seeing all of Japan?

[potatoe]

hi everyone,
i have been planning this for some time now, as everyone on here knows i'll be travelling to Japan sometime soon. But i dont just want to see the main cities i want to see as much of Japan as i can.

my plan is to land in Hokkaido make my way through and around Honshu, then onto Shikoku and lastly depart in Kyushu .
i know some of you might say, thtas seeing alll of Japan what about Okinawa island. No offense but i feel that its a bit out of the way, for my travels.

the duration of time i would take in all this travelling is about 3 to 6 months.
i shall be departing next year when i feel i have enough money for flights and expenditures my aim is to see as much of Japan as i can.

i am happy going as i am at the moment, but if there are others out there wanting to join me on my travels, i'll be glad of the company.

whether its someone going to Japan and they want to travel with me or its someone in Japan wanting to join me, i'd enjoy the company.
during my travels through Japan i'll try tyo keep an appearance on this forum, posting info and updates of my travels.
my resaons for posting on this forum about my plan is to hear opinions and feedback off people about what they think of my plans.
if there is people out there who would want to join me, i'd be glad of the company but 4-5 people would be the most im willing to travel with.

so if anyone out there has any comments give me some feedback, like on sights i should see and places to visit.

 

[Ewok85]

Wow, how much is it going to cost in travel alone? (Airfare to hokkaido , all the trains and ferries etc)

 

[Arch]

Hey buddy !!! your 16 right ?? I really would come along but i have college this year so.....i cant.
Yea them plans seems pretty good , yet hellish its goona be expensive. What are you planning on staying in ? hotel ? ryokon ? I'd suggest a youth hostel, thats what i plan to stay in next year.
Japan hostels <---all japan hostels.
UK membership <-- uk membership

But it all depends on what you are going to stay in, my link on my sig club tocoo, is always. You will almost defo have to get a japan rail pass if you going all over.
Transportation in Japan | Plan Your Trip | Travel Japan | JNTO

Good luck with it anyways, your plans seem fine to me, just make sure you see just about everywhere

 

[Ewok85]

You'd really get your monies worth with a rail pass, that would be an awesome thing to do

 

[potatoe]

i agree it'll cost a lot of money, but im not going till next year.
when i have enough

 

[Porl]

those are some good links Arch!!

when i go to japan i think i will be stopping in some of those hostals.

Porl''

 

[Timsan]

how are you going ot be able to travael alone at only 16?

sounds like a sweet adventure though

 

[digicross]

Japan is BIG!

So don't do it all at one trip if you really want to see all of Japan.

It might be better to split Japan into several areas, then visit each area or few areas in each visit to Japan that you will do a couple of times. It might be best to allocated at least a month or two for each area.

Japan could be divided into several areas:

Hokkaido island

East Honshu island

Central Honshu island

West Honshu island

Shikoku island

Kyushu island

Okinawa islands

Interestingly, when the J.N.R. company was splitted up into the JR companies, it was divided roughly that way, with the exception of Okinawa, considering that when J.N.R. was divided there were no railways in Okinawa and only recently the Yui monorail was open to service in Okinawa.


Anyway, Central Honshu might be the first place to start.

There are several routes one can go.

Central Honshu -> East Honshu -> Hokkaido

Central honshu -> Shikoku -> West Honshu -> Part of Kyushu or the whole Kyushu if you prefer

Central Japan -> West Honshu -> Kyushu


As for Okinawa. It might be better to visit Taiwan first, then catch a ferry to Okinawa from there. Okinawa was so far away from Japan that it might better to consider it as another country.



As for rail pass. Considering on how long you stay in Japan, it might be better to disregard the Japan Rail Pass that covered the operations of the JR companies for the entire Japan. It might be better to get regional passes (even non JR ones) or get the Seishun 18 Kippu pass (that are regulary used by travelers with low budget).

As matter in fact, it might be better to get passes that you can use non consecutively (like the Seishun 18 Kippu or the JR East's 4 days flexi pass) or passes that has a short valid time (like a day pass or a three days pass)

 

[potatoe]

i agree with digi, seeing it all in one big trip i might see evrything, so a divised plan of mine is to go different places at certain trips,
like my first plan was to go to Tokyo with my mate but now hes decided to go on his own because hes found a pen pal in Tokyo, but that hasn't damped my spirit im still going who knows maybe we will bump into each and say hi.

 

[spawn]

good for donny go for it, going on yuor your own in tokyo is an amazing experience to go through, i live in tokyo and its amazing being here, when your in tokyo you drop in sometime maybe you could spend the night, i could show you around.

if you come over in may time, i'll come with you to osaka because thats when i go to see my parents, and i could do with the company. it'll be fun

 

[potatoe]

cheers mate im very grateful, hey i dont be to put a down but can take our time getting to osaka, to take in the sights

 

[spawn]

sure mate we can take aslong as you :gohan: want getting there