JNTO's office in Mexico City counted 200,400 visitors from Mexico in 2025, a record and 32% more than the year before, and its director invited them to discover regions they have not yet visited. Forbes México described the approach as a strategy to spread travel beyond the traditional centres. In 2025 JNTO took well-known Mexican content creators on a familiarisation trip through Kyushu, and in January 2026 its Mexico office invited readers to discover the island. Lonely Planet, for its part, named Okinawa among its 50 places to go in 2027.

Both suit the third week of a long journey from Mexico, once Tokyo, Kyoto and the Inland Sea have been seen, yet they offer very different weeks. This article sets out how we choose between them: what each holds, the trains and flights that join them to the rest of Japan, the seasons, and how the journey ends at Narita. We read JNTO's releases, JETRO's report, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the pages of JR Kyushu, Shuri Castle Park, hotels and local tourism bodies, Okinawa's statistics and Mexican and Japanese press, and contacted none of them; the sources are listed at the end. For the first two weeks, see 14 Days vs 21 Days in Japan: Is the Extra Week Worth It? →.

Key points

ASK US ABOUT A THIRD WEEK →

TWO DIFFERENT WEEKS

Kyushu is a week of movement and depth: volcanoes, hot spring towns, porcelain villages and a cuisine of its own, joined by fast trains. Okinawa is a week of staying still: a single resort on the sea, the culture of the Ryukyu kingdom, and days shaped by the water and the light. A family that has moved every few days for a fortnight often wants the second; a couple drawn by craft and food often wants the first.

The volcano Sakurajima in evening light across the bay from Kagoshima

KYUSHU BY RAIL

The Kyushu Tourism Organization describes Mount Aso in Kumamoto as Japan's largest volcano, Sakurajima in Kagoshima as an active one, and Beppu and Yufuin in Oita as its great hot spring towns. Kyushu continues the journey west without a flight. On JR Kyushu's timetable, some Sakura and Mizuho trains run through from Hiroshima or Shin-Osaka to Kagoshima-Chuo without a change, and the Mizuho runs from Hakata to Kagoshima-Chuo in about 76 minutes.

In Kagoshima, the ferry to Sakurajima crosses in about 15 minutes, every 15 to 20 minutes in the daytime and around the clock all year. The volcano erupts on a small scale again and again; at alert level 3, the area within two kilometres of the crater is closed. Further north, the town of Arita in Saga calls itself the birthplace of Japanese porcelain and tells its four hundred years, and its pottery fair runs every year from April 29 to May 5. For Fukuoka, Nagasaki and the hot spring towns, see Kyushu: Where to Go After Tokyo and Kyoto →.

THE SEVEN STARS

JR Kyushu's Seven Stars in Kyushu is a train of seven cars carrying ten suites, two of them deluxe suites, for ten parties only. For departures from March to August 2027, JR Kyushu lists fourteen journeys: three-night Takachiho and Unzen courses on Tuesdays and a one-night Kuju course on Saturdays. Applications were taken online throughout October 2026 and are decided by lottery when they exceed the places. The next window is announced on the official site, and we watch it for guests whose dates fit.

After an earthquake in Kumamoto in 2026, the train paused one departure in August and returned to service on August 4. Before we place Aso or the inns around it in a journey, we check the state of the roads and the houses for your dates. On the train itself, see Twilight Express Mizukaze Price per Person and Booking →.

OKINAWA AND THE RYUKYU COURT

JNTO reports that Lonely Planet chose Okinawa for diving and snorkelling in some of the clearest seas in the world, walks in the subtropical forest, and traditional villages and Ryukyu culture, with each outer island holding a different landscape. Okinawa Prefecture recorded 10,756,000 visitors in 2025, the most in a calendar year, of whom 2,835,400 came from abroad, 32.9% more than the year before.

The year brings Okinawa a new reason to come. Shuri Castle Park has announced that the rebuilt main hall of Shuri Castle, the seat of the Ryukyu kings, opens to the public from noon on November 23, 2026. Visits inside the main hall are by advance reservation for a set date and time, in half-hour slots; from January 2027, tickets go on sale at 13:00 on the first day of the month two months ahead. The grounds outside the hall need no reservation. We secure the time with the rest of the day.

