Tandem759

Hi All,

Looking for some advice on a February trip to Japan for my fiancé and I who are both in our early 30's, active, love a good adventure, the outdoors, food, and local culture. He's a bit more into museums and history than I am, but we both really love nature and eating. I wish we were in Japan longer, but with the limited time we'd like to make the most of it and we were also thinking of eloping while we are there. We've been together nearly 10 years and neither of us is into weddings and are sort of tired of hearing the whole "when are you getting married..." spiel. Japan has so many beautiful temples, scenery, might be a beautiful backdrop for a quick private ceremony for the two of us. Obviously this isn't a wedding forum, but if anyone has ideas on places please share!

Also, I have been to Japan for work (Nagoya and Tokyo) but didn't get to experience much and this is my fiancé's first time.

Now onto the actual trip planning:

Our flights are already booked - in/out of NRT. We have 4 nights reserved in Tokyo at the end of our trip centered around running the Tokyo Marathon if we can get in. This portion of the trip can't be changed, but the remaining portion is flexible other than starting out from NRT.

Here are my current thoughts:

Day 1 - Arrive in NRT @ 3:45pm, activate 7-day JR Pass and take the train to Osaka. Check into the Hilton Osaka.
Day 2 - Leave luggage at Hilton. Buy Koyasan World Heritage ticket and train to Mt. Koya, stay at Fudoin Temple or similar overnight.
Day 3 - Spend day in Mt. Koya then return to Osaka in the evening to eat some good food (recommendations?). Return to Hilton to overnight.
Day 4 - Head for Kyoto after breakfast. Check into the Westin and explore Kyoto.
Day 5 - Kyoto (maybe quick elopement)
Day 6 - Kyoto
Day 7 - Head for Hakone after breakfast. Use JR pass to Odawara. Buy Hakone Free pass? Stay at Hyatt with points or cheap hotel. Would love to stay at a nice Ryokan for two nights but can't really afford it.
Day 8 - Explore Hakone. Check into a nice Ryokan. Trying to get into Ginyu but was told it is probably all booked but they are checking. Want to stay somewhere with really good food and a private onsen as I don't think I could relax in a public one.
Day 9 - Head to Tokyo after breakfast
Day 10 - Tokyo, hopefully for the marathon
Day 11 - Tokyo
Day 12 - Tokyo
Day 13 - Leave Tokyo at 7:00pm

Now looking at the itinerary it looks a little hectic with all the hotel changes/travel time. So my questions are:

Should I stay in Mt. Koya or forgo that for a day trip to Nara instead? Staying in a Buddhist temple sounds like a unique experience (should this not be missed?), but will be worth it to add all that travel time. If I did that I would spend my first 2 nights in Osaka and then 4 nights in Kyoto.

Should I get the 7 day JR Pass or am I missing something? The NRT to Osaka to Kyoto to Odawara is pricing out at 28,540 rather than 28,300 so there's not a huge savings but I assume I can use it for some maybe shorter trips in the cities.

Would the Hakone free pass still be worth it if I just use it from Odawara and then have to buy a ticket to Shinjiku? My JR pass would have expired by then so can't take the Odawara train back to Tokyo with it.

Any ideas on Ryokan's if I can't get into Ginyu, which is most likely? I'm really looking for a private onsen with a place that has phenomenal food. I am budgeting around $600 usd for the night. The first day I plan to explore Hakone and then the second day really relax at the Ryokan and take advantage of the onsen. I'd love to stay 2 nights at the same Ryokan, but don't think that's within the budget with my criteria.

I'm also not fixed in the places I visit other than Tokyo and Kyoto so if it makes more sense with regards to traveling and maximizing time to pick other places I'm open for ideas. I do however want to stay in a ryokan with an onsen, travel to areas with some natural beautiful to soak in, and have some truly unique Japanese experiences.

All thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated! Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance

kja

I found my stay on Mt. Koya wonderful and unique and very memorable. From what I read, the temple really matters. I stayed at Shojoshin-in.
http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/r...n=Shojoshin-in

I spent 4 days in Kyoto itself and 2 days in Nara and I wish I had had more time in the area.

Good luck with your planning!

mrwunrfl

¥ 16,150 Narita Express and Nozomi shinkansen to Osaka
¥ 540, JR Special Rapid Service, Osaka to Kyoto
¥ 11,550, Hikari shinkansen, Kyoto to Odawara

That first trip is 4 hours. Without the JR Pass you will get the best connection at Tokyo and no change of trains on the way to Shin-Osaka. You won't have much use for a JR Pass beyond those three trips. Kyoto-Nara-Kyoto would be 1500, if you did that, but would not be worth the minimal savings considering the convenience of using a Nozomi train on that first trip.

Am pretty sure it is yes on the Hakone Free Pass used with the Odakyu train from Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku.

Tandem759

Thanks kja, the Shojoshin-in looks really nice! I'll definitely add it to my potential plans.

