It has been more than 4 years since I dropped by this thread, I'm here again because I will have a trip to Japan this November. This round will be two weeks spread across Kansai and Kyushu. I don't have plan yet where to go in Kyushu as I have not been there but at least I know I will travel to Kyushu from Osaka and going back to Kyoto from Kyushu. By looking at this situation, I feel it's wiser for me to use Shinkansen to travel Kansai-Kyushu-Kansai? In that case, Nationwide JR Pass will be good right?

I will be in Kyushu for 7 days and I read from online blogs, to travel within Kyushu can depend on JR lines? In that case, I will take up 7 days pass and in Kansai, I will just probably buy something like Kansai Travel Pass which I have bought before.

Sorry, I haven't been researching on this Japan trip because I was busy earlier with my Europe trip. So pardon me. So far I have booked accommodations in Kansai but not Kyushu yet and I will be in Japan during peak - Autumn in November. Good luck to us.

Oh, I don't need the nationwide pass? I will be crossing region right? From Osaka and back to Kyoto, no need to buy the pass covers whole Japan?

Yeah, Googled and found it. Thanks for the suggestion! This pass that's it, at least can save 7k Yen.

Yeah, most likely I will. I Googled and it has schedule until September only, will see if it will be updated later.

Since this is my first time to Kyushu and based on RC's suggestion to buy JR Sanyo-San-in Northern Kyushu 7 Day Pass, so looks like I will cover only Northern area this round, does this schedule make any sense? We actually dislike dragging luggage around and changing hotel every 1-2 days once, need your advice and comment as we need to book our accommodation. Willing to let go some places but major ones like Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Beppu should be included?

Day 1: Osaka - Fukuoka
Day 2: Fukuoka - Nagasaki
Day 3: Nagasaki
Day 4: Nagasaki - Kumamoto - Mt. Aso (can skip this if we can't figure out the transportation as no intention to drive in Japan) - Beppu
Day 5: Beppu and Yufuin for Onsen.
Day 6: Beppu - Kitakyushu - Fukuoka
Day 7: Fukuoka - Kyoto

In addition to the above schedule advice, can somebody help me with these questions?
1) Can we travel straight from Nagasaki to Kumamoto using this JR Pass? Or no matter what I will need to go back to Hakata and travel from Hakata?

2) Can I travel back to Kyoto (Station) from Fukuoka using this JR pass? Or it has to be Osaka? Or cannot travel back to Kansai at all?

Thanks.

Thanks for sharing yours, it gives me some idea. So am I right to say you will only stay at Fukuoka and Nagasaki? The reason why I think of putting two nights in Beppu is for onsen only.

1) Appreciate it. Apparently there's a train that runs from Nagasaki to Kumamoto via Tosu https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/ShowTopic-g2...ure_Kyushu.html, then I can utilize the JR pass.

2) For the JR pass I'm getting covers Nozomi I think: https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/ssnk/ and based on your link it goes directly to Kyoto Station. If any transfer is also fine with us.

We try to be as flexible as possible this time, hence we will have two weeks this round to cover Kansai and Northern Kyushu. Hopefully no rushing as both of us just want to spend time together and walking slowly to enjoy the view. We are not living in the same country, one year only meet once or twice.

Yeah, I'm surprised to see it covers Nozomi.

Anyway, if I want to book Shinkansen rides with JR Pass, I can only do it in the JR centre right? Looks like gotta spend some time there when we are in Osaka. Prefer to reserve seats and hope to get seats in Hello Kitty Shinkansen. Is there any way I can book Shinkansen rides online? Last time when I travelled from Tokyo to Osaka, I just bought the ticket separately in Shinjuku as I didn't buy any JR Pass that time.

Alright, I will do it when I collect my pass later. That's easier then.


Will purchase my pass from Taobao and it is much cheaper than elsewhere, almost 3300 yen cheaper for my case. The only thing is this seller has to send a hard copy exchange document to an address and luckily the person going to travel with me is from China. You guys can use this as reference if you want to buy any JR Pass.

Awesome! I hope this machine is everywhere but since I'm looking to book Shinkansen, I will still need to drop by their office.

Yes, Friday is going to be crazy. I will get mine too even I will go on a Wednesday and considered low peak.
Not going to waste much time to queue.

Any recommended ryokan in Kyushu? I also don't know how to allocate budget, let's say 15k to 30k? Hmm. 2 pax a bit too extreme right for the budget? Then one pax.. I tried to Google and I'm so lost.

Need our own private space. Either 2D1N or 3D2N (again depending on the budget lol).

15k yen la per night. Europe never mind, I just came back from Europe.

