Itinerary check: A group of 3 first time Japan travellers

Hello,
We are a group of 3 people visiting Japan. Since it’s our first time, we obviously want to see the major attractions, but we also want to get out of the cities, hike and see the nature as advised by many. We’re not super interested in Disney or Universal studios.

We’ll be arriving on May 20th and Leaving on June 3rd, therefore around 14.5 days in total.

Below is our itinerary draft that we came up with.

Couple of notes:

1. We will be renting a car. While JR pass is really attractive, since we’re 3 and all of us drivers, the car costs will be lower than JR\*3 but more importantly, one of us has an injured shoulder (dislocation injury) and it’s particularly difficult for her to carry luggage around, so car is a better option. We know about the International driving permit (Geneva one) and are in the process of getting it.
2. We will be getting Central Nippon Expressway pass. From what I understand, it should help us cover most of our car trips, apart from Nara and Osaka (and Kobe if we decide to eat wagyu dinner in Kobe city).

Couple of questions:

1. Can we make it? I mean, time-wise, isn’t it too cramped? I feel like some days are bit too relaxed and some days are more cramped. We are all young (in our 20s) and passionate tourists, so we can walk a lot and digest a lot of information and experiences in one day.
2. How big of a hassle are mosquitoes and Japanese Encephalitis? Particularly asking because of the Nakasendo hike and Shirakawa-go farm sleeping. I will unfortunately not be able to make it with the vaccine due to time constraints. I will however be very cautions, wear long sleeves and pants when necessary and use generous amounts of repellent. I also ordered “travelling” mosquito nets for the nights at Shirakawa-go so we can wrap our beds in them.
3. And lastly: Anything we missed? Anything we can see on our path? Anything we should drop because it’s not worth it?

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**Tokyo**

* Day 1 (May 20th): Arrival at around 14:30 to Narita. Accomodation is in Taito city, so not much more we can do with the day apart from a walk around Akihabara electric city.
* Day 2 (May 21st):
* Ohi Racecourse flea market in the morning and around noon.
* 14:00 – Baseball match in Tokyo Dome city. Giants vs Chunichi. (Already bought tickets)
* After baseball hanging out in the Tokyo Dome City, visiting attractions, Karaoke in the Ferris wheel…
* Day 3 (May 22nd):
* Breakfast at Tsukiji fish market
* Visiting the May Grand Sumo tournament in Ryogoku (tickets yet to be bought)
* National Museum of Emerging Science
* Tokyo National Museum.
* Evening at Tokyo Skytree (tickets yet to be bought)

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**Hakone, Kyoto**

* Day 4 (May 23rd):
* Pick up a car in the morning.
* Leave Tokyo to Hakone.
* Hike up to the hot springs. Eat black eggs.
* See the Lake and the Hakone Shrine. If we have time, see Odawara.
* Leave Hakone for Kyoto
* Day 5 (May 24th):
* Wake up in Kyoto
* Kyomizudera
* Arashiyama and Sagano (see the monkey park and Bamboo forest)
* Day 6 (May 25th):
* See Katsura Imperial Villa (If we still manage to get tickets by some miracle)
* Kyoto Imperial Palace
* Kokedera (Same case as Katsura)
* Fushimi Inari
* Kinkakuji

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**Nara,** **Osaka**

* Day 7 (May 26th)
* Depart Kyoto for Nara City
* See mochi pounding in Nara
* See Todaiji temple and feed deer
* Leave Nara for Osaka
* Day 8 (May 27th)
* Wake up in Osaka
* Not many plans for Osaka apart from Sumiyoshi Shrine
* Walk around the city, eat some Kobe Beef.
* Leave for Kanazawa

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**Kanazawa, Shirakawa**

* Day 9 (May 28th):
* Wake up in Kanazawa
* See Kenrokuen Gardens
* Again, not many other plans
* Leave for Shirakawago

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**Shirakawa-Go**

* Day 10 (May 29th)
* Wake up in Shirakawago farmhouse (already booked)
* Walk around the village
* Leave for Nakatsugawa
* Drive the Car to Nojiri
* Sleep in Nakatsugawa

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**Nakasendo trail**

* Day 11 (May 30th)
* Wake up in Nakatsugawa
* Walk the Nakasendo trail through Magome and Tsumago all the way to Nojiri

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**Nojiri, Tokyo**

* Day 12th(May 31st)
* Morning Drive back to Tokyo
* Return car
* Asakusa District
* TeamLab planets (Tickets already bought)

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**Tokyo**

* Day 13 (June 1st):
* Capybara cafe in Tokyo (tickets yet to be bought in the June batch)
* Ghibli museum (tickets yet to be bought in the June batch)
* Tokyo Go Kart tour in Shibuya (tickets already bought) at 17:00.
* Day 14 (June 2nd):
* Tokyo Imperial Palace
* Souvenir and gift shopping
* Day 15 (June 3rd):
* Leave Tokyo from Narita at 3PM.

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Any suggestions and responses are much appreciated!!
Thank you!