Mike, thanks a lot mate. Everything you said made me revise.
1) I Would be coming from South East Asia, and the rain season starts in February, so I could reach Japan as early as late feb/march, which is the high season with nice temps.
The downside is the higher prices. Are the cherry blossoms really that amazing?
And if I would go in June-July-August, would it just be crazy rain?
2) If I want to stay within the 100 USD per day budget, I will hit 5000 USD after six weeks, so I think six weeks will be my max.
It also means I have had to cut some stuff off my list. I see now that I had way to many temples and gardens.
In your opinion, for six weeks, budget solo traveller, does this bucket list sound more balanced;
21 Days spent in Tokyo, doing the major districts trying to get a balanced experience of relaxation, culture, tourist stuff, weird stuff, socializing, nerd stuff, spiritual stuff, history stuff, zen stuff, park/temples/shrine stuff, iconic japan stuff:
21-Days using my rail pass to the fullest south of Tokyo;
Kyoto and Osaka and Nara is what I feel must pulled towards, but I wonder if I would be able to squeeze or two more cities in there, (If I spent a week in Osaka and a week combined in Kyoto/Nara, I would have another week for some other place; Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Nagoya, Nagano, Nikko, Kanazawa, Kumamoto? It's hard to choose.
I feel like with seeing these things Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka should have given me a pretty balanced view of what Japan has to offer. I don't want to suffer from temple burnout.
