u/assortedfresh

Hey all! I'm planning a 16-day trip to Kyushu in March 2027, ending with 3 nights in Fukuoka around March 27th before flying home on March 28, 2027.

I know no one can predict the exact future schedule, but I'm having trouble finding past Hawks schedules to estimate the likelihood of games falling within that window. It looks like the 2026 season opened on March 27, 2026.

A few questions:

• Does anyone know if the 2027 season will have started by March 27, 2027?
• Is there any way to know in advance if there will be a home Fukuoka game around that date?
• What are the odds of securing a ticket for opening day as a foreigner? I'm assuming it'll be busy.

Baseball is one of my great loves, and attending a Japanese game is a bucket list item for me. Thanks so much for any insights!

Hey all! Planning our second Japan trip (Dec 2026–Jan 2027) focused on Kyushu. This is an itinerary overview, I'd love your input on routing before I dive into daily planning.

We're a late-twenties couple who love nature, hiking, parks, onsens, being near water, and shopping.

Itinerary:

• Dec 17 — Depart
• Dec 18 — Arrive Tokyo
• Dec 19 — Tokyo
• Dec 20 — Early morning flight to Kagoshima, explore Sakurajima
• Dec 21 — Ferry to Yakushima, rent car
• Dec 22 — Yakushima
• Dec 23 — Yakushima
• Dec 24 — return rental, ferry back to Kagoshima, explore city
• Dec 25 — Pick up rental car, drive to Mt. Aso area to explore (optional: Takachiho Gorge), drive to Kurokawa Onsen
• Dec 26 — Kurokawa Onsen
• Dec 27 — Drive to Beppu
• Dec 28 — Explore Beppu, return rental car
• Dec 29 — Train to Nagasaki
• Dec 30 — Nagasaki
• Dec 31 — Train to Fukuoka
• Jan 1 — Fukuoka
• Jan 2 — Fukuoka
• Jan 3 — Depart (Fukuoka > Tokyo > Home)

Note: Winter is our only travel window (PTO), and our flights to Kyushu connect through Tokyo regardless of routing (hence the 2-night buffer there rather than going straight there). Our first trip (winter 2024) covered Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kinosaki Onsen, Kyoto, Naoshima, and Kamakura. We're also aware of potential Mt. Aso crater closures and NYE slowdowns and possible train crowds.

Main questions:

• Does the south-to-north routing make sense or would you reorder anything?
• I see Kagoshima gets rave reviews. Worth adding a day and cutting somewhere else?
• Would you swap Dec 31 to give Nagasaki 3 nights and Fukuoka 2, or keep it as is?
• Is there realistically time to add Takachiho Gorge anywhere, or is that too ambitious?
• Anything we'd be missing that fits our interests?

Thank you!!

Hello! My partner and I [late twenties] are planning a second trip to Japan for 2.5 weeks this mid December 2026 - early January 2027. We love onsens, walks and hikes, nature, being on or by water, and shopping. Love food but not huge foodies. Here's what we did on our first trip (~3 weeks):

• Tokyo
• Nikko
• Hakone
• Hiroshima
• Miyajima
• Kinosaki Onsen
• Kyoto
• Naoshima
• Kamakura

What/where would you recommend we explore for our second trip? I'm seeing recs for Kyushu, Okinawa, Shikoku, or Hokkaido for a second trip. If you've done any of these, what makes you recommend one above the other? Or I'd love to hear some personal stories on your travels to these areas. Any ideas outside of those 4 are welcome too! Thank you in advance!! Happy traveling 😃