[biwako]

i guess id like to see anything thats japanese,
i love the look of the gardens, shrines, and temples,
but also love the look of the downtown districts that Tokyo and Osaka has to offer.

one thing i really want to do is spend a bit of time wandering through the old style streets, like Gion has. Are these kinda things everywhere..? hope you know what i mean.

Castles are of interest to me as well, i assume Himeji is the best one to see, but seeing as though im in Osaka would it be worth checking it out too..

timing my trip to coincide with the cherry blossoms i am hoping to see some in bloom. the pictures i see of this are amazing. i was thinking of booking the trip at the end of march start of April, but how long do they blossoms stay open for, from what ive been reading its a bit of a gamble but the start of April seems pretty consistent

so i guess im interested in Anything different and a real japanese experience.
i mean everyone knows tokyo, osaka and kyoto are worth seeing but the smaller places i dont hear a lot about, places like Nara, Nagoya, Nagano etc....is there anything of interest in these places seeing as though i am limited for time. (the Nagano snow monkeys did interest me)

thanks heaps again,

Ben