4 pax · Oct 6–21 · one spine, three branches. Tokyo → Labyrinth → Yakushima → Kyushu → Seto Inland Sea → Kansai → Tokyo.
Named flights and tours are booked. Oct 15 onward is decided, not booked.
| Date | Move | Sleep | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 OctTue | Jonas AY812 Stockholm → Helsinki 20:55 · Eva BA429/BA5 Amsterdam → London → Tokyo · Eri KE926 Amsterdam → Seoul | In the air | Nathanael in Japan since Oct 5. |
| 7 OctWed | Eva 10:55 Haneda · Jonas 13:50 Haneda (AY61) · Eri 21:00 Narita | Tokyo | Check in Hotel Graphy Shibuya 15:00. No plans. |
| 8 OctThu | Metro / on foot | Tokyo | Gear shopping from 14:00 in Jimbocho / Ogawamachi — a street of outdoor shops, better than Shinjuku for mountain kit. Yakushima needs a real shell, not a poncho. |
| 9 OctFri | Metro / on foot | Tokyo | Pack for the festival, confirm tent rental. Mitsuki at night, optional. |
| 10 OctSat | Labyrinth bus, Shibuya Kast 10:00 → Minakami | Lodge Sekigahara | AnchorLabyrinth day 1. Lodge check-in 14:00. |
| 11 OctSun | On site | Lodge Sekigahara | AnchorLabyrinth day 2. Onsen shuttle 09:30 and 13:00. |
| 12 OctMon | 06:51 Jomo-Kogen → 10:15 Haneda · NH625 Haneda → Kagoshima 13:45 · NH4337 → Yakushima 17:45 | Yakushima | TransitTwelve hours door to door. Ship the festival gear from Minakami. Kagoshima–Yakushima is a small prop plane, the first thing weather cancels. |
| 13 OctTue | Local bus | Yakushima | Big hikeArakawa trailhead → Jomon Sugi, ~22 km, 9–10 h. Private cars banned on the Arakawa road through November, so it is the ~04:00 shuttle. Buy the ticket the day before, on the island. |
| 14 OctWed | Local bus | Yakushima | Shiratani Unsuikyo, the moss forest, 4–5 h. Easier option: Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen, a shore rock pool that surfaces ~2 h either side of low tide — check the tide table. Also the weather buffer, so keep it soft. |
| 15 OctThu | Ferry Yakushima → Kagoshima 10:00–13:00 (~€75 pp) | Kagoshima | Ferry over is 15 min, runs constantly. Island View loop bus does the viewpoints in about an hour, Yunohira included, then the free 100 m foot onsen at Nagisa Park. No climbing — the craters are a permanent exclusion zone. If ash is blowing your way, stay on the mainland: Sengan-en frames the volcano from the garden side. Tenmonkan for food either way. |
| 16 OctFri | Kagoshima → Kumamoto ~50 min (~€40 pp), then Kumamoto → Hakata, 40 min | Fukuoka | Midday in Kumamoto to meet Eri's parents, then Fukuoka for the night. The castle is ten minutes from the station — keep reopened 2021, parts of the grounds still under repair. |
| 17 OctSat | Fukuoka all day · evening train on to Okayama, ~1 h 45 | Okayama Eri: Ise |
Pick oneFull day in Fukuoka; Dazaifu Tenmangu, 30 min out, is the best of it. Or trade the afternoon for Hiroshima and Itsukushima on the way east: leave around 13:00, Miyajima mid-afternoon, Okayama by 18:30. Eri splits off for Ise either way — Fukuoka → Nagoya by air is ~1 h 10 against 3 h 20 on the Hakata–Nagoya shinkansen, then a Kintetsu limited express in, ~1 h 30. The bay boat from Centrair to Tsu skips Nagoya altogether if the timetable lines up. |
| 18 OctSun | Okayama → Uno → ferry to Naoshima, same way back | Okayama Eri: Ise |
Art islandWithout Eri, who is at Ise Jingu. Chichu is timed-entry and sells out — reserve now. Bikes at Miyanoura to get round the island. Closed Mondays, so Sunday, and busy. Watch the last ferry back to Uno. |
