The tour plan is set. I don’t have all the ryokans by now. But for all missing places there is a plan B available by bus within half an hour.  And I think we have a winner or the first day: Wakayama. Castle and japanese garden win over old houses and Chinatown. The last thing is also better at night.

The tour can be splitted into 3 parts plus Tokyo, that is always not really a part ofthe journey but the bracket that surrounds the trip at the beginning and the end. A trip to Japan is not thinkable without Tokyo.

Part I .. ancient temple (shrines and castles)
lodging in Oosaka, Kyoto and Kanazawa

• 19 .. Flight with KLM via Amsterdam; incl. airport lounge
• 20 .. Arrival in Kansai; Wakayama
• 21 .. Koyasan
• 22 .. Amanohashidate
• 23 .. Yoshino and Asuka [move to Kyoto]
• 24 .. Kyoto
• 25 .. Hikone and Eihei-ji [move to Kanazawa]
• 26 .. Kanazawa

Part II .. lonesome valeys
lodging in Shirakawa and Tsumago

• 27 .. Shirakawa-go [with hotel change]
• 28 .. Inuyama [and hotel change to Tsumago]
• 29 .. Hiking along the Nakasendo thru the Kiso valley
• 30 .. Matsumoto [and hotel change to Tokyo]

Part III .. relaxing onsen
lodging in Bessho Onsen and Kusatsu Onsen

• 03 .. Bessho Onsen [and hotel change to Kusatsu Onsen]
• 04 .. Kusatsu Onsen
• 05 .. (Kawagoe) [and hotel change back to Tokyo]

Part IV .. Tokyo
lodging in Tokyo and Narita

• 31 .. visiting some temples; Sky Tree and than preparing from New Year
• 01 .. visiting a temple for New Year; Tokyo Jissha pilgramage
• 02 .. new year speach of the emperor in the inner palace area,  [move to Bessho Onsen] …
• 06 .. Tokyo Jissha, temple of the 47 ronin
• 07 .. Tokyo (no plan for now)
• 08 .. Narita [with hotel change]
• 09 .. flight back with KLM, with airport longe

I have put in some links to the japan-guide website. This site really is helpul. Koyasan and Einhei-ji were on my wish list for quiet a time (I think since 2004). But I never was able to visit. There was even the idea to spend a night at Koyasan, but I will save this for a summer vacation.

The Kiso Valley came onto the list in 2006. Peter put a hardcoy of a website on my desk one day. There was a report about old post towns not far away from Tokyo but in the middle of nowhere. The pictures looked like the time has stopped in this places. The best time to visit is during autumn colors but I don’t want to wait another 4 years. *)

If you compare this trip to all other before, you will recognize that this one is planned differently. This times there is nearly the twice as many hotels booked. In 2004 there were 7 hotels in 4 weeks. This time there are 10 in 3 weeks. My points of interest or on a line, there is no central place I can use as a base camp (except in Kansai).

Also the number of cities on the list is impressive. 14 cities plus Tokyo and Kyoto. In Kyoto I will try to visit the places I missed in 2004: Kiyomizudera, Higashiyama, Gion, Fushima Inari Shrine and Tofoku-ji. With a little bit of luck I can do a brief stop at the Kokedera or the big eastern and western temple. They were a construction site in 2004.

In Tokyo there are three big events on my list: (1) New Year. Maybe I can ring the temple bell. (2) The visit of the emperor palace. I wrote about it a few days ago. (3) The Dezome Shiki fire fighter parade. I wrote a post about this too.

*) The equation behind the 4 years is a journey every 4 years and the already planned trip for 2014, called „2004 reloaded“.

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I have created a first basic plan for the trip and checked the train connection. I tried to find a perfect combination of the different JRPs. Now I should check if there are hotels available.

The first hotel was easy: Hotel Edoya. My second home in Tokyo (room no 307) is available. I book it with a click. The following is only possible in Japan: Two years ago I forgot my tripod and my Kendo equipment in the hotel, more precisely: I had to leave most of it because of overweight at the airport luaggage scale. The second hotel was also very quick. In Kanazawa I booked the Sumiyoshi, a traditional ryokan.

After that it start to getting tricky. Oosaka is big. I skip this one and take care of the tiny places, before everything is booked out. First Kusatsu. I first attempt two days ago failed. Looks like January 2nd is a deal braker. Without this date everything is fine, but still very expensive ($200 or above.)

This is a little bit too pricy for me. So I am searching japanese websites. After a while I am able to read the important buttons. The searchs tooks hours. But we have a winner: Ryokan Kiyoshigekan.

Nun die Quizfrage, die auch über die Auswahl des Japan Rail Pass entscheidet. Wenn ich in Kanto bleibe, kann ich alles umgruppieren und ein paar Euro sparen. Die erste Versuch ist Minakawa. Das Onsen dort ist der Hammer. Man sitzt mitten im Wald an einem Flußlauf. Der Preis ist stolz: 240€. Aber es ist ausgebucht. Ich brauche gar nicht erst überlegen. Auch die anderen Herbergen sich voll. Mit Ikaho ergeht es mir nicht besser.

