Loosely the itinerary would be Tokyo, Kanazawa, hiking through the Northern Alps, Matsumoto and then... hiking in Hokkaido, or meandering back through Gunma and Nikko?
Just some ideas. Not that I'm over-thinking this.
Day 1: fly into Tokyo, transit to Ueno
Eat, beer, maybe an onsen if we stay at the right hotel, sleep.
Ueno is a convenient place to stay: easy-ish access from Narita or Haneda airports, not too hectic compared to some areas (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa...), lots of museums and interesting things to see close by, and has a Shinkansen station. In my opinion, it is the most convenient Shinkansen station for heading out west to Nagano but really it doesn't matter too much.
Day 2: Ueno, Yanaka and Nezu
To ease into Tokyo my top suggestion would be a leisurely walk around Ueno Park, perhaps checking out the Tokyo Nation Museum, then out to Yanaka for some old-town Tokyo vibes and Nezu Shrine, visiting Yanaka cemetery (final resting place of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun) and small art galleries along the way. When I say leisurely, all up it will be at least 15km.
Maybe in the late afternoon we should visit a camping store (Montbell is an obvious one that springs to mind) for some hiking meals and any last-minute essentials like bear bells.
Day 3: Shinkansen from Ueno Station to Kanazawa
A very comfortable Shinkansen trip into rural Japan, through the mountains and over to the west coast. A trip that would take 6 hours in the car will be 2hr 35min on the train toot toot.
Day 4: Kanazawa aka 'little Kyoto' (with fingers crossed less mass tourism)
Explore Kanazawa crafts like kintsugi and lacquerware, as well as tea houses, a geisha district, a samurai district and Omicho fresh food market. And the biggest drawcard, Kenrokuen Garden, one of the "top 5 gardens" in Japan - early morning (like 7am) could be an amazing time for a garden visit.
Day 5: head up to the Northern Alps
Travel to Murodo for the start of our walk, via the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route , which will be a sequence of cablecar, electric buses and a ropeway. It sounds intriguing though I need to look into the actual logistics more closely. Sounds like there could be some queuing for tickets because #cablecars are queue magnets.
Days 6-11: Northern Alps traverse
The hike begins! Hike from Murodo to Kamikochi via the Northern Alps Traverse. In total the traverse will be 63km, 4365m ascent, 5295m descent, possibly more than I can chew but I remain optimistic.
- Day 1: Murodo to Goshiki-ga-hara Sanso, 7km, 5-6 hours.
- Goshiki-ga-hara Sanso closes ~first weekend of October. 13,000 yen for 1 night/2 meals, 9,500 yen for accomm only. Website https://goshikigahara.com/wp/
- Day 2: Goshiki-ga-hara Sanso to Yakushidake Sanso, 12km, 8-10 hours
- Yakushidake Sanso closes ~first weekend of October. 14,000 yen for 1 night/2 meals, 10,000 yen for accomm only. Website https://www.yakushidake-sansou.com/
- Day 3: Yakushidake Sanso to Kurobegoro Goya, 14km, 8-10 hours
- Kurobegoro Goya closes ~mid-October. 14,000 yen for 1 night/2meals, 9,500 yen for accomm only. Website https://www.sugorokugoya.com/kurobe/
- Day 4: Kurobegoro Goya to Yarigatake Sanso, 12km, 8-10 hours
- Yarigatake Sanso closes ~first weekend of November. 14,000 yen for 1 night/2 meals, 9,500 yen for accomm only. Website https://www.yarigatake.co.jp/yarigatake/
- Day 5: Yarigatake Sanso to Kamikochi, 18km, 7 hours
- Plentiful accommodation in Kamikochi but due to popularity will be overpriced; see https://thejapanalps.com/en/cottage-hotel/hotels/. There are alternatives like staying in Hirayu Onsen, 20 minutes away by bus https://www.snowmonkeyresorts.com/hotels/hirayu-onsen-area/
Hut details also available at https://jaa.travel.en/.
There is an option to add an additional day to scale another peak, Hokatadake, and take on the (dangerous) Daikiretto traverse, which might appeal to some (Pez), but I'd be happy just to take the short way down to Kamikochi on Day 5 and relax.
Public transport segments are blue. Northern Alps Traverse hike is in red, with blue pins approximating the hut locations. I believe there are no cars allowed into Kamikochi (last day of hike), so we would take a shuttle bus out of Kamikochi to then connect back with public transport.
Here are some photos I stole from the internet for inspiration.
Days 12-14: recovery time!
To rest the legs, and potentially the spirit, it might be fun to spend 1-2 days hanging out in Matsumoto, the home of Yayoi Kasuma, and check out the Matsumoto Castle (one of 12 'intact original' castles in Japan), City Art Museum, a miso and/or sake brewery, and do a Temari handball workshop! Or not. They're probably actually very hard to make.
Another nice recovery activity could be to hire a car and drive to Kiso Valley, the start of the Nakasando postal trail.
Obviously, recovery time in Matsumoto would involve onsens and some food indulgences.
Some pics of Matsumoto for insp (I have never been there):
Days 15-21: options...
Options could be to fly up to Hokkaido for a hike in Daisetsuzan National Park. There are volcanos and brown bears. You can see some pretty photos here. There are 1, 3 or even longer day options. In fact, there seems to be a fairly rugged 6-8 day hike if we decided to ditch the Northern Alps and go to Hokkaido instead. Given our collective lack of experience hiking in Hokkaido it might be worth looking at guide options for an extended hike. Also, you have to take portable toilets and carry all your poo out.
A more relaxed option could be just base ourselves at Asahidake Onsen and do some day hikes in Daisutsuzan.
While in Hokkaido we could spend some time learning about the Indigenous Ainu culture and see some of the most northern areas in Japan.
Hokkaido temperatures would be much more suitable for frequent (daily) onsen visits too. My personal record so far is 12 onsens in a day, but that was in winter and will be hard to beat.
Or, if Hokkaido was not a goer...
We could go to the northern part of Honshu and do a part of the new Michinoku Coastal Trail, which was developed fairly recently to attract more tourists to the least-visited region in Japan and boost the economy following the Fukushima tsunami.
Or...
Go to the Kii Peninsula and do one of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. These will be busier than the other options I think. And walking through plantation forests might not cut the mustard after walking above the tree line in the alps.
Or...
Go to Shikoku, hire a car, and just explore this absolutely beautiful area that is also off the tourist trail. The island is mountainous, the roads windy and slow, there are surf beaches, and I am dying to see this underwater observatory:
I am also dying to go to Okinawa for underwater adventures there, but Sept/Oct would still be hot and bang in the middle of typhoon season.
This has been fun, and a nice excuse not to do any Japanese homework. Thanks for reading.