Definitely agree that somebody who was expecting an onsen (especially one with amazing views and fancy toiletries) and instead happened upon an old school sento would be likely be dismayed. On the other hand, if one really likes old school, then it doesn't come any more old school than a sento in a neighborood where houses are so old that they lack bath tubs.

Did you consider visiting Hagi (pottery)?

Izumo Taisha is a wonderful place to visit. I recommend that you spend a whole day just in Matsue and don't just hit the excellent castle.

You could fly from Tokyo to Izumo or to Yonago (and bus to Matsue).

Yes, I was planning to visit Izumo Taisha, I'm spending two nights in Matsue. Unfortunately, Hagi is too far south for this trip.

I love trains, and will have a JR pass - although I did look at the possibility of flying from Matsue to Kanazawa.

Hagi is where the Meiji Restoration began. There's an excellent open air museum with Shoin Yoshida's school and the homes of several important figures. Nearly all the leaders of post-feudal of Japan came from this group. Hagi also has an excellent temple, Tokoji, with hundreds of stone lanterns.

Matsue is full of great sights, but don't miss Gesshoji, which is one of the less well known. It's a very attractive and contains the tortoise stele that features in one of Lafcadio Hearn's stories. His house is in Matsue, and also a museum about him.

Couple of important (to me) questions.

I've been looking at changing this to move on to Kyoto the day after I arrive in Tokyo, adding an extra night in Tokyo at the end, and dropping Hakone in favor of a third night in the Japan Alps. However, this puts my stay at Koyasan on Sat 25th Sept, two days after the Autumn Equinox. Since the festival seems to be especially associated with cemeteries, is this a bad idea? Will Koyasan be especially crowded that day?

Also, I seem to be moving too slowly for a JR pass to work well for me. I need a Kansai pass for Nara and Koyasan, and will be taking buses in the Japan Alps. So a seven-day pass would only cover Tokushima-Takashima-Matsue-Kanazawa, and even with high-season seat reservations, that comes in at 26,980 vs. 28,300 for the pass. I may buy the pass anyway, to cover short distance trains around Takamatsu and Matsue, but will have to pay separately for both Tokyo-Kyoto and Matsumoto-Tokyo. Can I pay for those tickets with a credit card?

Interesting to read comment on sento vs onsen. I've always heard the term sento used for a public bath. Onsen are hot spring water baths, and the term is also sometimes used for the locations that contain them. Onsen can be in natural pools or man made tubs, but must have natural hot mineral water. There is a lot of controversy over heating the water and adding minerals, yet still using the term onsen.
Any other type of bath, whether big or small, public or private is just a furo or ofuro.

thursdaysd,
if you don't need a JR Pass I wouldn't buy one. You can buy and reserve all your tickets at once when you get to a station or a travel agent and you won't have to go through the hassle of buy a voucher and converting into a pass then having to still make reservations and then limiting yourself to hikari and kodama shinkansens.

I think your time in Koyasan is ok crowd wise.

I have had better luck with VISA credit cards in the JR stations that my account had been alerted ahead of time that I would be using abroad than MC. My MC did not work more than once and it was a valid card. Travel agents will usually take both cc's btw. It would be nice to have a ta in your Kyoto hotel lobby

Aloha!

Thanks HT! I'll go ahead with the new plan. It will put me in Kyoto for the September full moon and the Autumn Equinox (seem to be the same day), and I can hit the 25th of the month market before I leave for Koyasan.

My primary travel card is a Capital One Visa (and back up is a Credit Union Visa), so that will be OK. Last time I traveled, though, Cap One told me I could only notify them of two months travel at a time! And I needed to do it for out of STATE as well as out of country.

I would definitely buy a JR Pass for that trip. The fares are:
3070
8350
16290
-----
27710
1040 Matsue - Izumo - Matsue
-----
28750 + Takamatsu locals

It is easier traveling with a pass than buying tickets.

because it is so close to JR pass price I would not but one because of the restrictions that the pass comes with compared to what you will use it for......not easier by any means when comes to buying pass, exchanging and actually using the pass....I am surprised you are recommending one....

Aloha!

Concur w/ht -- it takes 10 seconds to buy a JR ticket, compared to ample paperwork and wait-in-line time with JR pass -- not to mention the no-Nozomi time penalty.