OK, got one so-called Ryokan in Yufu, surprisingly quite cheap for only RM 600 per night for two pax. Probably due to the not so strategic location but it provides pick up from JR Yufuin. So, it is fine with us.

Next up, hotel in Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Beppu. Instead of just three hotels, now become four.

If you guys have any suggestion, please feel free to share. I haven't researched much on Kyushu yet, thought of booking places to stay first and plot our visitation points later.

I think it's not real ryokan, one of the authentic ones costs RM 2k/night (the one we wanted ), the rest cheaper around 1k per night is fine with us but shared bathroom which I don't like. So chose this instead, has private bathroom and onsen.

For me 12 days for Tokyo is a lot, my last trip few years ago I split 12 days for Tokyo + Kansai.
This round will be Kansai + Kyushu for 14 days.

Maybe I need to rephrase, not the natural onsen, just hot tub I think but at least it's ours and not sharing with anyone. But the onsen outside is very near to hotel, so can drop by if we want.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Aug 14 2019, 09:44 AM

Why still Kansai this round? Because my travel partner wants to spend autumn in Kyoto specifically.
Last trip I didn't take any JR Pass because I didn't need it, I only used Pasmo and Kansai Thru Pass as these cities are more accessible without JR lines (that's my opinion). Transportation is expensive in Japan, so really need to plan well.

JR only covers transportation (JR line and certain Shinkansen). My last trip I landed in Tokyo and flew out from Osaka. In between, I travelled with Shinkansen to Osaka. Honestly, your budget is not really a lot for 2 persons (excluding your baby). I spent around 3.5k in my last trip and I had free accommodation courtesy of my friends in Tokyo and Kobe (for my entire Kansai trip I travelled in out Kobe daily lol). One thing I didn't skim on my spending that time and went all out.

This round just accommodation (I haven't booked Fukuoka, Nagasaki and Beppu yet) we have spent almost RM 4k but we are going during Autumn peak. We haven't included JR pass yet for Kyushu and USJ with express ticket. I dare not think of the final amount. Good thing is we have pre-paid big amounts before we actually arrive in Japan, so when we are in Japan, we will only spend on food and city transportation.

For this trip, we have allocated RM 10k each. I don't think we will spend that much and hoping we won't.
I just came back from Europe about two weeks ago and spent a lot too for a fortnight trip. I may tag along to another Europe trip again end of the year so I think I have burst a lot of budgets this year. What I was trying to say is it doesn't matter whether it's Tokyo or Osaka, the spending is still a lot. You will need to increase your budget especially you have a young baby with you, so you will need a comfortable place for your family. If you are just travelling with your spouse, then can simply sleep in capsule hotels or hostel.

This post has been edited by fruitie: Aug 14 2019, 10:39 AM

Yeah, Tokyo is too city for me but I guess I spent enough for the trip.
We won't spend a lot of time in Osaka basically just for us to touch down and put a night before going to Nara day trip and USJ on the next day. After that will travel to Kyushu, after Kyushu will be in Kyoto for 5 days and final day in Osaka because we will be travelling out from KIX.

I think it has onsen inside the hotel, just not private, gotta share with other customers. Let me read through again. I'm OK without onsen but not my travel partner.
However, I'm not OK with shared bathroom.

I can say Tokyo metro lines are far more complicated than the ones I had in Europe.
But if you see the routes correctly (download one high resolution copy in your phone), it is manageable.

Everyone's expectation/preference is different when it comes to spending.
I personally won't choose this Diamond Hotel, but that's just me. So choose whichever you are happy with and enjoy it.

The world is big, there are other places to visit.
After visiting Japan for the first time in 4 years ago, I really thought I won't be returning to Japan in these 10 years as I have a list of places to travel to. I love going to new places, countries. However, this time being asked to join, I gladly accepted because we hardly meet each other.

Saturday? I think a bit too late now. I'm not a fan of MiFi rental due to battery and coverage if travel in a bunch. If the person holding that thing and walks away, everyone will have no Internet.

Since your time is a bit constraint now, you can get SIM card from Hello1010 and drop by their office to collect. I pre-ordered my SIM card from Shopee at around RM 107 for 30GB/15 days.

My first time to Kyushu too. I really try to avoid sleeping in different hotels everyday because it is tired, we went through the pain in China last year, 8D7N and 7 hotels.
However, for this Kyushu trip, I managed to squeeze 4 hotels in 7 days, I wanted 3 but oh well.

This is the so-called ryokan, not really ryokan in my opinion: https://www.agoda.com/ryokan-yufusan/hotel/...p.html?cid=-218