WHERE TO STAY IN OKINAWA

A week in Okinawa rests on the hotel. Halekulani Okinawa, in Onna, gives every one of its 360 rooms a view of the ocean, in five villa wings under red Ryukyu tiles facing a white-sand beach. The Ritz-Carlton, Okinawa, in Nago, has 97 rooms within a championship golf course overlooking the sea on three sides, with a spa in its own building. HOSHINOYA Okinawa, in Yomitan, has 100 rooms, and the sea can be seen from anywhere on its grounds. For the outer islands of Miyako and Ishigaki, see Okinawa Honeymoon: Islands, Resorts and When to Go →.

THE SEASON DECIDES

The Japan Meteorological Agency's normals show the difference plainly. Naha's mean temperature is 17.3°C in January and 29.1°C in July; Fukuoka's is 6.9°C in January and 28.4°C in August. Typhoons approach Okinawa and Amami most often in August, with a normal of 2.3 a year, then September with 2.0 and July with 1.5; from December to March, the normal is zero.

For a journey in winter or early spring, Okinawa gives warmth after the cold of Kyoto, and Kyushu's hot springs are at their best in the cold. From July to October, Okinawa remains beautiful, but we keep the days there flexible and the flight home a day apart, in case a typhoon comes near. Kyushu in late summer is hot as well; its highlands and hot spring towns carry those weeks better than its cities.

HOW THE JOURNEY ENDS

JETRO notes that Narita is the only Japanese airport with flights to Mexico City; in 2024, 73.5% of visitors from Mexico entered Japan there. The third week therefore ends with a return to Tokyo. From Okinawa, about three hours by air, or from Kyushu, by air or by Shinkansen, we place a last night in Tokyo or close to Narita, with the luggage sent ahead, so that a domestic flight and the long flight home never fall on the same day.

Within Signature, our planning for journeys of 7 to 21 days for one group of up to six, we draw the third week with the season, the hotel and the flight home side by side. Hotels, ryokan, trains and drivers are arranged by us and settled with each of them in the simplest way available, usually on your hotel bill or on the day. Larger groups and longer journeys are planned as Bespoke.

SOURCES AND HOW WE CHECKED

We read the pages below on November 5, 2026. Timetables, reservations and volcanic alert levels change; we confirm them for your dates. We did not contact any hotel, railway, park or other body.

QUESTIONS TRAVELLERS ASK

Kyushu or Okinawa for the third week of a Japan trip?

Kyushu for movement and depth, with volcanoes, hot springs, porcelain and fast trains. Okinawa for staying still, with a resort on the sea and the culture of the Ryukyu kingdom. The season and who is travelling usually decide.

How do you get from Hiroshima to Kyushu?

By Shinkansen. Some Sakura and Mizuho trains run through from Hiroshima to Kagoshima-Chuo without a change, and Hakata to Kagoshima-Chuo takes about 76 minutes.

When is typhoon season in Okinawa?

Typhoons approach Okinawa most often in August and September, then July and October. From December to March, the Japan Meteorological Agency's normal is zero.

Can you visit Shuri Castle in 2027?

Yes. The rebuilt main hall opens to the public on November 23, 2026. Visits inside are by advance reservation for a set date and time; the grounds outside need none.

How do you fly home to Mexico from Okinawa or Kyushu?

Through Tokyo. Flights to Mexico City leave only from Narita, so we place a last night in Tokyo or near the airport before the long flight.

ASK US ABOUT A THIRD WEEK

Send us your dates, who is travelling and what you have already planned. We will set Kyushu and Okinawa side by side for your season, with the hotels, the trains and the flight home, before anything is arranged.

Begin planning →

We reply within 24 hours, in writing

Some of the restaurants and bars we arrange seat guests only by introduction or membership. We ask on your behalf; the table and the evening are the house's decision. We do not publish their names.

Also from STAYGO
Kyushu: Where to Go After Tokyo and Kyoto → Okinawa Honeymoon: Islands, Resorts and When to Go → Twilight Express Mizukaze Price per Person and Booking → Hiroshima, Miyajima and Naoshima in Three Days → 14 Days vs 21 Days in Japan: Is the Extra Week Worth It? → Luggage Forwarding in Japan: Sending Bags Between Hotels and the Airport →