| 19 OctMon | Most of you: Okayama → Kyoto, ~1 h · Jonas: Okayama → Tokyo, ~3 h 15 | Kyoto Jonas: Tokyo |
SplitsJonas trades Kyoto for two unhurried Tokyo days. Everyone else goes early — nothing left in Okayama, and with one night here the afternoon is Kyoto. Fushimi Inari is open all night and empty after dark. Eri comes in from Ise as Jonas heads up — Kintetsu runs a direct limited express to Kyoto, ~2 h, so she has the shrine in the morning and Kyoto by afternoon. |
| 20 OctTue | Kyoto → Tokyo, ~2 h 20 · Jonas stays put | Tokyo Jonas: Haneda side |
Back togetherKyoto in the morning — one temple, not four — then the Nozomi east. All four in the same city again for the last night. Reserve the seats. Jonas moves out to the Haneda side in the evening; the rest can stay central. |
| 21 OctWed | Jonas 04:30 to the airport, AY5072 Haneda → Helsinki 07:50 · Eri Tokyo → Narita for 20:45 | — | Out04:30 means a taxi, nothing runs that early; ten minutes from a Haneda-side hotel. Narita is about an hour from central Tokyo now, so Eri has the whole day. Eva and Nathanael stay on in Tokyo. |
| 22 OctThu | — | Japan | Eva stays to Oct 24 (AY62, 21:50). Nathanael until Nov 2. |
Nine unbooked nights from Oct 15, seven weeks out, in October.
Per person. International flights not included.
Booked figures come from the expenses sheet; the rest will move.
Annoying to discover late.
Ship the festival gear. Takkyubin from Minakami on the 12th to the Tokyo hotel for the 20th — all four are back there that night — or to Eri's. Four days of planes and ferries follow, and a tent has no business on the Jomon Sugi trail.
Rail pass — look again. Kyoto → Tokyo pushes the 16th–20th to roughly ¥61,000 of shinkansen per person, against ¥50,000 for a 7-day national pass, so it now pays for everyone but Jonas — he skips Kyoto and stays under. The pass still excludes Nozomi and Mizuho: Hikari and Sakura instead, maybe 30 min slower on the Tokaido run. Regional Kyushu / Sanyo passes worth a check.
Vegetarian, in practice. Dashi (bonito stock) is in most broths, miso soup, simmered vegetables and many dipping sauces, so plant-looking food often is not. Tokyo has range, and Jonas has five nights there. Yakushima and Kyushu are the thin part: Fukuoka is a pork town, the yatai a write-off, and the Jomon Sugi day needs food carried in.
Cash on Yakushima. Cards work everywhere else. 7-Eleven ATMs take foreign cards; mobile Suica in Apple Wallet handles transit.
Split Jonas' two Tokyo nights. Anywhere on the 19th, Kamata or a Haneda hotel on the 20th — ten minutes from the terminal. The other three arrive that afternoon and can stay central.
Fixed anchors: Labyrinth Oct 10–12 (Minakami Hodaigi), the Haneda–Kagoshima–Yakushima flights Oct 12, Jonas' 07:50 departure Oct 21.
Where it splits: Oct 17. Fukuoka → Okayama is ~1 h 45. Hiroshima and Itsukushima are an optional detour on that line — leave Fukuoka around 13:00 and you still reach Okayama by 18:30. Same bed either way.
Where it splits again: Oct 19. Jonas goes Okayama → Tokyo, ~3 h 15, skipping Kansai; the rest go Okayama → Kyoto, ~1 h. It closes the next day — Kyoto → Tokyo is ~2 h 20, so all four sleep in Tokyo on the last night.
Watch: Yakushima weather (typhoon tail) can cancel the Oct 15 ferry; Oct 14 is the buffer. Naoshima museums shut Mondays and want advance tickets.