Thanks mrwunrfl, I didn't factor in convenience so if that's the case it doesn't look like the JR pass would be as beneficial. I am confused a bit by using Hyperdia to map my routes. When I put in an estimated 5:00pm train time with the Nozomi I get into Osaka at about the same time as when I de-select the Nozomi. It also shows 2-3 transfers for either using the Hikari or the Nozomi. Am I reading it wrong?

Cicerone

Just a comment on getting married in Japan, see http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114a.html
for the formalities required, which appear to include at least one notarized document in Japanese. This is from the US embassy website in Japan, but I believe that the rules would apply to anyone wishing to get married in Japan. If you are not a US citizen, you may want to check the Japanese embassy website for your country.

Note that temple ceremonies are not considered legal marriages. If you want just to have a nice place to make a private pledge to one another then a temple ceremony is a nice idea. If you want to get <i>legally married</i> in Japan, then you have to go through a civil ceremony. Bear in mind that your marriage license will be in Japanese, so you may want to get a translation in the language of the country in which you live so you can present that as necessary from time to time (for a new passport for yourself if you want to use your husband’s name, for example). Your embassy in Japan can usually provide this or refer you to a notary who can do so.

Of course the other way to do it is to get married in your home country in a simple civil ceremony and then go to Japan and have a religious one.

Tandem759

Actually, I just discovered the Experience Japan fares on ANA so it looks like flying into ITM and taking the bus is quicker and cheaper (¥10,500 + ¥620). So now it really looks like I should scrap the JR pass.

Tandem759

Thanks Cicerone for the information! Just to clarify, I plan to get legally married in the US, but was looking at a simple temple ceremony to exchange personal vows and take some pictures to share with friends/family instead of having a wedding back home.

crellston

My wife and I spent a couple of days in Koyasan a few years ago and loved it. It was along trip to get there but worth it. Nara was probably my least favourite place in Japan ( still nice though!) so I certainly would not forego Koyasan for there. We stayed at Eko In which was in a great location and the food was excellent.

Here is a link to our blog entry with some more detail and photos

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...8720/tpod.html

shelleyk

crellston-Just took a look at your travel blog. It's fantastic. You'v,e been to so many great places. You are very lucky to have the time, money and stamina to travel as you do. We are retired and have 2 of the 3, but I don't think I could keep up the "on the go" mode for 6 months or a year at a time, as you can do.

Tandem759

Wow, what an epic adventure you had crellston! Thanks for sharing. Mt. Koya definitely looks amazing.

mrwunrfl

Good that you decided to fly to ITM. Your search Tokyo-Osaka found the 17:00 Nozomi and 17:03 Hikari. The next Hikari is 30 minutes later. Between the two Hikari are <u>five</u> Nozomi departures to Shin-Osaka. Your search ought to have been From Narita Airport Terminal 1.

Kavey

Hi Tandem

I've not been to Hakone, so can't comment, but I know that our 5 nights in Kyoto (with an additional night in Koya, one in Osaka and one in Nara) wasn't enough! That was last year, and we're going back this year for more.

We too stayed in Shojoshin-in in Koya. It was worthwhile for us as it was an unusual experience, and also we loved walking around the beautiful Okunoin, which is right next to Shojoshin-in, by the way. Because I was determined to have easy access to a bathroom during the night (I'm not great at trundling off to shared bathrooms in the middle of the night) we paid (only a little) extra for the private hanare at the temple - it's a large detached house right next to the main temple building and has 4 sleeping rooms and it's own bathroom. Meals etc. are still taken in the main building.

I rather enjoyed Nara, not least because I found the deer park fascinating - more the reaction of fellow tourists than the deer themselves, to an extent. We also adored our ryokan there. http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/01/kai...o-in-nara.html

We didn't warm to Osaka but we're visiting it for another night on this trip as I know it's much loved for food.

I can't wait to get back!

Kavey

Meant to add (was actually one of points of my posting, duh) that the journey to Koya-san sounds a pain, with various changes etc, but actually we really enjoyed the journey itself and certainly the latter half afford stunning views.

We actually loved all our train trips through Japan but that was one of the most beautiful.

kja

I agree with Kavey about the journey to Koya-san.

Mara

I also agree that you should spend the night in Koyasan.

If you haven't seen this yet, here is a link to travel info to Koyasan from japan-guide.com:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4904.html
It really is not difficult.

When I went to Koyasan I was coming from Miyajima Island so I took a little bus, ferry, local train and shinkansen to get to Osaka....lol....it was pretty much an all day trip.

Tandem759

Thank you kavey, kja, and mara! Koyasan seems like such a unique experience and all the positive reviews from you all and other websites/blogs has convinced me this is a must do and I will keep it in my itinerary. We'll leave our luggage at the hotel and take a backpack so the travel should be both scenic and easy. Can't wait!

Kavey

Oh, and as I said above, I was very happy with our temple, and its location.

I've read reviews from others who have stayed in other temples and been less happy so worth doing some reading before you choose.

I've also read about a temple where the monks will lead a guided night walk into the graveyard and one where residential guests are invited to attend / participate in a meditation session. My temple didn't offer either of these and they do sound appealing.