17 days itinerary check / Helping us making the most of it (reasonable pace and well balanced)

Hello everyone,

This is our first trip to Japan for my partner and I (mid thirties). We are staying 17 days from mid to end of October this year. We plan a classic itinerary. We do not think we will be able to come back to Japan and want to make the most of it. I would really appreciate your help with a couple of questions and any suggestion on how to improve it please. Quick background: we love to walk and make spontaneous discoveries, matcha, small cute streets, traditional side of Japan. We are not into nightlife or bars. Below the itinerary I built checking on previous extremely helpful Reddit posts / comments

Thank you so much for your help 🙂

QUESTIONS

• Is there any overloaded / underloaded day?
• Day 10 feels a bit empty; do you have any recommendations around each sight?
• Day 11 and 17: we want to keep these days optional depending on how we feel / how we managed to keep up with previous days. Do you have any backup plans in case we still have energy?
• Any activities or visits you would recommend? Guided tours, tastings, events etc.
• Do you see any overlaps? Activities or places that are too similar to each other. We really like the traditional side of Japan but want to keep the temple and shrines we visit as different from each other as possible so it’s not too repetitive
• Is there any unique sight in Koyasan worth visiting besides the cemetery? Do you know of any temple offering activities other than meditation?
• Would you know any beautiful tea place in Kyoto?
• Finally any tips on how to maximise Nikko visit on a Monday, end of October? I understand this is a very busy period due to foliage. We plan on waking up early to take Tobu Railway train from Asakusa, buy the Nikko Heritage pass and start with Toshogu Shrine. We will not go to the lake area

ITINERARY

^{DAY 1 – TOKYO SHINJUKU (Hotel at Kanda station})
^{– Land in Narita at 1pm
– Explore Shinjuku early evening}

^{DAY 2 – TOKYO SHIBUYA
– TeamLabs Borderless Museum at 9am
– Shibuya Parco mall – Pokemon, Nintendo stores
– Shibuya Sky at sunset}

^{DAY 3 – KAMAKURA & ENOSHIMA
– Hase-dera temple
– Enoshima island
– Wander around Kamakura station}

^{DAY 4 – KOYASAN (Temple stay}) 
^{– Travel to Koyasan
– Banryu-tei rock garden
– Okunoin cemetery at sunset + night guided tour}

^{DAY 5 – OSAKA
– Morning prayer
– Travel to Osaka
– Namba Yasaka shrine
– Shinsaibashi shopping district
– Dotonbori + Hozenji Yokocho
– Travel to Kyoto}

^{DAY 6 – KYOTO HIGASHIYAMA (Hotel at Kyoto-Kawaramachi Station})
^{– Kiyomizu-dera temple
– Sannenzaka + Ninenzaka streets
– Tenjuan garden
– Okazaki-jinja shrine}

^{DAY 7 – KYOTO FUSHIMI-INARI & GION
– Fushimi Inari shrine
– Sanjusangendo temple
– Wander in Gion district 
– Pontocho district}

^{DAY 8 – KYOTO ARASHIYAMA    
– Otagi Nenbutsuji temple
– Adashino Nenbutsuji bamboo forest
– Sara Toriimoto street
– Wander by Arashiyama riverside
– Koke-dera moss garden}

^{DAY 9 – UJI & NARA
– Byodo-in temple
– Wander in Uji town
– Nara park
– Ukimido bridge
– Isuien garden
– Todai-ji temple}

^{DAY 10 – KYOTO NORTH / DOWNTOWN
– Kinkaku-ji temple
– Nijo Castle
– Kodai-ji temple for night illuminations}

^{DAY 11 – KYOTO FREE DAY
– SUGGESTIONS?}

^{DAY 12 – HAKONE (Ryokan with private onsen in Gora}) 
^{– Travel to Hakone
– Open-air museum
– Owakudani volcanic valley
– Chisuji Falls}

^{DAY 13 – HAKONE
– Lake Ashi boat ride
– Hakone-jinja shrine
– Old Tokaido highway
– Amazake tea house
– Tenzan onsen (tattoo friendly})
^{– Travel to Tokyo}

^{DAY 14 – TOKYO UENO & ASAKUSA (hotel at Ueno Station})   
^{– Tokyo National Museum
– Ueno Park
– Kappabashi shopping street
– Wander around Asakusa}

^{DAY 15 – TOKYO GINZA & AKIHABARA
– Ginza shopping (Ippodo, Itoya, Loft, Don Quijote etc.})
^{– Wander in Akihabara + arcade games}

^{DAY 16 – NIKKO
– Toshogu shrine
– Taiyu-in temple
– Shoyo-en garden
– Kanmangafuchi abyss}

 ^{DAY 17 – TOKYO FREE DAY
– SUGGESTIONS?
– Flight out from Narita at 11pm}