Planning 3 weeks in Japan

· Japan

I’m planning a 3 week trip to Japan later this year, and one thing I enjoy more than actually traveling is the planning part and forcing others to listen to these plans in great detail, so here’s what I have so far. I’ve been to Japan once before, in 2013. I spent 10 days in Tokyo - I think I had vaguely planned to see Mt Fuji or go on a shinkansen, but I ended up being driven completely insane by the sheer size of Tokyo that I figured I’d do the rest of Japan whenever I’d visit again. Alas, I had no way of knowing it’d be 13 (!!!!!!) years (THIRTEEN!) before my next visit.

The thing that’s always held me back about going to Japan again is that I felt that I had to plan the perfect trip, and I had to go for at least 3 months, otherwise the long flight just wouldn’t be worth it, or something. A couple of months ago I realised that was dumb and got over myself, and immediately booked a ticket ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, like I said, sharing because I love reading planning posts myself (shout-out /r/JapanTravel and /r/JapanTravelTips!). If you think my itinerary is bad or whatever you can let me know in the comments!

Day 1 - 3: Osaka

I’m being deliberately vague about when exactly I’m going, but it’ll be during cherry blossom season. I’m flying into Osaka, and since I’m arriving late at night, I’m spending the night at an airport hotel which I’m irrationally excited about? There’s just something romantic about them.

I’ll only have two full days in Osaka, and I’ll be spending some time shopping for hiking poles since I can’t bring those with me and I’ll be doing the Kumano Kodo afterwards. Right now, the plan is to visit Osaka Castle Park for hanami, Shitennoji Temple, and wander around Namba/Dotonbori. I’ll probably be horribly jetlagged at this juncture so I try not to be too hardcore about my itinerary. I might squeeze in a visit to the Umeda Sky Building, if I don’t forget to buy a ticket.

Day 4 - 11: Kumano Kodo

This is the part I’m most excited about! I love multi-day hikes, and I don’t get the chance to do them very often. The last one I did was a few years back, in Great Britain’s Lake District. I’m not a hardcore hiker - I usually stop having fun around the 15 kilometer mark, and I have a crappy knee (skateboarding accident as a child that tore my meniscus) and weird feet that always blister (YES even with perfectly fitted shoes). However I love being ~in nature~ and after a couple of days of walking my brain switches off and I turn into a Zen monk, a phenomenal feeling.

I’m gonna do the Nakahechi trail which comes with a few advantages:

  • every section can be done by bus
  • well developed infrastructure, but because of limited guesthouse availability it’s not too crowded

(The bus part is important, because there’s a 21km section that you can reduce to 7km by taking a bus. I don’t want to walk 21 kilometers lol)

Most guides and subreddits will say you should book via the official Tabane City Kumano Tourism Bureau, but apparently this is run by two elderly ladies who can’t keep up with the massive demand, and it can take months before reservations are confirmed. I don’t like uncertainty, so I used Booking instead. We’ll see how that goes; I’ll be sure to write down my findings.

You can book luggage transfer with Hakobu:ne, which I think is a new outfit? Again, will post an update once I actually get there.

I split up the trail in the recommended sections as outlined here, with an extra rest day:

  • Day 1: Kii-Tanabe to Takajiri Oji. Only 4km!
  • Day 2: Takahara to Tsugizakura-Oji. 15km.
  • Day 3: Hosshimon-Oji to Hongu. 21km, which I’ll cut down to 7km by taking a bus.
  • Day 4: A full day in Hongu. I might visit an onsen.
  • Day 5: Hongu to Koguchi. 13km.
  • Day 6: Koguchi to Nachisan. 15km. This section is described as challenging :)

After this, I’ll return to Osaka for a night - I’ll probably need a spa day at this point lol.

Day 12 - 15: Shimanami Kaidō

This part is weather dependent - I’m not gonna do a 70 kilometer bike trek if it’s raining. But, the plan is to go from Osaka to Onomichi (with a stop in Himeji?), spend a night there, and then drop of my bags and cycle the first 35km of the Shimanami Kaidō. I’m then staying two nights on Ōmishima Island. I’ll use my free day to bike around the island, or explore some of the other islands — not sure how feasible that is with the ferry timetables, and I don’t want to plan things to rigidly.

On the Day 15, I’m cycling the next 35km to Imabari where I’ll drop off my bike (hoping to get a pedal-assisted one lol, I don’t want to work too hard, it’s my VACATION). Then I’ll take a train to Hiroshima.

Day 15 - 17: Hiroshima

I found a cute Airbnb where I’ll spend 3 nights. I’m planning to do the basic stuff here, e.g. the Peace Memorial Park, Atomic Bomb Dome, and Miyajima. I should read up more on Hiroshima before I leave!

Day 18 - 21: Kyoto

I’m so excited for Kyoto! Yeah, it might be overrun by other tourists, but I got tickets for the Shugakuin and Katsura imperial villas. Tickets are assigned by lottery and there’s a limited amount each day. I’m also planning to get a ticket to the Kokedera Temple, they haven’t been released yet. I’m hoping that by going to these ~super exclusive~ (lol) places, and skipping the more default choices like Kinkakuji and Kiyomizu-dera I’ll have a chill time in Kyoto instead of dodging other tourists. We’ll see how it goes!

Day 22 - 23: Osaka

I am going to do so much stationery shopping on my final day. SO MUCH. Daiso, Itoya, Loft; I’ll likely end up having to buy a second bag. I plan on flying in with hand luggage only because I don’t want to transfer around a massive bag during the Kumano Kodo part of the trip.

My first trip to Japan, I’d only booked a Ghibli Museum ticket, and played the rest by ear. The drawback is that I definitely had some useless days I didn’t leave my hostel, so I hope this trip is a happy medium between “plan nothing” and “plan every hour of the trip”.