Deciding between Hakone or Kanazawa en-route to Osaka

Hi all! I will be solo traveling to Japan for 9 nights at the end of August and am looking for some advice on which city I should visit visit en-route from Tokyo to Osaka. This will be my first time in Japan, so I’d like to optimize my trip to have a well-rounded experience while also limiting extraneous travel time. I’ve been researching for a few weeks and have a general itinerary in mind but am having trouble deciding which town I should stop in on my way from Tokyo to Osaka (or if I should stop at all). I’ve outlined my potential itineraries below along with the pros and cons of each one as I see it:

* Option 1- Hakone
* D1 – land in Tokyo 3:20pm, explore Tokyo, **stay in capsule hotel in Tokyo**
* D2- early train to Hakone, Hakone ropeway, Open-Air Museum, Onsen, **stay at Kansuiro Annex Ryokan in Hakone**
* D3- train to Osaka after breakfast, arrive in Osaka early afternoon, spend rest of the day around Dotonburi/Namba, **stay in Namba neighborhood in Osaka**
* D4 – travel to Koyasan, spend the morning exploring town/hiking, onsen and dinner at shukubo, night tour of Okunoin cemetary, **stay at Shojoshin-in**
* D5 – morning prayer at Shojoshin-in, check out after breakfast, pit stop in Nara on the way to Kyoto, plan to get to Kyoto around dinner time, **stay in Rinn Gion Kenninji in Kyoto (3 nights)**
* *Note: beginning on day 5 I will be meeting up with friends, so the itinerary from here on out is less flexible*
* D6 – full day in Kyoto, **stay in Rinn Gion Kenninji in Kyoto (3 nights)**
* D7 – full day in Kyoto, **stay in Rinn Gion Kenninji in Kyoto (3 nights)**
* D8 – morning train to Tokyo, explore Tokyo, eat a lot of food, **stay in Shinjuku (2 nights)**
* D9 – full day in Tokyo, **stay in Shinjuku (2 nights)**
* D10 – check out of hotel and store luggage at hotel, final visits in Tokyo, depart from Haneda at 6:30pm
* **Pros- (1)** The ryokan I’m looking at has both indoor and outdoor pools onsite, so I’ll have the opportunity to experience onsen in a beautiful, natural setting. I really loved visiting a jjimjilbang in Korea, so I’m confident I would love this **(2)** It’ll also be a bonus if I’m able to peep Fujisan while on the ropeway (though I’m not counting on it)
* **Cons- (1)** I don’t like that on this route I’ll have to spend an extra night in Tokyo, when I’m already planning on spending 2 nights there on the backend. I know that there’s lots to do in Tokyo, but I’d really prefer to have that extra day to visit somewhere else. **(2)** Less than a full day in Osaka / no room to do any day trips from Osaka (such as Himeji, Kobe, etc) **(3)** Lots of travel and unpacking / repacking since I’ll be staying in a new place every night for the first 5 days **(4)** I’ve read that Hakone is pretty touristy and I’m worried that it’ll take away from the experience if it all feels overly commercialized
* Option 2 – Kanazawa
* D1 – land in Tokyo 3:20pm, train to Kanazawa, explore the historical districts and little cafes, **stay in Kanazawa**
* D2- tea at a cozy teahouse, visit Kanazawa gardens, train to Osaka, explore Dotonburi, **stay in Namba (2 nights)**
* D3- day trip to either Himeji, Arima, or Kobe from Osaka, **stay in Namba (2 nights)**
* D4 – travel to Koyasan, spend the morning exploring town/hiking, onsen and dinner at shukubo, night tour of Okunoin cemetary, **stay at Shojoshin-in**
* *Day 5-10 same as Option 1*
* **Pros – (1)** Eliminates the need to stay in Tokyo for an extra night and lets me see another part of Japan (alps region) **(2)** From what I’ve read it sounds like Kanazawa is significantly less touristy which would be a nice change of pace from the rest of my itinerary **(3)** I’m a big tea/coffee enthusiast and I’ve heard that Kanazawa is full of cozy alleys and tea shops to explore **(4)** more time to explore Osaka / surrounding areas **(5)** less travel time
* **Cons – (1)** No full onsen/ryokan experience, unless you count the shukubo I’m doing in Koyasan that has an indoor public bath **(2)** I’m worried that doing Kanazawa before Kyoto will make it hard to enjoy my time in Kyoto, since its similar but with less crowds
* Option 3 – Go straight to Osaka
* D1 – land in Tokyo 3:20pm, train to Osaka, **stay in Namba (3 nights)**
* D2- full day in Osaka, **stay in Namba (3 nights)**
* D3- day trip to either Himeji, Arima, or Kobe from Osaka, **stay in Namba (3 nights)**
* D4 – travel to Koyasan, spend the morning exploring town/hiking, onsen and dinner at shukubo, night tour of Okunoin cemetary, **stay at Shojoshin-in**
* *Day 5-10 same as Option 1*
* **Pros – (1)** the least amount of time spent on trains **(2)** more time to explore Osaka beyond the surface **(3)** staying in Osaka for 3 nights will serve as a home-base for a handful of day trips, including Arima so I’ll still get to have an onsen experience
* **Cons – (1)** limiting myself to one small area of the country for the first half of the trip **(2)** although I’ll be able to do a day trip to Arima Onsen, it doesn’t seem like it will be in the beautiful, natural setting that I’d have in Hakone

If my flight landed a little earlier and I could spend the first night in Hakone and an extra night in Osaka, then I think I’d choose option 1. But since that’s not the case, I’d appreciate any advice from people who have been to these places and can help me decide which is a better way to spend my time. TIA!