My husband and I will be traveling to Japan November 6 to 23. Although we know it is late in the year, we are still hoping to get in a couple hikes. Any recommendations for the best places/routes?

We both have extensive experience in the Canadian Rockies so the cold is not a concern!

Amy

You'll be here during the height of the fall foliage, so I definitely recommend making a trip to Kyoto, and the beautiful scenery of Arashiyama.

The Japan Alps will be blanketed with snow during November, as well as most peaks over 2000m, but it really varies year to year.

The other alternative would be to head down to Kyushu, which usually doesn't get the first snowfall until late December. There's a lot of wonderful volcanic scenery to be explored there.

Thank you.

Is the trip up to Nikko worthwhile mid-November? What about Koya-san? Aside from being cold, would you still recommend it or is it better to focus our travels further south?

Amy

If you are thinking about heading up to Hokkaido we have a guided over Hike / Snowshoe trip going on Nov 8th / 9th check the link for details . e can do this any weekend in Nov.

BP

Nikko is another fine option! There should still be a little fall colors left in November, and there are some day hikes near lake Chuzenji. Mt. Oku-shirane will probably be covered in snow, and Nantai may also have a dusting (it really varies year to year. I was hiking in snow in October on Oku-shirane!)

Mt. Koya is beautiful in November, but there aren't too many options for day hikes without taking a bus. Koya is more for strolling around the temples and for doing meditation.

We are in Japan for 16 days of which I am planning on 2 days in Tokyo, 2 days in Kyoto and we have already booked flights for 4 days in Ishigaki. That leaves us hardly 8 days.
I was thinking of doing the classic alps route -Nagano to Matsumoto to Takayama, possibly continuing onto Shirakawago and Kanazawa.
Kamikochi is still open until Nov 15th but I think we will decide that one depending on the weather when we get there.

We are also considering:
- Yudanaka onsen (day trip from Nagano)
- Kudastu onsen (day trip from Nagano)
- Nikko (day trip from Tokyo)
- Nara (day trip from Kyoto)
- Mt Koya (day trip from Kyoto)
- Niso Valley (day trip from Nagano/Matsumoto)

Which are the best bets and which are totally over-rated? Keep in mind we are not "city people", we are not big into museums and tourist attractions and although we want to experience Japan, we don't need to see every temple. We enjoy wandering and hiking and would appreciate the opinions of some local "outdoors men".

Yudanaka onsen - you'll have a chance to see wild monkeys taking a bath. it's really beautiful when there's snow on the ground
here's a web cam of the monkeys
http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/livecam/monkey/index.htm

Kudastu (I think you mean Kusatsu?) - the volcanic lake at the near the top of the gondola is absolutely breathtaking. There's also a huge hot spring 'source' in the center of town, where the water boils from deep within the earth.

Nikko - the temples are nice, but Lake Chuzenji is much more scenic than the city

Nara - some people find Nara to be much more attractive than Kyoto (Kyoto is a huge, sprawling city). Nara park is an amazing place - lots of deer, places to take strolls. Highly recommended.

Mt. Koya - this is either a 'love it or hate it' kind of place. most people go there to experience meditation. It might be overrun with tourists in November however (it's a really popular place when the leaves change color)

Niso Valley (I think you mean Kiso Valley?) - I'm not sure what part of the valley you're referring. Could you be more specific?

Shirakawa-go is a beautiful collection of traditional thatched roof dwellings, and you can stay in some of the houses for a very reasonable price. It's one of my favorite places in Japan.

Keep asking questions and I'll do my best to help. It must be difficult to judge things from photos on the Internet, huh?

Oops sorry about the spelling mistakes...

Good to hear your feedback - it is challenging to determine what is really worth seeing by the descriptions in Lonely Planet!

Are the monkeys worth the trip to Yudanaka or just an over rated tourist trap? I am curious to see it but we were kind of appalled by the monkeys in Gibraltar...

Yes, I meant the Kiso Valley. I have not looked into to specifics yet but did read that you could hike between some of the towns - which is something I know would really interest my husband.

Which of these places are best as day-trips and which are worth an overnight?

Any recommendations on accommodation in any of these areas? Trying to stay around $100 per night (for 2 people) but are willing to spurge for one or two nights.

Any recommendations for Ishigaki and Iriomote?

Thanks so much for the help!!!
Amy

sorry for the late reply.

I think the monkeys are Yudanaka are worth a visit - it's not every day that you can see monkeys taking a hot spring bath! There's also a hot spring in the train station at Yudanaka. You can easily do it as a day trip depending on where you're planning to be based. Are you going to stay in Nagano or Matsumoto? Most people really enjoy staying in Hakuba because it has a really nice feel to it. It's so much smaller than the other cities and the views of the Alps are incredible on a nice day.

here's a youtube video showing the monkeys
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=lHZiN2g6u24&feature=related

I haven't done the hike in Kiso valley, so I'm not sure how good it is. The towns definitely sound interesting. It's pretty far south in Nagano Prefecture though (much closer to Nagoya than Nagano), so it would work better as an overnight trip.

As far as places to stay, it's pretty easy to book accommodation once you arrive in town. I usually just go to the tourist information counter and they can help you out. I love staying in Minshuku (Japanese style B&B) because it's just like staying in someone's home. It's better to know how to speak Japanese though because usually the Minshuku owners can't speak English. BUt it is much nicer than staying in hotels. Hotels in Japan are usually quite depressing - huge run-down concrete structures.

I haven't been to Iriomote or Ishigaki islands yet, so unfortunately I can't offer much advice.

I would recommend doing a youtube or Google images search for all of the places you're thinking about going. It's amazing what kind of information you can find! Good luck