This is my second trip to Japan; I did the standard Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka route on my first trip a couple years ago so I'm planning on exploring the parts I didn't get to see this time.  I'll be spending a month in Kyushu (with a brief trip to Hokkaido at the end of April to chase sakura). I'm planning on starting in Fukuoka to catch the Hakata Dontaku festival on 5/3 and making a loop around (Beppu, Takachiho, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Yakushima Island, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, ending in Kurume to fly back to Tokyo).