You might think a lengthy diatribe about the factors you consider when planning a trip to Japan is a bit rich coming from the bloke who doesn't do a whole lot of the actual planning.
On the other hand, I've been known to expound on all manner of subjects where there isn't a whole lot of experience to back things up.
But this is how the planning process looks from where I'm sitting.
There have been numerous discussions about possibilities, so I do have some base for my assumptions.
It mightn't be 100% accurate, but it gives some explanation about the itinerary that's tacked onto the end of this little ramble.
The first thing you need to realise when you're planning a three-week journey around the Land of the Rising Sun is that you can't go everywhere and see everything.
Take a place like Kyoto, and you'd need a good fortnight to get beyond a fairly elementary scratching of the surface.
Live there for a year, and you probably find things you've missed that you really shouldn't have.
And that's just Kyoto.
Second, it helps to have a theme, or possibly two.
When we went in April 2008 we weren't sure how I'd go, so we had two.
One was the sakura season, and the second was some of Japan's greatest hits.
The two of those combine rather nicely because most of Japan's greatest hits are at their best in when the cherry blossoms are in bloom.
Since we've done that (and we could easily make another trip based on the same seasonal factor), the logical extension was to go to the coloured leaves time and catch the trees in their multicoloured autumnal glory.
The second theme you could throw in this time around is trains, based on the principle that we've got two-week Japan Rail Passes. There's no way we're going to limit ourselves to the Shinkansen.
The seasonal theme has the added advantage of delivering a direction to work within.
In spring, the sakura blossoms start in the south and gradually make their way up to Hokkaidō.
In autumn, the process is reversed.
Trees start to lose their leaves in the colder regions first, and the colouring gradually makes its way towards the Equator.
Not that it's ever going to get that far.
So, this time, around we start in Kansai, make our way north and then loop back to the centre, ending up at the other end of the country.
Third, when you've got virtually unlimited rail travel, you're going to travel because you can.
Without the rail pass, you might be inclined to spend time in Tokyo. Other considerations mean that on the last trip, and on the one I'm looking down the barrel at as I start typing in a Cairns hotel room, Tokyo is somewhere to stop for lunch on the way to somewhere else.
Well, you can't go everywhere and see everything, can you?
See point #1 in that regard.
That Rail Pass travel factor brings in other elements.
You need to consider where you're starting, and where you'll finish, bearing a second point in mind.
There's no designated space for large pieces of luggage on a Shinkansen.
There's space behind the last seats in the carriage where you might be able to stash a suitcase provided no one has snaffled it already.
But you're pushing your luck if you try to take two suitcases.
So if two of you arrive with a suitcase each, you need somewhere to stash one after you've shifted what you need for the rail odyssey into the other. Anything surplus to requirements for the next bit goes into t' other one, which then goes into storage somewhere.
There are also possible cases where the big one gets deposited in a coin locker or cloakroom, and backpacks get used for a day or two.
So it's not just a case of pack up and go.
So the long and the short of it is that the lengthy rail leg bit needs to start and finish in Kansai or Tokyo. That's another reason to use the capital as a lunch stop if it doesn't represent a viable overnight stay on the route.
It didn't last time, and it misses out again here. Maybe next time.
The next thing to consider is variety.
When you've got limited time, and a fair bit of travelling to do, you could spend a week sitting on Shinkansen and zooming all over the place, but there are interesting little local lines tucked away around the islands.
One of the highlights last time around was the rail motor journey from Toyama on the west coast up to Takayama and down to Nagoya. Similarly, you could spend the whole train trip looking at sakura, autumn leaves, temples or gardens.
But even when you combine leaves and gardens (a natural fit) or leaves and temples, you'll need a break to spare yourself the risk of sensory overload.
Last time the mix was heritage buildings and gardens (Kanazawa), a heritage village and buildings (Takayama), social call (Nagoya), trying to see Mount Fuji (Hakone), social call (Tokyo) and another plus temples (Kitakami) and back to base in Kansai.
That got us to Kyoto and Nara, where there were significant temple and garden components.
All of that was carried out against a backdrop of sakura.
This time, we've got a different mix and next time will be different again.
On that variety of rail experiences, it's worth remembering you can do a leg from Kagoshima at one end of the archipelago to Kansai in a comfortable day.
We already know the same applies from somewhere around the north of Honshū (the main island) back to Kōbe/Kansai.
That means you can make a substantial shift in location quickly, and you can travel comfortably from the north of Honshū to the southern end of Kyushu in two days.
Given that consideration, a two-week rail pass gives you time to get out into the backblocks.
So with this time dedicated to coloured leaves, we start at Kōbe and head up to Kitakami. That's a day, with lunch in Tokyo and a meeting with The Translator.
With the coloured leaves in all their glory, we do some exploring around the north and end up in the bottom of Hokkaidō passing through the tunnel under the Tsugaru Strait.
Another big jump brings us into the tsunami area, where Matsushima is one of the must-see views. Then it's up into the mountains for more leaves, onsen hot springs and a temple before another jump down to the Seto Inland Sea.
A trip across the rail bridge to Shikoku and straight back will be followed by another must-see, the temple island at Miyajima. Then we spend the night in Hiroshima and move on to Kyushu, where castles, gardens and local rail lines come into the mix.
That will use up most of the fourteen-day rail pass, so the final day delivers us to Kansai.
We spend the next six days doing the big city bit in Osaka, the temples and gardens bit in Kyoto, catch up with acquaintances and end up in Kōbe to reunite the suitcases and wing our way back home.