If Kanazawa is still on your itinerary, you can take in a Noh performance (a written translation in English is provided), get dressed up in traditional kimono at a kimono fabric factory, and walk around the Kenrokuen gardens where you can experience tea ceremony. There are also a ninja house museum and a historical preservation section of town with shops. Not as congested and touristy as other places.

do train stations in Japan have luggage carts?

No, but most have elevators and/or escalators. You can view maps and layouts of the stations online (at the various JR sites) and it's really useful to have printout for the big ones and to know which platforms, exits etc you'll need before you get there. Having said that, the signage is excellent and usually romanised, if not in English. Plenty of helpful staff about, too.

<b>offlady</b> - I definitely still plan to visit Kanazawa - partly because of the gardens and the historic section. Not sure about the Noh, it sounds a bit formal and difficult - maybe a good thing to do with a Goodwill guide? But I'm very glad to hear about the kimono option!

<b>eigasuki</b> - thanks for the tip about the maps - I love maps! I travel with a tiny compass, which has been useful in the past for getting oriented when coming up from metro stations - I suspect I may need it INSIDE Japanese stations!

speaking of maps, there are many located inside the subways and train stations. Just know those maps are not always set with north on the top. In fact I usually find that east is on the top but I have also seen the south end on top of the map with no N and arrow anywhere. It is good that you travel with a compass. Stand in front of the map with your compass(iphone) out is what I do.

Never seen a luggage cart, only at the airports.

A JR Pass is basically useless when traveling inside the Kansai region as you are doing ie subways, trains buses, etc. That is why I suggested the Kansai Thru Pass. Using it for transport from Kyoto to Koyasan and all throughout Kansai through whatever means of transport you need is worth it imho. With the JR Pass your options are limited and you have to hassle with paying to get tickets to get on the private lines you will be traveling on.

Aloha!

There is a famous generations-old kimono shop in Kanazawa that specializes in hand-painted silk fabrics. You can get dressed in a kimono of your choice and they will take a photo which they will put on a postcard and give you when you leave. Other famous products in Kanazawa are ice cream (several dairies in the area), and gold.

Just looking at this again and it makes more sense to me to stay overnight in Hakone on the 22nd rather than incur the added expense of a trip back to Tokyo. It would be cheaper to get to Kyoto from Odawara than from Tokyo the next morning if you are paying for a ticket. You would also have more time in Hakone for sightseeing and wouldn't be too pressed for time.

Kamikochi is a good idea and place for a ryokan visit. Did you have one in mind? I have never been to Kamikochi but have passed by the area and the mountains do look lovely.

Aloha!

re: Nikko vs. Kamakura, I was debating the same for my upcoming trip. I've heard Kamakura is NOT a must if you are going to Nara (which you are), because there are big buddhas in both places. I plan to go to Nikko (and Nara) and not Kamakura.

HT - my first thought was to stay overnight in Hakone, but when I discovered it was feasible to do a day trip I was thinking of limiting one-nighters. Will reconsider.

Based on my out-of-date LP I was thinking of the Yumoto Choza in Fukuchi Onsen. More research required!

unitoro - I'm usually left cold by very big Buddhas (although the one in Leshan surprised me), I originally thought Kamakura might be less busy than Nikko.

check out the Hirayu-no-mori site too, looks good with a variety of baths

http://www.onsenexpress.com/site/dis...onsenregion=10

Well, that's certainly a whole lot cheaper! (Although this was going to be my splurge night, if I overnight near Hakone maybe that should be.) Looks to be a choice between (said to be) good food, and a selection of outdoor onsen.

Nikko and Kamakura are two different experiences. Yes, Nikko is much more congested and very busy and crowded. It is pretty much a full day excursion by tour bus together with Kegon Falls, but very beautiful mountain area. Kamakura is much less crowded and takes less time. It is within walking distance from the train station. It will give you time to browse around town or visit other temples in the area. Kamakura also has very beautiful nature scenery, although I don't know how accessible the other temples are witihout a car or taxi.

Since you had mentioned business hotels earlier(and since I am on this computer with most of my Japan links) here are some sites of trusted and clean business hotels chains in Japan if you haven't seen already. Most are located in the areas you are traveling.

We have stayed in the Toyoko Inns,Tokyu Properties, Sunroute and JR properties and all very clean and comfortable although small.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/

http://www.wh-rsv.com/english/index.html

http://www.sunroute.jp/SunrouteTopHLE.html

http://www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com/en/index.html

http://www.jrhotelgroup.com/eng/

http://www.kid97.co.jp/~jeh-group/jeh-group.html

http://www.fujiyahotel.co.jp/en/index.html

http://www.heartonhotel.com/

Aloha!

