Travel across Japan in October 2023
My wife and I are traveling to Japan for the first time this October.
We're not huge manga / anime / video game nerds, our focus is on Japanese culture, food, scenery/nature and unique/quirky experiences.
We've been learning Japanese on Duolingo for some time, but I don't see us really carrying a conversation beyond asking for the toilet or how much something costs 😅
We're planning for this itinerary using only public transport (or taxis in a pinch):
Sept. 30th Arrival at Tokyo Haneda Airport at 10:35 pm Planning on using the Monorail (wiki says last train at 12:01 pm) to get to our hotel.
01 - 04 Tokyo * Team Labs Borderless * Sensoji Temple * Shibuya Crossing * Museum of Package Culture * Shibuya Sky Building * Emperor's Palace * Joyopolis * Happo-En * National Art Gallery * Shibuya Sky Building * Akihabara * maybe see some sumo wrestlers fight/train if possible * looking for any "cyberpunk"-looking scenery / streets ;)
05 Tokyo ➡️ Yudanaka by rail
06 Yudanaka * Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
07 Yudanaka ➡️ Kurobe by rail
08 Kurobe * Take the train through Kurobe Gorge and maybe walk/hike a bit and visit the hot springs at Kuronagi
09 Kurobe ➡️ Takayama by rail
10 Takayama * Main focus is visiting the old neighborhoods. * If I understand correctly, the Yahata Matsuri Festival takes place then. This is not our reason for visiting but it may be fun! * If it's too much hassle we may go to Kanazawa instead and visit Kenroku-En.
11 Takayama ➡️ Kyoto by rail
12 - 14 Kyoto * Sagano Bamboo Forest * Nijō Castle * Toei Kyoto Studio Park * Fushimi Inari Shrine * Gion corner * Arashima Monkey Park
15 Kyoto ➡️ Osaka maybe via Nara to visit the Deer Park
16 - 17 Osaka * Osaka Castle * Sumiyoshi Shrine * again, looking for any "cyberpunk"-looking scenery / streets ;)
18 Osaka ➡️ Beppu
19 - 20 Beppu * Visit the 8 hot spring hells and maybe a Ryokan.
21 Fukuoka 🛫 Okinawa
22 - 25 Okinawa * Spend some time on the beach, maybe some hiking. Enjoy warm weather and nature.
26 Okinawa 🛫 Tokio
27 Tokyo Last day for any shopping
28 Flight Home (11pm)
Questions & remarks:
As I mentioned before, we don't really speak Japanese. Lots of Ryokans only have websites in Japanese and making arrangements by using Google Translate seems a bit iffy. Any advice on how to book Ryokans as a foreigner? On which stop on the itinerary would you use a Ryokan?
A first version of this itinerary had us going to the Iya Valley to see the rope bridges, but we changed that to Beppu since getting around Iya Valley with only public transport seems like a pain. One idea was to maybe rent E-Bikes, but rental places all seem a bit out of the way.