After our arrival at Narita on 17 August we will move directly to Kyoto where I intend to stay for 5 days visiting the town and making a couple of day trip (e.g. Nara...).

We have to be back in Tokyo on 30 August and the return to Italy on 3 September.

Between this two periods we have one week to spend visiting another couple of places.

PLEASE have you any suggestion to give me?

Is the Naoshima island an expensive but interesting place to visit?

Grazie, arrivederci.

Gianni (Milan, Italy)

Naoshima is a cool place(you mean the one with the museum,right?). Why don't you come over here to western Japan- only 30 minutes or so by Shinkansen to Himeji, where there is a fabulous castle (Himeji-jo) that is listed as a World Heritage Site. After a couple of hours there, you can head west(30 more minutes by Shinkansen) and hit the beautiful little city of Okayama, which has a very cool black castel(Okayama-jo) and right nearby is one of the 3 most famous Japanese gardens in Japan, "Koraku-en". You can stay one night in Okayama or even in the next city, 15 minutes away by local train, Kurashiki(where I live). Kurashiki is a beautiful little town that has a nice historical area and a lot of good restaurants! Right behind the station is Tivoli Park, an exact replica of the one in Copenhagen, should that interest you.(*Note that Himeji, Okayama and Kurashiki can all easily be done on foot from the train station!)Heading even further west you have Hiroshima- definitely worth one or two nights- and you can see the Peace Park, Atomic Bomb Dome, see the castle, do some shopping, and also plan a day trip to Miyajima. Miyajima is easily accessed form Hiroshima mainland(you take a ferry accross, it's like 10 minutes) and you can stroll on the island and see the tame deer! Don't miss western Japan!

Grazie Mikeneko.
You gave us the first suggestion..., I think that we pick-up it!
Can you give me the name of good / not too expensive (100 / 150 dollars) hotels in Okayama, Kurashiki and Hiroshima?
In Kurashiki I have seen that you have also a good modern art museum!
I am not able to find on the Japan map where the Naoshima island is (Yes, the one with the museum) and how to go there...

Other info: Fukkuoka, is it another good target for our visit? It looks to be a really beautiful town...

Again grazie, best regards.

Gianni P.

I was dying to go to Naoshima on my trip (just got back). It looked like an incredibly unusual place. I inquired 9 months ago about staying in the hotel at the museum. But the museum and hotel were closed for renovation the exact two weeks I was there. Have you checked their website? And there is a great article on the web by a writer who went there, just search for it.

Naoshima looks to be really a unique place. Which the best way to reach it by train?
Grazie, ciao.
Gianni P.

ps
I look for the article ... hoping to find it!

From Kyoto, take the JR train to Okayama, switch to JR Uno line, take that to Uno station, walk 5 min. to the Uno port, and then take the ferry 20 min. (it is not JR ferry so there is a charge) from there to Naoshima. This is all on the Naoshima site, under the heading "access" at:

http://www.naoshima-is.co.jp/english/first.html

If you are just visiting for the day, it is not expensive if you have a JR pass for the trains. If you stay overnight at Benesse, it is relatively expensive. The only less expensive option, the Seaside villas (which were like Turkish yurt structures) have been closed and several new hotel bldgs. designed by Ando are now open, all pricey.

You could potentially do this as a very long day trip from Kyoto (I researched that option), but you need to leave Kyoto very early and be aware of getting off of the island by ferry in time to make your return trip to Kyoto. It would be much better to stay overnight, either at Bennesse, or in one of the few minshuku (Japanese style B&B) on the island (no English reservations online, but can be reserved in Japanese online). Or another option is to go on to Takamatsu (from Naoshima, take the Shikoku Shisen ferry, 50 min.) on the island of Shikoku to stay there overnight and return to Kyoto the next morning. In that case, the return portion from Takamatsu to Kyoto is completely by train, no ferries involved, and you get the pleasure of going over the Seto-Ohashi bridge on the train, an experience in itself.