>>279925574
my trip was unconventional in the sense that i had 36 days of paid vacation leave

i did an extremely convoluted trip with tokyo --> takamatsu (via sunrise seto sleeper) --> iya valley --> kochi --> naoshima --> matsuyama --> onomichi (via shimanami kaido cycling) --> hiroshima/kintaikyo --> kurashiki --> matsue/yonago (via limited express yakumo (train ride can be pretty nausea-inducing since the train does go uphill a lot) and so on

the sleeper is quite memorable for a first experience, though getting tickets for the individual sleeping rooms (instead of those nobi nobi shared communal sleeping spaces) are very competitive (its almost as challenging as trying for a taylor swift ticket, especially for fridays/saturdays)
i personally prefer it over the shinkansen but ymmv


i would direct you to this google map link for the detailed routing if you are really interested https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1TmEKqR38KdO9ZANdy4FjKQNBD2sX0pI&ll=34.60845173321475%2C136.26637843506074&z=8