Itinerary

I went and took a picture of all the books and whatnot we've been consulting in planning this trip, which encompasses everything from basic travel guides to language books and train timetables and pamphlets and notebooks I've written things in and scrawled itineraries on. If I could put all the websites I've gotten information from in this picture, it would be gigantic.

So on that note, after all the research we've done, here's a list of the places we intend to visit while we're in the country. We'll be spending 8 of our 10 weeks in Tokyo, but for two weeks, we plan on traveling about to see (possibly in this order):

• Kyoto
• Kobe
• Hiroshima
• Miyajima Island
• Fukuoka
• Nagasaki
• Beppu
• Himeji Castle
• Osaka
• Sapporo
• Daisetsu-zan National Park

Also, I think we're making a day trip to Nikko too. And we plan on climbing Mt. Fuji. (If nothing else, we're ambitious, hahaha!) It's a lot of places and we'll spend quite a bit of time on the train (especially to get to Sapporo, which takes about 13 hours on an overnight train!) but I know it'll totally be worth it.

One interesting little footnote: Miyajima Island is considered sacred and as such, no one is allowed to die or give birth on the island. Felling trees is also prohibited. Ever see this red torii gate on the water? That's on Miyajima Island at Itsukushima Shrine. Pretty, isn't it?