Heading to Japan Sept 13-Oct 11 (arriving in Tokyo Sept 14, flying from Tokyo Oct 11). So far my itinerary is a rough, and I’m looking for advice on how to stitch it together.
**Days 1-8 (Sept 14-21): Tokyo**
-Have a smattering of things to do here, the plan is to roughly visit one neighborhood a day (based near Ueno station)
-Is Disney worth the visit?
**Days 8-10 (Sept 21-23): Mt Fuji area**
-Current plan is to stop off in Fuji Five Lakes Area, or Hakone in an onsen ryokan
-Open to skipping this in favour of visiting an onsen ryokan later
**Days 10-15 (Sept 23-28): Kyoto**
-Shrines, shrines, and more shrines. Taking in the beauty of the city and Japanese history and culture.
-Plan to stay in a machiya, if possible for the whole time there
-Includes a day trip to Nara
**Days 15-18 (Sept 23-Oct 1): Osaka**
-Not exactly sure yet what to do here other than eat and drink, but obviously the city is full of amazing things to do. Should I spend an extra day or so here?
**Days 18-19 (Oct 1-2): Kobe and Kurashiki**
-Plan to stop in Kobe before heading toward Kurashiki, “the Venice of Japan”. Is this ok? Or is Kobe better done as a day trip from Osaka?
**Days 19-21 (Oct 2-4): Hiroshima**
-Take in the sights, sounds, and flavours of this city and the inland sea
***Here is where I am a bit lost:*** I am not sure where to go from here. I considered going to Matsuyama for a day but it seems like a bit of a pain. Seems like there is a lot of great things to do in Kyushu, but I might want to make this a separate trip.
The current idea is to head back from Hiroshima and travel north through the mountains above Mt. Fuji:
**Days 21-22 (Oct 4-5): Gifu**
-Depending how long this takes or how convenient it is, may do something else. Don’t know much about Gifu but it looks nice.
**Days 22-23 (Oct 5-6): Kanazawa**
-Enjoy the sights and street food.
**Days 23-24 (Oct 6-7): Kurobe Gorge**
-Not sure about feasibility/logistics about this one so let me know. The open-air train looks breathtaking.
-Can/should I stay in the gorge area in a ryokan? Are there onsen here?
**Days 24-26 (Oct 7-9): Nagano area (unsure about this)**
-Snow monkey park
-Nice onsens here?
**Days 26-28 (Oct 9-11): Tokyo**
-Finish up on some last minute shopping/sightseeing and fly home.
Alternatively/in conjunction with my plans regarding the return trip from Hiroshima-Tokyo, I am allured by the quaint mountain towns along the Nakasendo trail*. I am not looking to hike the entire thing, but [one Redditor](https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/144fjaj/partial_trip_report_kisofukushima_nakasendo_trail/) walked from Magome to Tsumago, and took public transportation back to Kiso. This sounds great to me too, and I would love to fit it into the itinerary if possible.
*Quite frankly I am allured by quaint mountain towns generally so if you have any suggestions please let me know.
EDIT: After some more reading/YouTube I think the Nakasendo route is something I want to do for sure. I intend to take transit to Magome, probably spend the night there, and do the Mogome-Tsumago route and take transit to Kiso-Fukushima for the night. This would cut out Gifu.
—–
Since this plan is fairly rough I am open to any criticisms/alternative suggestions. I also have totally ignored everywhere north of Tokyo, for what I figured was in the interest of time. Should I reconsider? Some of my interests and priorities:
-Big flashy cities
-Great restaurants (open to all kinds of foods), especially cheap ones
-Local delicacies
-Anime/manga
-Nature/hiking (especially mountains)
-Onsen ryokan is a must-do with great preference for remote open-air resorts. Currently looking at places like [here](https://www.hakoneginyu.co.jp/en/) or [here](https://www.keiunkan.co.jp/en/) or [here](https://www.agoda.com/takaragawa-onsen-osenkaku/hotel/minakami-jp.html?finalPriceView=2&isShowMobileAppPrice=false&cid=1772527&numberOfBedrooms=&familyMode=false&adults=1&children=0&rooms=1&maxRooms=0&checkIn=2023-09-21&isCalendarCallout=false&childAges=&numberOfGuest=0&missingChildAges=false&travellerType=-1&showReviewSubmissionEntry=false¤cyCode=CAD&isFreeOccSearch=false&isCityHaveAsq=false&tspTypes=16,8&los=1&searchrequestid=c2c09518-17e6-42be-942f-78b40c23af9a). Another big plus for private in-room onsen.
-Shrines, temples, shinto/buddhist landmarks
-Urban design and lovely transport
-Traditional Japanese architecture
-Oddities, strange places, unconventional attractions
-Cool thrift stores
-Vending machines
Much appreciated!
EDIT: Forgot to mention I will be buying a JR rail pass so preference is given to places I can get to with that