Thanks so much, HT! I'm not actually booking for Japan yet - I thought I'd sort out South Korea first, but will save the links. Do you think I'm likely to have a problem for Sep-Oct?

September 20 and 23 are public holidays. I once went to Kamakura on a public holiday and it was a disaster. Best to stay in town on those days. Incidentally, there's a lot more in Kamakura than just the big buddha (which is itself a notable work of art): Hokokuji, Meigetsuin, Kenchoji, and many more.

By the same token, there's a lot more in Nara than its own big buddha: the spectacular statues in the Sangatsudo and in Shin Yakushiji (shin means new--it was built in 850), and the really ancient Horyuji and Toshodaiji. The treasure from Horyuji is in a newish museum in Ueno Park (Tokyo).

I haven't yet been to Nikko but Kamakura was my full day trip from Tokyo during my first trip to Japan in 2004. I took the train to Kamakura, then the Enoden train to see the Daibutsu, walked around, then trained back to Kamakura - did some more temples and shrines, ended up walking up toward Kita Kamakura where it was already 4 pm and some shrines were already closed.....at the time I had a very detailed map of the locations of the shrines and temples.....

Oh yes, that public holiday on the 23rd was another reason I was thinking of making Hakone a day trip on the 22nd.

I think I'll wait until I get there to decide Nikko or Kamakura - it will be my last day.

Good point about the holiday. My first trip to Nikko was on a busy holiday, and traffic crawled for 4 hours to reach Nikko forcing us to skip Kegon Falls. When we got back to the city limits, we literally had to run to catch the last train into Tokyo. Altogether we spent 8 long hours on the tour bus...with the Australian soccer team which was entertainment in itself. On another trip, we drove by car with friends and had no problems with traffic and was able to enjoy the sights at a leisurely pace.

After you reading your posts, I see that you have given up on Kagoshima/Kyushu - understandable but I have to say, I found Kyushu to be the best bang for your buck in Japan. I found it less touristed than Honshu and even Hokkaido. I do not know what the weather is like in the fall, though.

if you are still considering those places, I would suggest Furusato Kanko on the island of Sakurajima (short ferry ride from Kagoshima) for your splurge - the food was unbelievable and the price of the ryokan very reasonable (in 2008, it was around 160 pp). If you are into food and markets you might enjoy yourself with the Fukuoka street food. The Tsubame shinkansen makes travel around Kyushu very fast and reasonable ( we actually took a now-extinct night train from Tokyo to Kumamoto - from there, kagoshima is a short train ride, then worked our way to Kumamoto (great castle, great food right by the train station, cheap hotels), and then through Aso and Kurokawa onsen (another splendid onsen with affordable ryokan), then to Fukuoka then Hiroshima/Miyajima and Himeji before Kyoto.

We have been to Japan twice and to avoid getting templed out and frustrated by having a lot of people around us, we have avoided some of the most popular sights - Hakone, Nikko, Kamakura, Nara, etc., so I have no comments about those. I do suggest Kyushu - much more relaxed and easygoing than some other places in Japan.

Just my two cents.

If you get a fourteen-day pass, you could spend your first few days getting adjusted in Tokyo, zoom down to Fukuoka some morning (taking advantage of your jetlag), head to Kagoshima (I think it is only 3-4 hr journey on a very comfortable train), then head back to the mainlaind via Kumamoto (only need one day here but if you do, check out the AWESOME little pub/bistro/izakaya to your right as soon as you leave the train station).

Then, you head out to Miyajima, try and stay the night (we stayed at a teeny tiny little minshuku/hostel type place - Mizuha-so, plus you can do fun day hikes), then maybe head towards Himeji in the morning, see the castle (I heard it might be renovations time now). if you get to Himeji around noon, you can check your bag in a locker, then the road to the castle is a straight 15 minutes walk from the station - on the way to the castle, on the left hand side of that road, there is a famous little handrolled udon noodle shop, check out the castle, and jump back on the train to Kyoto, hang out there for a few days, then head back to Tokyo.

This is pretty much what we did (except we got that great night train), and we LOVED it. Just some ideas, FWIW

Thanks for the input, usernameistaken - that was my first plan. However, I'm even keener on spending some time around Takayama, Matsumoto and Kanazawa, and I couldn't fit that in with enough time to do Kyushu justice. So I decided to substitute a corner of Shikoku for Kyushu on this trip - it sounds like it's off the main tourist trail, too. (My understanding is that Himeji is now being renovated - I'm substituting castles at Matsue and Matsmoto.)

My first plan for Japan, a couple of years back, included Kyushu on the way to Okinawa, and if I like Japan as much as I expect, I'd do that on my next visit.

I agree that quality trumps quantity! Have to remind myself!