Editing Travel plans/Winter 2011-2012

==Things to definitely do==

=== January 4 (Wednesday) ===

''Rail pass day 1.''

Arrive in Kanazawa in the evening.　

Options for staying include:

* [http://kanazawa-stay.cheap.jp/ Guest house from AirBnB]
* [http://kikunoya.ninja-web.net/html/eaccess.html kikunoya ryokan (きくのや旅館)] 
* [http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Ryokan-Shibaya/Kanazawa/37747 Ryokan Shibaya] (~ 4100 yen for two people w/ onsen bath in basement)

=== January 5 (Thursday) ===

''Rail pass day 2.''

Spend day in Kanazawa.

Travel to Jigokudani in the evening, '''Kanazawa''' to '''Yudanaka''' (~265 minutes).

Stay at: 

* [http://www.yudanaka-shibuonsen.com/standard_ryokan Matsya?] (Not reserved).

=== January 6 (Friday) ===

''Rail pass day 3.''

Spend day in Jigokudani seeing monkeys at the [http://wikitravel.org/en/Jigokudani_Monkey_Park Snow Monkey Park] and possibly doing a natural onsen. Also check out [http://www.yudanaka-shibuonsen.com/ more Yudanaka resources]

In the evening, travel from Jigokudani to [http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokamachi Tokomachi, Niigata]. The train will involve getting a JR series from '''Yudanaka''' to '''Maikamachi''' (~200 minutes) and then taking the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokuetsu_Express_Hokuhoku_Line Hokuhoku line] for 290yen (14 minutes) to '''Tokomachi''' station.

Stay at [http://www.echigo-tsumari.jp/calendar/event_20111224_03 Sansei House]. The price includes a room, 2 meals, onsen, transportation from/to the station, and a Kanjiki tour (total should be ~8000 yen)

Another option would be to stay in [http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~jthikari/ House of Light] by James Turrel

=== January 7 (Saturday) ===

''Rail pass day 4.''

Visit [http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokamachi Tokomachi] during the day. Then go snowshoeing at 15:00.

In the evening, travel from Tokomachi to '''Sado Island'''. Ferries come from Joetsu, Niigata and Teradomari (express/jet ferry). Ferries from Niigata come roughly once every hour ([http://www.kodo.or.jp/ec/travel/index_en.html schedule]) and seem like the best bet. Last ferry is to Ryotsu at 22:40.

Trains go from '''Muikamachi''' to '''Niigata''' (~75 minutes with connections).

=== January 8 (Sunday) ===

''Rail pass day 5.''

Look around Sado, take the boat back to the mainland and head to Kakunodate.

Train from '''Niigata''' to '''Kakunodate''' are two reserved shinkansen (~275 minutes).

In terms of where to stay:
* [http://www.jyh.or.jp/ohmagari/e-index.htm Ohmagari Hostel]
* There is one couchsurfer listed in Daisen.

=== January 9 (Monday) ===

''Rail pass day 6.''

Spend day in [http://wikitravel.org/en/Kakunodate Kakunodate] (the site of some samurai training houses) in Akita looking at the samurai houses.

Travel from '''Kakunodate''' to '''Odate''' (~170 minutes). Grab dinner with a quick stop at [http://wikitravel.org/en/Odate Odate] so that we can eat [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiritanpo kiritanpo]. Finally, travel to '''Hirosaki''' (~36 minutes).

Stay at [http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/touhoku/hirosaki/index.html Youth Hostel]? (Not reserved)

=== January 10 (Tuesday) ===

''Rail pass day 7.''

Day in [http://wikitravel.org/en/Hirosaki Hirosaki] which is has a big float museum.

Take train from '''Hirosaki''' to '''Sapporo''' (perhaps with a short stop in Aomori?) (~363 minutes).

Options for places to stay:
* [http://www.healingweb.net/nonaka/ Guest House Nonaka] (￥3000)
* [http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/hokaido/sapkokus/index.html Sapporo Kokusai] youth hostel (￥3200)
* [http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/hokaido/saphouse/index.html Sapporo House] hostel/Japanese style (￥3150)

=== January 11 (Wednesday) ===

Visit Sapporo.

=== January 12 (Thursday) ===

* 10:25 -> 12:15: Flight from Sapporo to Tokyo (Haneda)
* Afternoon: [http://sumo.pia.jp/en/sumo01.jsp Sumo Tournament] - The cheapest tickets should be around ¥3600 but it is often possible to move up. We should buy tickets at the gate to avoid a ¥1000 extra fee for booking online.

=== January 13 (Friday) ===

Return to Boston!

==Potential things to do==

* Kobe
* Ishikawa
** Kanazawa; [http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Ryokan-Shibaya/Kanazawa/37747 Ryokan Shibaya] at ~ 4100 yen for two people w/ onsen bath in basement
** Hakui; including the amazing looking[http://www.hakui.ne.jp/ufo/index.html UFO museum] and the ocean
* Takayama, Hida
* Nagano
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Jigokudani_Monkey_Park Jigokudani] (snow monkey onsen); Yudanaka station (about 265min from Kanazawa; 357 from Takayama); [http://www.yudanaka-shibuonsen.com/ more Yudanaka resources]
* Niigata
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Sado_Island Sado Island]
** In [http://wikitravel.org/en/Tokamachi Tokomachi, Niigata] there are two cool art hotels. [http://www11.ocn.ne.jp/~jthikari/ House of Light] by James Turrel and [http://japaneselandscapes.blogspot.com/2009/11/yume-no-ie-dream-house-1.html Yume no Ie] by Maria Abramovic (an art hotel where you get uniforms and sleep in boxes). Both seem reasonably priced. (Snowshowing is also available for a good price. We'd leave sometime in the early evening on the second day.) [http://www.echigo-tsumari.jp/calendar/event_20111224_03]
* <strike>Yamagata</strike>
** <strike>[http://www.notoyaryokan.com/ Notoya Ryokan] (an awesome inn) in [http://wikitravel.org/en/Obanazawa Obanazawa, Yamagata] which is a town the highest snowfall in the entire world</strike> (looks like the cheapest places are too expensive and it's a 1 hour bus ride from the nearest JR station)
* [http://wikitravel.org/en/Akita Akita]
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Nyuto_Onsen Nyuto Onsen] (a secret onsen village); Housing: [http://www.onsenexpress.com/site/display/displayonsen.php?displayonsen=115&onsenregion=3 Magoroku Onsen Hotel]
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Kakunodate Kakunodate] (the site of some samurai training houses) in Akita; housing: [http://www.jyh.or.jp/ohmagari/e-index.htm ohmagari hostel] or a couchsurfer in Daisen.
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Yurihonjo Yurihonjo] which is comprehensively covered on wikitravel and is an hour south of Akita (city)
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Odate Odate]; perhaps for a quite stop to eat some kiritampo on the way to somewhere else
* Aomori
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Hirosaki Hirosaki] which is has a big float museum and a [http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/touhoku/hirosaki/index.html decent looking hostel]
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Yagen_Valley Yagen Valley] in Aomori which seems pretty rural
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Itayanagi Itayanagi A very apple themed village] with apple street lights and more
* Hokkaido
** Sapporo
** [http://wikitravel.org/en/Noboribetsu Noboribetsu] has a nice onsen and is 1 hour from sapporo and is on the way to the city (a possible stop off)
** Toya is another onsen stop along the way

Near Tokyo:

* Mizunuma Station (a train station with a hot spring) 11AM-8PM: http://www.mizunuma-sb.com/facilities.shtml

== Resources ==

* [http://jyh.or.jp Japan Youth Hostel] webiste