Now I have to take care of this Japan Rail issue. If I stay in Kanto on my onsen tour I can buy several tickts instead of the all over JRP and save some money. Minakawa would do the trick. The onsen is awesome. You are sitting in the middle of the forest next to a river. But a night costs $300 and all hotels seems to b booked out. The some in Ikaho.

Shibu Onsen comes into my mind. It is onlz 35 miles away from Kusatsu. But the road is closed in winter. So you have to take the train over Nagano. That takes 4 hours. But Ryokan Uotoshi (I was there in 2004) has a free room. Seems to be an option. I declare this idea to be plan B.

Back to the search for plan A. There is one onsen left nearby. It is Bessho onsen. The oldest onsen mentioned in documents. There are public onsens an some temples. Everything you need for a relaxing day. But it is verz famous. Could be a disadvantage (availibility and price). Again I am searching Japanese websites for hours. The Uematsu is available.

The website looks pricy. 10000 yen. This really is the limit. But dinner and breakfast are included. Usually you have to  pay extra for it. To prevent another Finnair-problem I book the hotel. Now my hotel list is:

• Kanazawa: Sumiyoshi Ryokan [webpage]
• Bessho Onsen: Uematsuya Ryokan [Link] [webpage]
• Kusatsu Onsen: Kiyoshigekan Ryokan [webpage]
• Tokyo: Hotel Edoya [webpage]

Now only Oosaka, Narita, Shinakawa-ko and Kiso-valley are missing. Now I can adjust the JRP. Bessho Onsen is located in Kanto. And I am back at the beginning. Kobo or Wakamatsu or both? Today I am tending to Wakamatsu. This needs an adjust to the train tickets. Oh boy. This is gettng complicated. So I postpone the decision to tomorrow morning. Then I hopefully have some answers from Narita and Shirakawa.

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Another letter from Japan. The Tokyo Fire Department invited me for the Dezome Shiki. This this an annual fire figther parade that takes place all over Japan. Tokyo is one of the biggest. It provides a parade, some traditional acrobatic shows and a big excercise, including fire figthing, Hay Mat and rescue from a desaster area.

The fire departments shows that they are prepared for every possible desaster: earthquake, taifun, tsunami, vulcano. The show there knowledge, their training and the special equipment. The have robots for fire fighting or rescue people. I hope I can take some good pictures. I you want to know what I am talking about, check youtube. Here a small overview. Looks like I have to bring a video camera.

I hope I get a good seat. At least I am on the VIP list. No joke. I have to report to the reception desk to be escorted to my seat: „Please let us know your address so we can put you on the list of New Year’s Fire Review visitors!“

Here is an other video from the Dezome Shiki, the parade o the fire trucks. This equiment really is an eyecatcher. Check out the lights of the truck at 13:00 or the big fan at 10:50.

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Another new thing on this tour is the use of trains and busses other than Japan Rail. Koyasan and Asuka are accessable by Kintestsu. The bus to Shirakawa is operated by Niho. Eihei-ji and Inuyama and Amanohashidate are also not connected by JR. Kusatsu Onsen not to mention.

Therefore there is the valid question: Do I need a JRP or what kind of JRP is suitable.  There are eight different types I could use. The „Seishun 18“ for example. Looks like I lost the overview.

And then there is all this tiny printed exceptions. The Seishun 18 is only valid on Locals and Rapid Trains but Kanazawa is only connected by Limited Express. The JRP Kansai is outside of the Kansai Pass area. And there is a gap between the Kansai and the Kanto area with Kiso valley right inside it. The bus to Kusatsu is not included in the Kanto bus but in the overall JRP. On the other side the Tobu-Line is part of the Kanto pass.

This goes on and on. I try to write it down. Then I tried a big table and a map. At the end I am down to use Excel. How low can I sink? I try to find a good combination of the several different tickets that are available. Just to save some bucks.

I swap day trips to optimize the usage of the tickets. Putting expensive routes into the time frame of a ticket and pay the cheap trips. But there are still some variables like Kobe and Wakamatsu, Inuyama and Matsumoto. A hotel in Kusatsu or in Narita. All this can have a big influence on the overall price tag.

The first result is shocking: If I buy single tickets and skip the one or other Limited Express or seat reservation, I can save 1200 yen. Single tickets can be cheaper than the JRP. This is basically because I am not using the shinkansen between the hotels. To put it the other way: for $16 I can buy the benefits on speed, seats and comfort.

This is surprising. On the last trip the JRP saved me $65. This time there are many non-JR-routes involved. And this trip is really compact: Kanto, Chubu and Kansai. The first trip in 2004 covered alle reagions of Honshu and a lot of shinkansen rides. Then I saved hundred of dollars.

And another surprising finding: If I sum up all the bus and train fares, they have the same price than the flight ticket: $800. This also means, I spend more than $1500 without a hotel, food or entrance fees; only transportation. Japan is expensive. If I add 7000 yen for a night in a hotel this will add $2000 to the tab. Still no food, entrance fees and fun included but $3500 down the drain.

That’s it for today. The big JRP plan is fixed. Now I have to get rid of the variables in my hotel plan; starting with the onsen problem.

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[ Note: This is the english version of the blog entry. It has a one year delay ]

Today I received an answer from the office of the imperial palace. My information are correct. On Dec.26 and Jan.02 the innere area of the emperor palace is accessable. This definately will be on my list for Tokyo.

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