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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/FireArcanine on 2024-03-27 13:45:15.
Background
I’m a late-20s Asian Male who has explored the Golden Route (Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka) twice, with the most recent trip being in March 2023 Tokyo, Fujikawaugchiko, Kyoto and Osaka-Nara. I had considered the idea of exploring other cities, but a snap idea came to my mind: Why not try to see most of them, feel the local vibes and then decide which cities to further dedicate in the future? Thus, I made the spontaneous decision to cover as much as I could on Honshu and touch a bit of Kyushu and Hokkaido.
Furthermore, I won the Osaka Marathon 2024 lottery as well, and I had a wonderful time running the marathon and broke my personal best by at least 51 minutes.
This was solo travel, with 28-inch luggage, 2 backpacks (1 stored in the luggage) and 1 expandable bag.
This trip occurred from mid-February 2024 to Early March 2024.
- Accommodation: All accommodation was booked on Booking.com. As far as possible, I had tried to book my accommodation near the major train stations, and this proved to be an excellent idea as I found myself struggling just 5 days through the trip with my luggage weight. |
- Luggage Forwarding & Storage: This was not possible due to my itinerary which saw me on the move, jumping from each city to each city no more than 1-2 nights per city. However, on the way to Niigata from Osaka, I booked storage service on Ecbo Cloak to store my luggage for JPY6000 as my 28-inch had already maxed out storage. However, I was curious if Sagawa would support my storage, and to my surprise, Sagawa helped me out and my eventual Tokyo Hotel would hold my luggage for 6 days until I arrived in Tokyo, which meant I only paid the forwarding cost Sagawa charged. I did, however, unfortunately, lose the money from Ecbo Cloak due to their no-refund policy on the day of the booking.
- Transportation: 11 Shinkansens, 2 Special Limited Expresses and a whole of Train & Buses in total! With such a packed & tight schedule, I had considered the whole of Japan Rail Pass (21 days), but my gripe was that I was limited to Hikari and Kodama on JR Central’s famous Tokaido Shinkansen. Furthermore, there were some trains where I wanted to try Green Class (Inaho Limited Express from Niigata to Akita) and Gran Class (Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto to Sendai). Therefore, I did the math and settled with:
- JR Central Segments: Buying Tokyo - Nagoya, Nagoya - Shin-Osaka and Shin-Osaka to Tokyo exclusively on the SmartEX App.
- JR West Segments: Milked the Sanyo-San’in Northern Kyushu Pass like crazy. Worth purchasing and saved A LOT of money.
- JR East Segments: Bought the JR-East South Hokkaido Pass, but also bought individual tickets for the Green Class Inaho Limited Express and the Gran Class tickets. I also bought my Tokyo to Niigata ticket as a single journey here as well. In hindsight, I could have saved JPY9,000 and just bought the class ticket for the Gran Class. But I wasn’t too sure and there was a lack of information, so now I know. I would have saved some money if I knew the combination.
- Cash: Most of my cash was exchanged before I arrived in Japan. I carried 50% on a Multi-Currency Card (think Wise/Revolut) and 50% cash. I managed to spend most of my cash first and found myself using the international ATM to withdraw about JPY20,000.
Cities Covered
- Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture
- Okayama, Okayama Prefecture
- Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture
- Miyajima Island, Hiroshima Prefecture
- Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture
- Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture
- Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture
- Osaka, Osaka Prefecture
- Niigata, Niigata Prefecture
- Akita, Akita Prefecture
- Aomori, Aomori Prefecutre
- Hakodate, Hokkaido Prefecture
- Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
- Matsushita (Bay), Miyagi Prefecture
- Tokyo, Tokyo
I won’t go into an exact detailed breakdown but here’s a summary based on what I can say. If anyone has specific questions on a detailed part of an itinerary, let me know so that I can answer them!
Day 1: Tokyo & Nagoya
- Landed at Narita, Took NEX to Tokyo station & stored my luggage there.
- Dashed around Harajuku and Tokyo to wrap up some shopping.
- Took a 9 pm train to Nagoya, and had dinner with delicious Ekiben.
Day 2 : Nagoya
- Explored Nagoya Castle, Osu Kannon & Osu Shopping District, Atsuta Jinggu, Chubu Electric Power Mirai Tower & Nearby Shopping Districts.
- Food was mainly Konibini, but managed to try Nagoya’s speciality - Miso - in my case, Miso Chicken Cutlet.
Day 3: Nagoya to Okayama
- Took a 10 am Nozomi to Shin-Osaka, Went out, got my JR West Sanyo-San’in Northern Kyushu Pass, and went back onto another Nozomi to Okayama.
- Explored Kibitsu Jinjna (Rural but LOVELY!) and went back to Okayama Station and transferred over to go to Kursashiki
- Explored Kurashiki Bilkan Historical Quarter (shops were mostly closed :( ) and the Mitsui Outlet and Area
- Food was mainly, again, Konbini & ended my day with a hearty meal from Nakau (So value for money!)
