to rush through everything.
I tried to modify the schedule a bit, taking into account all of your recommendations. Can you guys please have another look at this to see if the order is a bit 'logical'?
We opted to travel directly to Kyoto when arriving in Tokyo after our international flight. I know it will be a long day, but we hope to arrive in Kyoto late afternoon. That way, we can drop our bags in the hotel, go out for something to eat and have an early night, hopefully bright and ready to start the next morning in Kyoto.
We also dropped 1 day of Tokyo in favor of the rest of the schedule. If necessary, we can also drop 1 day Kyoto to add to the rest of the schedule.

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Kyoto (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Kyoto)
17 jul 11: Kyoto
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto
21 jul 11: Kyoto - Hiroshima (Visit Hiroshima + Miyajima)
22 jul 11: Hiroshima - Osaka
23 jul 11: Osaka (Daytrip Kobe)
24 jul 11: Osaka - Kanazawa
25 jul 11: Kanazawa - Toyama
26 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
27 jul 11: Matsumoto - Takayama (Visit Kamikochi / Shirakawa-go)
28 jul 11: Takayama - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
29 jul 11: Nagoya - Hakone (Hakone Roundcourse)
30 jul 11: Hakone - Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
03 aug 11: Tokyo
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

Thank you guys for all your recommendations and your patience with me

Japan, probably far more than anywhere I know, is a place where taking in the overall experience and <i>zeitgeist</i> is more interesting and important than visiting any particular location or site.

I think that the key phrase in the OP's most recent post is "we do not want to rush through everything." My belief is that if you take that to heart, you'll get the most out of your trip. And the, if you change the phrase "we want to see as much as possible during our time in Japan" to "we want to <b><u>experience</u></b> as much as possible during our time in Japan," you will be able to define a better plan of travel.

I'd look to check in to fewer hotels and spend less time traveling between places, and spend more time on foot and/or among the people.

> 21 jul 11: Kyoto - Hiroshima (Visit Hiroshima + Miyajima)
22 jul 11: Hiroshima - Osaka

Personally, I liked your original plan to visit Hiroshima on the way to Miyajima and then stay the night in Miyajima better. To each his/her own!

The good news is that you'll have an amazing trip no matter what!

Thanks. The reason why we changed is not to lose too much time in the morning taking the ferry first and then the train to Osaka.
Also, when we come from Kyoto, travel to Hiroshima, visit the city and then go on to Miyajima, I wonder if there is really enough time left in the day to enjoy Miyajima. Hotels over there are a lot more expensive than Hiroshima and I was just wondering if it was worth it?

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay on Miyajima, which I thought was quite beautiful. It was the only place on my trip to Japan where I stayed in a ryokan - Momiji-so, which is less expensive than many. For me, it was a special experience. I also spent half the next day there, going to the top of Mt. Misen and visiting some of the shrines and temples along the harbor. But you have good reasons for considering a stay in Hiroshima instead.

If you move Hiroshima down two days after Osaka you can get a seven day JR Pass starting on 7/23 to 7/30.

Use one of these passes if you need while in the Kansai area(Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe/Nara) maybe the Kansai thru pass if you need one
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

You should consider flying to Itami(Kyoto)from Narita on your first day utilizing either ff points if you have any or a cheap discounted domestic flight available to tourists only such as the Yokoso fare or Star Alliance fare:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Or better yet,see if can change your air flight tickets to an open jaw and fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka, this would free your time up considerably and stop your costly back tracking.

Aloha!

ooops, that would be 7/23 to 7/29 for the 7 day JR Pass

After several sleepless nights reading the forum and evaluating all the tips we got from you all (thanks for that), we modified our itinerary. This is what we came up with:

15 jul 11: Brussels - Tokyo
16 jul 11: Tokyo - Kyoto (Arrive Tokyo 9am -- Travel directly to Kyoto)
17 jul 11: Kyoto (Gion Matsuri Parade)
18 jul 11: Kyoto
19 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Nara)
20 jul 11: Kyoto (Daytrip Osaka)
21 jul 11: Kyoto (Visit Hiroshima + Miyajima)
22 jul 11: Kyoto - Nagoya (Visit Toyota Factory + Sumo game)
23 jul 11: Nagoya - Takayama
24 jul 11: Takayama (Visit Kamikochi)
25 jul 11: Takayama - Shirakawa-go
26 jul 11: Shirakawa-go - Kanazawa
27 jul 11: Kanazawa - Toyama (Visit Kamikochi)
28 jul 11: Toyama - Matsumoto (Tateyama-Kurobe Alpen Route)
29 jul 11: Matsumoto - Hakone (Castle + Hakone Roundcourse)
30 jul 11: Hakone - Tokyo
31 jul 11: Tokyo (Fireworks)
01 aug 11: Tokyo (Tokyo Disney Sea??)
02 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Nikko)
03 aug 11: Tokyo (Daytrip Kamakura)
04 aug 11: Tokyo - Brussels

The questions I have regarding this itinerary are:
- Is the number of days we have in Kyoto (taking into account the daytrips we plan) enough or perhaps too much? We do want to see some shrines and temples, but not all of them.
- What do you guys think of our route through the Alps? Is it in a logical order without backtracking too much?
- Is it worth staying in Shirakawa-go or do you think we should spend that day/night somewhere else in our route? Perhaps a visit to the Kiso valley (Tsumago)? If so, where do we best plan this in our itinerary?

Thanks a lot for the advice.

Hi,

Will be in the Kansai region at the same time, so you should also be aware that;

2011 July Grand Sumo Tournament - Runs from Sun. July 10th - Sun. July 24th, in Nagoya (Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium)

17th July - Gion Matsuri (Kyoto), the festival of Yasaka Shrine, is the most famous festival in Japan. It takes place over the entire month of July and while there are many different events the Yamaboko Junko (17th July) is particularly renowned. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion_Matsuri

18th July - Marine Day (海の日, Umi no Hi?), is a Japanese national holiday celebrated on the third Monday in July. Many people take advantage of the holiday and summer weather to take a beach trip.

26th July - The Day of the Ox in Midsummer, or DOYO-NO-USHI-NO-HI, celebrates 18 days before Risshu (which is the change of Season). People eat UNAGI-NO-KABAYAKI, an eel split and grilled with special TERIYAKI sauce on this day. In the Kansai region (Kyoto/Osaka, etc) it is opened at the belly and directly grilled without being steamed.

Cheers

Aspi

I think that you meant to write:
27 jul 11: Kanazawa - Toyama <s>(Visit Kamikochi)</s>

I suggest that you go straight from Shirakawago to Toyama. Or, make Shirakawago a day trip from Takayama and then take the train from Takayama to Toyama (I am looking forward to the train ride on that route in November, it is supposed to be one of the most scenic in Japan).

Those suggestions are because you are not giving any time to Kanazawa, except for spending a night there.

Just saw your questions. I recommend not adding Kiso Valley.

Here is another alternative: go from Nagoya to Shirakawago and spend then night in S-go at a gassho zukuri. Enroute, you could leave luggage at the Takayama train station (or at your hotel if you have time), and then just take what you need for an overnight in S-go. Return to Takayama from S-go see some of the sights in Takayama (no need to go to the Hida no Sato, having visited Shirakawa-go). From Takayama take the train to Toyama.

I recommend against doing the day trip from Takayama to Kamikochi because of the bus ride. Going to Kamikochi would be good if you were going on to Matsumoto, but backtracking to Takayama does not give you much bang from your travel time. I don't think it is worth the time and money just for a day trip from Takayama when you could just spend some relaxing time in Takayama.

I just noticed that this is an OLD thread.