Read the 3 links. Your question is answered in the Points of Sale paragraphs.

Do you have a plan for the 28th and 29th?

Am I reading your itin corrrectly:
- you are leaving Takamatsu for Tokushima on the 30th?
- you are leaving Fukuoka(Hakata) on the 9th and are stopping at Arita on the way to Nagasaki that evening?
- you are leaving Nagasaki on the 13th?

Your Saga festival daytrip on the 4th will be a popular idea, so you probably want to get your seat reservations in advance. It is about 41 min and ¥2,450 each way.

Here are the timetables that you need:
Hakata to Saga: http://tinyurl.com/ybky8bk8
Saga to Hakata: http://tinyurl.com/yben9tz7

November 3: do you mean Karatsu Kunchi(not Karatsu Midori)?

>>Do you have a plan for the 28th and 29th?
That question is really: are you planning travel outside of Takamatsu on those days? (Kojima is only a half-hour away)

mrwunrfl all excellent suggestions.
I thought all festivals were called Midori, now I learnt differently

I arrive in the evening the 28th, with the speedboat from
Naoshima to Takamatsu, leave on the 30th for Tokushima.

Am not familiar with Kojima, also am not sure
I will have time to see and doo what I want to as well as take a few hours off to travel elsewhere. Will play it by ear.
which is how I usually travel anyway.

>>Will play it by ear.

Ok, then I recommend that you:
- not get the Kansai Area Pass
- get the Shikoku pass in Takamatsu
--- a 4-day pass on the 29th if you decide to travel outside of Takamatsu that day AND will be going to Tokushima the next day.
--- a 3-day pass on the 30th if you go to Tokushima that day and Matsuyama on the 1st.

If you had difficulty with hyperdia, then be aware that Hakata is the name of the JR station you would use for Fukuoka.

Also your Takamatsu and Matsuyama destinations are:
TAKAMATSU(KAGAWA)
MATSUYAMA(EHIME)

Naoshima doesn't show on hyperdia. Your rail destination is Uno where you can get the boat to Naoshima. I think there is a second boat departure location at/near another station other than Uno, but the rail travel time and cost would be pretty much the same.

>>I thought all festivals were called Midori, now I learnt differently

The word you were thinking of is matsuri, meaning festival (midori means the color green).

I think it is correct to say that you will be attending the Karatsu Kunchi Matsuri (a festival involving a particular ritual).

<i>Kunchi is a ritual of sending gods from karatsu up to a place where God's are born. They hold this festival to show gods appreciations for good cultivation of products such as grains.</i>

more or less a (rice) harvest festival and thanksgiving

The day you plan to attend, the 3rd, is a national holiday in Japan called Culture Day. This year it is the start of a 3-day weekend.

For the trip from Hakata to Kuratsu by rail you would take a subway to a Meinohama and then a JR local to Karatsu. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e8375.html

I wonder if there are buses for the festival (to guarantee a seat).

but, a bus would mean sitting in a traffic jam

Of course I meant Matsuri, since my Japanese is very limited and the memory even more so I get mixed up.

Have ordered and picked up the local train passes. There is one for Kansai called wide which is for 5 days and cost $79. I will save a few dollars by using it and activating it on the 23rd for my visit to Hikone. It covers the trip to Uno as well.

I think there are buses to Karatsu but the website is in Japanese even with English translation it's hard to figure out.

Leave tomorrow at 1 pm hope my back holds up for the 15 hour flight, though I am flying 1st class with a lie flat bed.

The first trip report will be from Taiwan.

Good, that 5th day oh the Kansawi WAP makes it worthwhile. Have a wonderful trip!

Bon voyage!

Happy travels!
If you have time in Taipei, the cable car to Maokong is a lovely excursion. https://www.kaveyeats.com/2017/09/ta...o-maokong.html

Kavey

I wish I could on this trip. The weather is horrendous with torrential rains and wind. Will save it for my return in November.
Thanks for the tip it sounds and looks glorious.

"The weather is horrendous with torrential rains and wind. "

Oh no! Sounds like my arrival on Taiwan which coincided with a typhoon. Did clear up after a couple of days, though.

Oh no, what a shame that the weather is so awful.
I know one of the night markets we visited was covered, Huaxi I think, whereas the rest were open. But a lot of Taipei's sights are open to the weather. Hope you still have a good trip, in spite of the weather!

My first TR is on the Taiwanese Forum

Oct. 17
Today was totally a day of unexpected occurrences, actually most days are. Decided to have breakfast out, walked by a place that was displaying their breakfast items on a table outside, that’s how I ended up eating Turnip cakes and dried Tofu with Brown Rice for breakfast. It was really delicious, as I continued my walk I passed an herbalist, the scents were too tantalizing so I stepped in. He was weighing and making packages of herbs, spices and dried fruits. I recognized bay leaves and I think it was dried passion fruits crushed up. unfortunately there was a language barrier so I was unable to find out what today’s recipe was for.
Finally it was time to go to the National Palace Museum as it was another rainy day. The Museum required a subway and bus ride since it’s located quite a distance from my hotel. My hotel is not really a hotel it is a hostel with private rooms. My room is small, but it has a wall length mirror to make it appear larger. There is a shower, toilet and sink plus the most comfortable double bed with a delicious comforter. It is a relatively short walk to the nearest MRT (subway) and no end of choices for eating on the way.
The National Palace Museum was free because today was a cultural day. I think every tour group in town had decided it was a very good day to visit. I managed to see some of the most precious paintings, they only exhibit 20 at a time. Got my picture taken in regional costumes, an interactive exhibit of which I have seen several versions. You stand in front of and then you become part of the scene, very amusing for children and some adults. After a while I couldn’t take the noise and crowds and left.
The day before I had met an American woman who was traveling with her two small children. She told me about a restaurant called Paradise Dynasty which was on the 4th floor of an office building by Taipei City Hall. They served amongst other things Xiao Long Bao {soup dumplings} in different flavors, each flavor had it’s own color. In order they were original, ginseng, foie gras, back truffle, cheese, crab roe, garlic and Szechuan. Of course I ordered that as well as a delicious dish of water spinach in bean sauce cost $15. The whole area was extremely upscale, as were all the restaurants on that floor, it reminded me of Japanese department stores with a group of restaurants to a floor.

On the 47th floor was a Morton’s of Chicago offering a Barolo dinner for $160 on 10/30. The whole area was such a culture shock compared to the rest of the city. Every luxe brand has its own boutique and it is generic of upscale shopping anywhere in the world. Have hardly ever felt so self-consciously misplaced as here . As I was walking around I passed a launch by a Danish woman named Ilse Jacobsen of Hornbaeck, who has partnered with a Taiwanese entrepreneur whose name I didn’t get but her collection is called Weng collection, there were a handful of people attending. Across the street there was another launch which had a large group of young people trying to get close to whoever the celebrity was. Christmas decorations were already being displayed, preparations for a European food festival/market with Christmas motive was being readied. So strange in this heat to think of Christmas.

I continued on to Taipei 101, I know it was misty but went up anyway. The gondolas didn't appear to be running. The commercialism was mind boggling you were unable to exit without walking through what seemed like two city blocks of Coral and Jade for sale apart from all the merchandise before you ascended and while you were up there. By now I was exhausted and decided to call it a day. No wonder I had walked almost 4 miles and my back and legs told me to quit.

OOPS! Meant to post on my trip report