Day 4: Okayama to Hiroshima
- Explored Okayama Korakuen and Okayama Castle (slipped and fell here a bit lol due to the wet rocks) but the place was serene
- Went back to Okayama station, bought Kibidango and Okayama Peach snacks and took theNozomi to Hiroshima at Noon with lunch at Hiroshima Station (Oysters, yum!)
- Went straight to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Memorial Hall
- Stopped by Honodri Shopping District and had the best Oyster Okonomiyaki Soba EVER for dinner!
Day 5: Hiroshima (Miyajima Island)
- Took the train & ferry to Miyajima Island
- Walked around & in Itsukushima Jinja
- Walked to Momijidani Park & Misen Ropeway but it was closed for maintenance; Walked to Daishoin
- Walked back to Omotesando Street, and had the best Teishoku (Fried Oyster, Conger Eel and Beef) ever for lunch; had grilled oyster (Yum), Fried & non-fried Momiji Manju (they were so good I bought 2 boxes!)
- Commenced shopping on the same street for souvenirs & hung around the Itsukjinja shrine to the lowest tide possible. Took photos and left the island afterwards
- Went back to Hondori Shopping District & Hiroshima Station for final souvenir shopping
Day 6: Hiroshima to Fukuoka
- Stopped by Hiroshima Castle for the final stop
- Went to Hiroshima Station, took the Nozomi to Hakata (Fukuoka) in the afternoon
- Went straight to Sumiyoshi Jinja, Kushida Shrine, Kawabata Shopping District, and Tenjin Shopping District & ended my day in Canal City (Shopping Haven!)
- Food was mainly…another Ekiben (yes I’m trying as much as I can haha) and konbinis; didn’t manage to try a lot due to moving a lot
Day 7: Fukuoka - Kumamoto - Fukuoka
- Took the Kyushu Shinkansen to Kurume, Fukuoka but realised not much going on in the city after visiting 1-2 nearby sites
- Took the same train to Kumamoto instead to visit Kumamoto Castle and the Suizenji Jojuen Garden, which was awesome! Kumamoto Castle was still rebuilding over the 2016 earthquake, so you could still see the traces!
- Grabbed Kumamoto Snacks and had a meat Kumamoto Bento (which was good!) to eat on the shinkansen back to Fukuoka.
- Went back again to Canal City to shop for my souvenirs, and had the best Strawberries from Kyushu and all of Japan.
- Went straight to Fukuoka Tower to watch the night view to wrap up the day. It was beautiful and I enjoyed my time.
Day 8: Fukuoka to Osaka
- Had konibini breakfast in my hotel and then took the Nozomi to Osaka in the afternoon. Grabbed a Kyushu Ekiben as it looked different from JR West’s one.
- Checked into my hotel and went off to INTEX Osaka for the Osaka Marathon Expo.
- Went to Shinsaibashi afterwards to look around and subsequently settled for dinner at Sushiro.
- As I had already been to Osaka twice, I wasn’t too fond of exploring the city.
Day 9: Osaka
- Rested in my hotel mainly for this day, and did my shakeout run along the O River.
- Went to Osaka-Umeda in the evening to look around and had dinner at Coco Ichibanya: I Ate Japanese Curry as my good luck meal for the Marathon. Also had one of the best strawberry parfait at the Hankyu Umeda shopping side.
Day 10: Osaka - Marathon
- Ran the cold, wet and windy Osaka Marathon finishing under 4 hours!
- Rested at the hotel and then spent the evening at Solaiwa Onsen Osaka Bay Tower. Had the Sashimi Ship Set for like 3980 Yen. It was massive! But I devoured it like crazy after the Marathon after all.
Day 11: Osaka to Tokyo to Niigata
- Left Osaka in the early morning to Tokyo. Grabbed souvenirs at Shin-Osaka Station as usual.
- Upon reaching Tokyo station, dropped my luggage at Sagawa (it was already 23kg /50 lbs and carried my travel bag and an expandable bag. Went to Shibuya to shop for something and went back to Tokyo station afterwards to catch my Shinkansen to Niigata.
- Reached Niigata to see that most of the station was renovating and terrible weather (wet + super windy)
- Due to the strong wind gusts and limited time, only managed to go to shop around Niigtata Station, Bandai City Center and Befco Bakauke Observation Deck Tower. Got knocked down onto the pavement with 55km/hr wind gusts with no one around me - that was super scary.
- I returned to the hotel afterwards and did my souvenir shopping at the shops that were limited but available at Niigata station.
- Had dinner at Royal Host beside the station - Had the best 250g hamburg ever.
Day 12: Niigata to Akita
- Left Niigata early to catch the Limite…
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