Japan Itinerary review for 3 first time Japan travelers

Hello everyone. Me, my brother, and my friend are traveling to Japan for the first time in Early October for two and a half weeks. We have put a rough Itinerary together and wanted some feedback. Mainly on the logistics and planning, we are trying to group areas and attractions together. We want to see all the main attractions but we also want to leave some flexibility to just wander around to explore and immerse ourselves in the cities. We would appreciate feedback and any things we need to include or leave out. So far our plan is to arrive in Tokyo —> Osaka —> Kyoto —-> and back to Tokyo. Rough draft Itinerary below:

**Day 1 – Land in Tokyo – Thursday October 5th**
Flight arrives at 4PM, pick up JR Card(if needed), check into Hotel which is located in Asakusa. We will be feeling the effects of Jetlag so we are probably going to rest after arriving to hotel.
– Rest day after arriving

**Day 2 – Tokyo – Asakusa – Friday October 6th**
We are staying in Northern Tokyo so we figured we would hit the following:
– Ueno Park
– Sensoji Temple/Nakamise Shopping Street
– Tokyo National Museum

**Day 3 – Tokyo – Akihabara – Saturday October 7th**
Planning on going to Akihabara/Central Tokyo. We are pretty big nerds:
– Akihabara shops and Otaku shops
– Exploring Akihabara
– Leaving the evening open in case the Korakuen has any events

**Day 4 – Tokyo – Sunday October 8th**
Open
– ????
– ???

**Day 5 – Leaving Tokyo and arriving in Osaka – – Monday October 9th**
Check into our Hotel in Osaka.
– Wander around and grab something to eat
– rest

**Day 6 – Osaka Tuesday October 10th**
– Osaka Castle
– Minami(Namba)
– Shinsekai

**Day 7 – Osaka Wednesday October 11th**
– Going to Universal Japan and Nintendo World
– ?? leaving this evening open

**Day 8 – Osaka(Day trip to Hiroshima) – Thursday October 12**
We are still in the same hotel in Osaka but we are using this day to take a day trip to Hiroshima
– Peace Park
– Hiroshima Castle
– Miyajima(red gate)

**Day 9 – Leaving Osaka and arriving in Kyoto – Friday October 13th**
We will probably be pretty tired from the busy cities so we’ll probably go to our AirBnB and relax.
– This day we’ll wander around the Higashiyama district. Shops close around 5 or 6 so we might be able to take some cool photos with less crowds
– Relax/Sleep early for next day

**Day 10 – Kyoto – Saturday October 14th**
Waking up pretty early to do the following:
– Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
– Kinkaku-Ji Castle
– Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka.
– Kiyomiza-Dera
– Yasaka Shrine

**Day 11 – Kyoto – Sunday October 15th**
Also waking up early this day to do the following:
– Fushimi Inari Taisha
– Daigoji Temple
– Nishiki Market
– Kodaji Temple

**Day 12 – Leaving Kyoto and arriving back in Tokyo – Monday October 16th**
Check into our hotel, This time we’ll be staying in the busier Shibuya district
– Check into hotel, eat, then rest

**Day 13 – Tokyo – Shibuya District – Tuesday October 17th**
When we arrive back in Tokyo we will be staying in a hotel in the Shibuya district.
– Explore Shibuya, Shibuya crossing and Shibuya sky
– Golden Gai and Memory Lane
– Meiji Shrine

**Day 14 – Tokyo – Wednesday October 18th**
Using this day to look at any other things we might’ve missed and also see if we can get souvenirs in Akihabara. Also open for suggestions here.
– ??
– ??

**Day 15- Tokyo – Leaving Japan – Thursday October 19th*
Leaving Tokyo in the morning so wont have anything planned
– Home

We also want to include these if possible:
– Pokémon Café
– Kirby Café
– Ghibli Museum

Some questions we have:
Should we get the JR Rail Pass?
Should we get an AirBnB in Kyoto? Are they worth it? Do you guys have accommodation recommendations?
We figured we would stay in 3 different cities for a couple days each to get the feel for each place. Is this a good idea?
Any must try food recommendations?