We have both had an abiding interest in Japan, starting from primary school. I remember making paper fish kites. Karen remembers ikebana, bonsai and calligraphy. We've read and been fascinated by books such as Memoirs of a Geisha and James Michener's Shogun.
We'd never considered Japan, thinking it was still fiendishly expensive for travellers. However our son Alastair spent a few weeks in Japan in 2016, and reported that it was fascinating, cheap, fun, and he was certain that we would enjoy it. By 2018 we were ready to try something other than Europe, and we wanted to see Alastair as it had been some time apart. We decided that rather than one set of us fly all the way to the USA or New Zealand, we could meet halfway, in Japan. If we got the timing right, we could all ski in late February, then the two of us could catch the cherry blossoms in March.
By September 2018, we had looked at options, and began sorting out flights and plans in earnest. We had also decided to do a self-guided walking trip along the Nakasendo, the tradition route between Kyoto and Edo, now Tokyo.
The final plans are to start with skiing at Niseko on Hokkaido island with Alastair and his Swedish mate Simon, then spend some time all together in Kanazawa, a particularly nice historic town. Karen and I would then go down to Shikoku island, seeing a famous garden, then work our way back north, viewing some special sites, gardens and Kyoto before doing a 6-day walk on the Nakasendo. We'd finish with time in Tokyo. We'd have a 3-week Japan Rail Pass, and would sort out all our own accomodation and travel. All up we aimed to spend 5 weeks in Japan. If you are going to do something, do it well.
On our way to Japan, we were doing a 5-days break in Whitianga to babysit while Bella and Nic were doing wedding duties at his sister's wedding. Another 5 days in Auckland was tagged to help Karen's sister with renovating her house, and finally we have time in Melbourne with the family (again) before we headed off for Tokyo.