And I'm not sure how you're getting 8350 for Takamatsu-Matsue. If I take the Marine Liner (actually faster than the more expensive Limited Express) to Okayama I see 7620. And with the Limited Express it's 8770.

I was thinking the pass would be less trouble, but the vote is currently two to one against.... If I have the pass can I just get on a train without a ticket or reservation? And would I want to/could I do that for any of the long distance legs?

BTW, I was assuming that late Sept/early October would be high, not low, season, and priced the reservations accordingly. Is that right? I would think I need reservations for legs like Tokyo-Kyoto? But maybe not Tokushima-Takamatsu? (Which would drop the price.)

<i>If I have the pass can I just get on a train without a ticket or reservation?</i>

Most shinkansen and limited express trains carry non-reserved (jiyu-seki) and reserved (shitei-seki) seats, while a few carry <b>reserved seats only.</b> On most local, rapid and express trains all seats are non-reserved. Personally I would want and do get a reserved seat when I can get one. I don't like looking around for an open seat and many times the non-reserved cars on the shinkansens are full and sometimes smokers but I hear they will be doing away with the smoking cars soon.

You know I am not aware that there are high and low season prices in train fares. I always thought they increased with time and inflation and not by the seasons, but I may be wrong on this. Someone here would know I'm sure(KimJapan).

Aloha!

I noticed that Hyperdia showed "Reserved seat (Low season)" for June dates. When I back-dated to April (since I can't forward date to September) it changed to "Reserved seat" and the price went up. But I have no idea what counts as low season. On European trains I sometimes reserve, and sometimes don't, and often there is room. I would certainly reserve for the shinkansens, but thought it might be overkill for local trains.

I've used JR passes twice, thursdaysd, and found them them very convenient. I ordered the voucher via Internet in advance, and then retrieved the pass in Japan on arrival at NRT. For short, non-Shinkansen trips I just hopped on, but most of my trips were longer and I reserved. I generally reserved immediately before boarding, just stopping at the station midori no madoguchi right there. No waiting of any consequence (to me, in any case). If I knew in advance that it would be a busy travel day I'd book farther in advance, but in general I liked the flexibilty of just showing up.

Another advantage to the JR pass from my possibly warped perspective was the increased opportunity for interaction with Japanese: every time you enter or exit the station you have to show your pass, and even though the interaction is brief it does count as a bit of human contact. I usually ask for the platform number at that point as well.

No access to nozomi is the biggest drawback, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me

You are right, thursdaysd, the 2nd leg of the trip can be had for 7220, so the total is 27,620. Add in a couple of local trips in Takamatsu and it is probably a break-even proposition between buying tix and the 7-day pass (with reserved seats where available).

September is typhoon season so I would wager that it is low-season for seat reservations. You could save some yen by going unreserved.

It hardly matters whether you get a Nozomi or not since your shinkansen travel will be less than an hour.

Since you are visiting Matsue you might want to read the book <i>Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life</i> (1896) by Lafcadio Hearn. His residence and a museum are in Matsue.

Thanks for the book rec, mrwunrfl

I really don't need to take the Nozomi - in fact, although I'd like speed for a couple of really long legs, I'd just as soon go a bit slower so I can see the scenery better.

I figured the high season reservation fee was for the cherry blossom season, so maybe it comes back for fall color. I'll reserve for the long distance legs, but probably not for anything short.

I've been finding the hotel reservations process a bit frustrating, what with the lack of English. Then Toyoko Inn won't let me reserve until 3 months ahead, since I don't belong to their members club, which I would join, except you can only do it IN Japan. Plus the reservation for Matsue has the right name and phone no. but an address in another town altogether! And then Rakuten Travel kept rejecting my credit cards....

Toyoko Inns will be ok to use within the three month period, patience,lol.
Try <b>faxing</b> your info to the hotels directly. I get a better response that way although it usually take a few days to get a response.
Have you tried http://www.japanican.com/index.aspx for ressies instead of Rakuten? I have had more luck and better pricing with them in the past

Aloha!

Nozomi and other Shinkansen trains all travel at the same speed. Nozomi are faster because they have fewer stops (each stop slows the train down by 6-8 mins, including slow down, time at station, and acceleration time).