Advice requested for a April 2025 return trip

Konnichiwa. Itfs sakura season here in Washington, DC. The beautiful blossoms both delight us and remind us of our wonderful experiences on our prior trips to its homeland. After a largely successful visit to Japan last November, wefre considering yet another three-week visit in April 2025. Hoping to catch some sakura while there, but also avoided the more visited parts over peak bloom.

Beyond sakura, Tohoku and Hokkaido call to us. We understand that April may be too early for Hokkaido if wefre not looking for snow, and we arenft. Even Aomori Prefecture may be too early, although I would be interested in your thoughts. After looking at potential points of interest, Matsuo Basho, the famous 17th-century Japanese poet, came to mind. Wefre thinkingcit may be fun to play modern-day Basho and follow a similar route as he did in Narrow Road to the Deep North.

The thought is to fly into Tokyo in early April and out of Osaka towards the end of the month.

From Tokyo, we would go north to Tohoku. right now wefre looking at Sendai, Matsushima, Yamadera, Hiraizumi, and Tono. Would mid-April be too early to consider Kakunodate, Lake Tazawa, and Dewa Sanzan?

From the west coast, we intend to make our way south, Basho-style, to Niigata towards Kyoto and Osaka. Having visited Kanazawa in November, we intend to skip it this time. Perhaps Toyama or Fukui Prefectures? Would Kurobe Gorge or Tateyama be a better bet for mid-April? For Maruoka Castle, Eihei-ji, and Tojinbo, what would you suggest as a base? Is Fukui more convenient or one of the onsen towns in Ishikawa Prefecture?

Right now, wefre timing Kyoto for the last week of the month, after sakura has peaked and before Golden Week. Is this a relatively quiet time in Kyoto (relatively for Kyoto, at least)? Wefre also looking at possibly a day or two in Osaka for the World Expo.

As always, arigato gozaimasu.

This looks like a really nice itinerary. Much better than many others I read here for 2nd trips.

Regarding your timing, I donft think that mid April is too early for Northern Tohoku. At least not for sightseeing. I went to Hachimantai last year on 22&23 April and in the higher parts we still had beautiful sakura. But Sakura is not plannable. For example, this year, even now in Tokyo there is no flowers on the trees yet.

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/2023/04/weekend-in-tohoku-aroun...

Regarding Kyoto at the end of April, I guess youfre aware of golden week. Donft be afraid of it. Actually, you can find quite places in and around Kyoto even during golden week because even then most visitors flock to the most famous places only. Last year I went to Kyoto for the entire golden week and had beautiful experiences and some wonderful gardens. No Sakura, but a lot of other flowers in full bloom.

http://bicycletraveljapan.blogspot.com/search/label/GW2023?m=1

Just last week I was in Nara prefecture and passed through Todaiji. It was crazy how the number of people on the streets increased by every meter. You got closer to the temple. But be away maybe 500 m and you beyond the perimeter of the tourists.

Kakunodate's cherry blossom season is usually in mid-April, so yes visit it.
https://visitjapan-vegetarian.com/kakunodate-akita-japan/

The same for Lake Tazawa. The two destinations go hand in hand.
https://visitjapan-vegetarian.com/lake-tazawa-akita-japan/

I won't go to Kurobe Gorge in April cos the entire route won't be open. But yes, you can consider Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. But note it's the peak season there because of the snow wall.
https://visitjapan-vegetarian.com/tateyama-kurobe-alpine-route-toyama-...

If you base in Kyoto, you can also consider visiting Shiga Prefecture.
https://visitjapan-vegetarian.com/the-best-attractions-to-visit-in-shi...

LikeBike and Lilz, thank you both for your helpful feedback.

For Matsushima, I recommend taking the train from Sendai to Shiogama and from there taking the boat cruise into Matsushima so you can see the islands up close.

Thanks for the tip, Gregalor. I will make note.

Thank you for your feedback so far. Wefre starting to sketch out an initial itinerary and are interested in your thoughts as well as help working through a few questions that we have. Ifve identified possible side trip from different locations

Fly into Tokyo, 2 nights
Aizu Wakamatsu, 3 nights (with Bandai-Asahi NP)
Sendai, 3 nights (with Matsushima and Yamadera)
Hiraizumi, 2 nights (looking at Geibekei Gorge or Tono as possible side trips; we probably wouldnft have time for both nor want to squeeze in that much)
Kakunodate, 3 nights (with Lake Tazawa)
Dewa Sanzan, 2 nights – Would you recommend that we stay in Sakata or Tsuruoka?
?? – Where would you recommend us stop to break our journey between Sakata / Tsuruoka and Echizen?
Echizen, 1-2 nights (for Maruoka Castle and Eihei-ji)
Lake Biwa, 1-2 nights – Is there a base you would recommend? Other than time on the like, wefre interested in Hikone Castle and if not a stretch the Miho Museum
Ise, 1-2 nights – Should we stay near the shrine or closer to Ago Bay? We will be relying on trains, buses, and taxis if it makes a difference.

Wefve tried to include the Sanriku Coast and Hirosaki, but didnft feel we would have the time given the number of nights wefre working with. If you think, we should swap something out, please do share.