Currently I'm completely enthralled by my new Rough Guide for Japan. I'm planning on going there this October, maybe with my brother (who's a big Japan fan), but definitely at least part of the time alone.
My dream would be to spend four weeks traveling the country and one week or so on a stop-over somewhere else in Asia, maybe Bangkok or Singapur. The problem is money – according to XE.com, 1000 yen are a bit over 11 Swiss francs at the moment, which would make it very expensive. I'm not sure yet I can afford it, actually, since even the cheapest youth hostel is about 3000JPY/night. We'll see, I guess.
But I thought I'd keep track of my 'must-see' destinations here, just so I get an idea how much time is realistic… This will be edited/updated as I learn more.
Attractions are listed from North to South, as you can see on the Lonely Planet map:
Hokkaido
– Sapporo
– Historical Village of Hokkaido
– Nibutani (Ainu village)
– Daisetsu-zan National Park (Sounkyo)
Northern Honshu
– Kakunodate (samurai town)
– Tono valley
– Hiraizumi (Motsu-ji temple)
Tokyo area
– Nikko
– Kawagoe
– Mitaka (Ghibli museum)
– Mount Fuji
Tokyo