Winter holiday advice

Hello all,

Boyfriend and I traveling to Japan this December. I realize this will be a hectic time for travel with the New Years holiday, but we have little options since I attend university. We are hoping to leave around the middle of December and come home the first week of January.

Here is my thinking on how to schedule the trip, which we hope will be around 18-20 days:
Tokyo 4 days in hotel (we have rewards points)
Hakone 1 day/overnight in ryokan
Kyoto/Osaka 4 days (1 day/overnight Mt Koya temple included in here)
1 day/overnight Miyojima
1 day Hiroshima
2 days Fukuoka
Head back towards Tokyo, maybe stop for a couple days in Gifu/Takayama, then head home.


A lot of the scheduling depends on when we actually arrive and leave. My hope is to start moving back towards Tokyo during New Years, I know most of the traffic will be coming out of it, although it's going to be very busy no matter what. Does this sound like a good idea? Also, since I can't do it at any point before, I'm hoping right when I get off the plane I can find the nearest JR ticket counter and make reservations with my Rail Pass on trains for the ride back towards Tokyo (and maybe even the other major rides) so we don't have to wait too long or have too much more trouble.

Is there any other big things I am missing? If you were in my shoes, how would you plan this trip?

Yes, it sounds to me that you have a good understanding of the situation. This year's New Year rush is likely going to be slightly less intensive than usual because the 28th falls on a Saturday, which gives New Year travelers an additional day for making their trips.

If you make your reservations upon entering Japan in mid December, I think you will face little problems making seat reservations.

Uji,

Thank you! I did not realize that the 28th being on a Saturday will lighten the traffic slightly. That is great news for me, thank you for pointing it out.

I am also happy to know that you think I should be ok getting train reservations when I land. I was started to get really worried that I was going to be very stressed during our vacation.

Now I just have to wait patiently a few more weeks for the ryokan's to open reservations for December....