Kengo Kuma has a buttload of stuff in Tokyo. Obviously you should check out Ando's Church of Light. Tokyo is also home to a lot of high end retail stuff by Ito, Kuma, Sejima, etc, which is often very interesting. I was there for 8 weeks in the summer, but it was with a class so the instructor knew where to go. I definately would not discount the old stuff too. Go to Kyoto and check out places like Kyomizudera, Kinkakuji, Katsura and near by Nara or go to Hiroshima/Miyajima. I was impressed by the new stuff, but the old stuff was really great and inspiring. Get up into the mountains if you can. The JR is wonderful and you can get anywhere. I would try to create some kind of linear order though. Luckily, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe all kind of blend together (no you can't take a Kyoto bus to Osaka, but they are close). I don't know if it's true, but it seemed like no matter where we went there was something interesting to see. If you hit the major cities, you can see a ton of stuff. I did find though that Tokyo had most of the money, glossy, magazine buildings. It was like walking through a museum of who's who in architecture. Remember though, some of the sweet published images...you won't get to see. We got some dirty looks going into Prada or Tod's. They let you in, but don't like it when they know you are just looking. Oh, but Prada was awesome (example, you can't go on the 6th floor at all and not in the basement unless you are female or have a guide, and someone will follow you the whole time). Yokohama Terminal is a must. The problem is, there is some really cool stuff in other locations, but if you are only there for say a week, they are out of the way. Some random one off museums in the mountains or like 4 hours by train from Tokyo or something. There are some things on Awaji Island by Ando for example, but I don't know if that is a day trip from Osaka or if you would need to stay over (we stayed with families and did plaster workshops). So I would think, if you want a concentrated bang for your buck, hit Tokyo, and Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe. But you will still miss a lot. Japan is pretty small, but it still takes a while to get to places not located on the Shinkansen (and the Shinkansen is not super cheap so you may take regional trains anyway). How long will you be there?

I thought I would give you a rough idea of my trip. I forget a few of the places, but here is an idea. Number of days in (X) Some of the smaller stops I don't remember.

Kyoto (1)
Takayama (3) [stayed in Buddhist Temple]
Somewhere else in the mountains, I forget
Passed through Kobe on the way.
Awaji Island (3)
Back into the mountains. Some creepy inn with a beautiful view. Can't remember the name. Stayed around there for a few days.
Okinawa (3)
Toyooka Area (3) [there is a cool fishing village in that area, about 1 hour from Fukuchiyama, I can't remember the name though. Very famous.]
Kyoto (8) [include Nara and surrounding areas]
Free travel :
Back to Toyooka area to meet sword maker (1)
Matsui and Izumo (1)
Hiroshima and Miyajima (2)
Tokyo free travel, went to Disneyland (3)
Tokyo, with class (6)
Then back into the mountains around Tokyo for a design build with Japanese students (3)
Tokyo (6)
Kanazawa (4)
Osaka (5)

Then I went to Seoul for a week with my classmate/friend, then back to Fukuchiyama to visit a friend for 9 days. So that is about where my trip went.

Hi There I have worked out there quite a lot you might be interested to see a few projects on my web site

address wise you could just google the projects

www.edmundsumner.co.uk

Hi There I have worked out there quite a lot you might be interested to see a few projects on my web site

address wise you could just google the projects

www.edmundsumner.co.uk

Hi There I have worked out there quite a lot you might be interested to see a few projects on my web site

address wise you could just google the projects

www.edmundsumner.co.uk

One Omotosando is cool. They wouldn't let us in though. There are so many cool buildings that you just can't go into.

Check out Neil Denari's Mitsubishi Bank in Shibuya. It's near the main train station.

garpike- are you going to the smmoa tonight?

Hey ret, I wish. I am stuck in Pennsylvania. I broke my leg - stupid accident. I won't be back in LA until early next month.

Luckily the show will be up until April 22. You going tonight?

oh! sorry to hear about your accident. Hope you get better soon.
I think i'll go..should be fun.
cheers

hi guys
thanks for all the guidance. .. shall definetly put the following blds into the itenary. Especially to hasselhoff and edward sumner. ...
And garpike take care hope you get back on your foot soon and thanks for the link of the mitsubhishi bank.
cheers

Make a serious effort to get to the Miho Museum by IM Pei. It's a bit of a hike from Kyoto (it might take the whole day to get there, visit, and get back due to train schedules and the 1 hr bus ride each way to the museum from the train) but it is exceptional and a must.
http://www.miho.or.jp/english/

Another difficult-to-reach place would be Ando's Benesse museum on Naoshima Island. It would maybe take out two days on your itinerary (train schedules are tricky, plus you have to take a boat out there.) But if you book in advance you can stay in Yurts (Mongolian tents) on the beach. After a year in Japan I never found the time to go - still one of my biggest regrets and my main reason for planning a return trip.
http://www.naoshima-is.co.jp/english/first.html

I'm pretty sure some of my classmates went to the Naoshima Island museum and said it was great. But again, that was only a few days out of 2 months.

ret, please let garpike rest!

Great guys, my itenary is getting bigger. thanks . i shall visit andos benesse museum.

Damn, that looked like a hell of a trip Hasselhoff. Where in Okinawa?

i went to Naoshima for a fe days and I cannot recommend it enough, it is most definately my favourite place in Japan. It has a good amount of contemporary (Ando) architecture and the rest of the island is just fishing village and old houses. The people are friendly and so welcoming to foreigners. You can stay in Bennesse house itself which is costly but worth it, the best hotel I ever stayed in. The cheaper, by equally enjoyable, option are the Mongolian Pao tents near the shore. The whole experience was inspirational, relaxing and maybe changed me a little bit. We went in the winter so the weather was dry, sunny but a bit cold - great Japan weather.

You can go anywhere in Japan and see something beautiful. Have a good time.

(I have never had anyone stop me from going in any shop, even the poshest on Omotesando, and I'm not particualy 'neat'.)

hi
thanks guys.
checked out the Bennesse house on the net. i know its really worth the stay.

We flew in to Naha and then went all over the place. Kinya, our instructor, had a few buildings there. Honestly, we went to so many places, that I don't remember all of the names. But we saw a ton.

We were never stopped from going in a shop. But like any store in America where stuff is $500 for the cheapest item, if 10 sweaty Americans show up, the employees know you aren't going to buy anything. They just watched us and you could tell. No big deal. One Omotosando is an office building. You needed a reason to go in and we didn't have one. Stores, yeah you can get in. We got in a lot of places that mere mortals can't go because we were a school group.