14 day itinerary for Japan (visiting first time)

I'm visiting Japan with a group of friends in the second half of October, for 15 days. It'll be our first time there. I'm not sure which day we'll do what in a place, but here's the things we want to touch while we're there. We're visiting these in order.

  1. Sapporo (2 days)
    • Beer Museum
    • Day trip to Otaru Canal
    • Odori Park
    • Hokkaido university Ginkgo Avenue
  2. Aomori (2 days)
    • Nebuta museum
    • Sannai-Maruyama Ruins
    • Towada-Hachimantai National Park
  3. Ginzan (1 day)
    • Hot springs
    • Hiking and stuff
  4. Nagano (1 day)
    • Zenkoji Temple
    • Matsumoto Castle
    • Togakushi Shrine
  5. Takayama (2 days)
    • Sanmachi Suji district
    • Takayama Jinya
    • Hida beef and sake tasting
  6. Kyoto (2 days)
    • Fushimi Inari Shrine
    • Gion district
    • Temples and shrines
    • Day trip to Nara
  7. Tokyo (4 days)
    • Shibuya
    • Senso-ji Temple
    • Nakamise shopping street
    • Day trip to Nikko
    • Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
    • Skytree
    • Teamlabs

I have a bunch of questions –

  1. Some of these places do not have train connectivity and we're planning to rent a car to get around those places (we'll take trains whenever we can). Is the travel time gonna be too much? Is the travel cost gonna be too much?
  2. Should I visit Osaka?
  3. Is it possible to day-trip some of these places while staying in one hotel? I don't want to keep checking in and out of hotels. I was thinking we could maybe stay in Takayama and tour around.

My general goal is to see and experience things that I cannot find anywhere outside of Japan.

Please roast my itinerary. I'd love some feedback. I'd also love some suggestions on what to change, what to cut out of the itinerary and what to add. All suggestions are welcome!

by dush-t

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