I spent 3 weeks in Japan and boy did I cover a lot of ground! My best travel buddy (see Korea 2015 and New Zealand 2016) met me in Fukuoka and we travelled all the way across the three main islands: from the southern isle of Kyushu, through the main island of Honsu, and up to the northern island of Hokkaido and back again! This was all possible thanks to Japan’s amazing railroad system and their Tourist RailPass.

I spent a while debating whether or not to take the plunge and do the rail pass since it’s a serious chunk of change. I found a lot of great resources that broke down costs to figure out if it’s worth it for your trip. But my friend and I did not have a set itinerary and we love to be spontaneous when we travel together, so in the end, we decided to go for it.

And boy am I glad we did! I can’t explain the thrill of walking in to the train station and picking a city and *whoosh* next thing you know you are being whisked to your next adventure at top speed – often on a Shinkansen. All the train stations have lockers which mean you can just explore for the day and all of them have hotels across the street (such as the Washington or APA chains which were consistent and affordable).

Even better? Each station has “omiyage” stores. One neat thing in Japan is that every city has distinctive snacks. In Japanese culture, it’s customary to bring back these snacks as souvenirs, or “omiyage”, when you travel. Why do I care so much? FREE. SAMPLES. The only thing I love better than food is free food.

Anyway, I digress. Here’s a look at how we spent our days in the Empire of the Sun:

• Day 1: Busan to Fukuoka. I took the ferry from Busan, South Korea to Fukuoka, Japan where I went to collect my friend from the airport and start our adventures.
• Day 2: Fukuoka to Sasebo. Spent the day attempting to locate the childhood home of his Mom based on an old photograph. This was the first of very few “must do in Japan” items on our list so we decided to go ahead and tackle it first leaving the rest of our time completely open to spontaneity. Ate at an amazing retro Izakaya and stayed at the Washington Hotel.
• Day 3: Sasebo to Kumamoto to Beppu. We traveled down to Kumamoto with the intention of heading East across the island, stopping at Mt Aso on our way to Beppu only to find that the rail line was still closed due to the earthquake in April. We considered exploring Kumamoto, but the very helpful and honest Information Desk employee told us it wouldn’t be worth it. So we turned right around and on a train headed back north through Fukuoka to Beppu where we stayed at The Jurassic Park hotel, which was the second “must do” item on our list.
• Day 4: Beppu. Explored the 7 Hells of Beppu and climbed Mount Tsurumi.
• Day 5: Beppu to Kyoto. Did we fly right by Hiroshima, Kobe, and Osaka? Yep, we sure did. Hey don’t judge, we only had two weeks and were determined to make it up to Hokkaido. Sacrifices must be made. Arrived in Kyoto the evening and checked in Piece Hostel Kyoto and then went out for some delicious vegetarian ramen.
• Day 6: Kyoto. Rented some bikes from the hostel and explored Nijo Castle and tons of shrines. Stayed in a traditional guest house.
• Day 7: Kyoto to Matsumoto. Checked into our Ryokan and took a bath, because that’s the big thing at ryokans! Took the bus downtown in search of dinner and happened upon the Autumn Full Moon festival at Morimoto Castle. Had some snacks and enjoyed some beautiful music and then walked downtown where we found some soba for dinner.
• Day 8: Matsumoto to Yudanaka. Started the day with the insane, traditional ryokan breakfast which features tons of little dishes with tons of attention to detail. We desperately wanted to do some hiking to burn off some of that meal, but we were behind schedule, so instead, we jogged to the Daio Wasabi Farm from the Hokata Train Station. From there we journeyed on to Yudanaka where we enjoyed an amazing dinner at Goen and then the onsen at our hotel.
• Day 9: Yudanaka to Nagano to Hachinohe. The most famous attraction of Yudanake are the Snow Monkeys that like to warm up in the natural hot springs. We trekked 2 kilometers through the rain to find out that the monkeys don’t like the rain and are much smarter than us and don’t trek through it to come down to the hot springs. Oh and also, they don’t really come down to the hot springs until the winter. So no monkeys for us. We travelled on to Nagano to swim in the Olympic Stadium (that’s a thing we do) and then started the long journey up to the northern island of Hokkaido, stopping in Hachinohe for the night.
• Day 10: Hachinohe to Sapporo to Asahikawa. Took a pit stop in Sapporo on the way up to Asahikawa to have lunch at Soup Curry Samurai followed by some Ice Cream at Snow Parlor. Once in Asahikawa we had a vegetarian dinner at Gengis Khan BBQ. Yeah, that’s right.
• Day 11: Asahikawa to Asahidake to Sapporo. We did a completely stunning autumnal hike of Asahidake and rewarded ourselves at Soup Curry Samurai in Sapporo because it was THAT good that we had to come back.
• Day 12: Sapporo to Hakodate to Tokyo. Broke up the long journey back to Tokyo by stopping with a stroll around Hakodate. Did the ropeway to enjoy the view and ate some lunch and then arrived in TOKYO! Checked in to APA Ginza-Kyobashi hotel near Tokyo Station and then headed back to the station for dinner at Vegan T’s TanTan noodles.
• Day 13: Tokyo. Kabuki Theatre One Act. Explored the YaNeSen district. Enjoyed an incredible 11 course tofu meal at Ume No Hana in Ginza.
• Day 14: Tokyo. Attended a Sumo Tournament and found the Tokyo location of Soup Curry Samurai for our final meal together.
• Days 14, 15, 16, 17: Niigata. I spent 4 days in Niigata with a new friend and her family.
• Day 18: Niigata to Tokyo. Explored the city a bit on my own hitting up the Imperial Palace and the famous Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku districts. Slept in a a pod hotel (Nihonbashi Bay Hotel). Read more: 24 Hours in Tokyo
• Day 19: Tokyo to Bangkok. Fin! Ok, so not quite exactly 3 weeks, but close enough.