Any first time must sees?

Heading to Japan November 9th for 9 days, flying to Osaka! We'd like to se the highlights...Kyoto, Tokyo, fish markets, Fuji q...anything else we should have on the list??

A particular onsen?? Any great restaurants?? We love our food!!

We're pretty relaxed, easygoing couple that are escaping our busy lives for a little over a week??

Would love to hear your favourite spots(or even your take on an itinerary) :)

Thanks in advance guys!

Also any chance of snow anywhere in Japan then??

Depends on what your interests are. For instance:

If you like Ghibli I would go to Mitaka in Tokyo and see the Ghibli Museum. I would advise you to have lunch at the Straw Hat Cafe there too.

If you like to see a beautiful temple I would advise you go to western Kyoto to the Tenryuji temple and make sure to walk through the bamboo groves.

One of my favorites for my first trip last year was hiking up Miyajima Island and enjoying the view. The hiking trail with the best views is Daisho-in Course (you should like hiking if you do this) Plus the island has these delicious maple cookies (that you can only get there)and by 10am the whole town smells of cookies.

Please advise what your interests are for your trip so I or others can better help point you in the correct direction.

How are your interests (other than food)?

In the middle of November you may have chances to see autumn foliage. Its seasons vary by years and areas. You can estimate its situation based on reports in Autumn Color Report 2014 section, which is likely to be set up by September 2014.

- Autumn Color Report 2013
http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/koyo13/
- Autumn Color Report 2012
http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/koyo12/

Enjoy your trips!

Kyoto:

Higashiyama District
Kiyomizudera Temple
Gion District

Kinkakuji Temple

Arashiyama
Tenryuji Temple
Sagano Scenic Railway

Fushimi Inari Shrine


Tokyo:

Harajuku
Meiji Shrine

Asakusa
Sensoji Temple
Tokyo Skytree
Ameyoko

Tokyo Tower (cheaper alt to Skytree)

1 day Kamakura + Yokohama if time permits

So it seems that you are from Australia?
If so, I would skip up on the autumn colors.

From Osaka to Tokyo with a stop by at Fuji.
First time in Japan means I would recommend the more touristy place. Repeat visits are for when you are deeply interested in their culture and off-the-beaten-path stuff.

Good Onsens:
Yamanashi Prefuture, west of Fuji San, 1300 yr old hotel with onsen
Nagano prefecture, north of Tokyo, have onsen with apples in them
Fukui Prefecture, north of Fuji, many onsen towns with many onsen hotels across mountains, nice to just look out onto large expanse of nature while recharging batteries
Arima, north of Osaka, one of the most famous onsen in japan

Places not to miss,
Osaka (2D 1N)
Osaka Fish market
Osaka Takao Mountain- they serve tempura maple leave
Domtombori
Walk from Tennoji to Namba

Kyoto (2D 2N)
Golden Pavillion
Ryoanji
Myoshinji
Tenryuji- Eat here
Bamboo grove
Gion
Teramachi-dori Eat here
Any garden in Kyoto
Fushimi Inari Shrine

Fuji
Stay at Ito- local onsen town with beach
Atami- Large Onsen resort town with views of Fuji and has beach
Fuji 5 lakes for best Fuji Experience, Rent a bicycle/car and round Fuji + the pagoda + Fuji Q highland

Tokyo
Tsukuji
Odaibs
Shinjuku
Meiji Shrine
Asakusa Shrine
Enter any major department store
Enter any Tokyu Hands

This will let you see what I consider the MUST SEE
There are more but its better to have a schedule and add in your own things as you go along then to have a packed schedule and feeling disappointed at missing some form lack of time.

gooday! Not much chance of snow then, maybe out at Hakuba/Nagano area. But it will be getting pretty chilly. Also bear in mind it will be busy season with the autumn leaves, so accommodation might be challenging in some places especially Kyoto.

If I had 9 days starting at Osaka, I'd probably consider shooting down to Hiroshima and spend a night at Miyajima (check links on this site for all the place names). The food is great there, and Peace Park is a significant thing to see even if you didn't think it would be. Then I'd see Kyoto and Nara (probably 2 days in Kyoto, one at Nara). Then I'd go to Takayama (to see a traditional style town, and there are onsens there) overnight - 2 nights if you want to see Shirakawa). But if you didn't go to Takayama, I'd go up toward Tokyo and go out to Karuizawa which is one of my favourite places - onsens there too, and the food is awesome. Then back in to Tokyo, which I have to say I can take or leave (like Osaka), because my preference is the country places. Enoshima is really nice too, well worth a visit even if you don't stay overnight. It is right next to Kamakura which is a lovely place. There are onsens at Enoshima (at the ryokan iwa-motoro) which are set up like roman baths.

Fuji Q is a great amusement park!! I take you'll like to see some technologic/anime/modern stuff.

With a visit at Fuji Q I would include this:

Osaka; Don't miss Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori and Den Den Town. The Aquarium is also pretty amazing. You should probably spend three nights in the area; Do day visits to Kyoto (don't miss out Kinkakuji, Kiyomizudera and Fushimi Inari) and spend evenings in Osaka. That's the best way to explore both on a tight schedule. Then spend one night in Kawaguchiko, so you can spend one day at Fuji Q (needs a full day, avoid weekends) and another half day at Kawaguchiko enjoying the place and views of Mt. Fuji. Then spend the rest of your time in Tokyo; don't miss Ghibli Museum, Odaiba (the Miraikan -Museum of emergent science- is awesome!), Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Asakusa. All those are must do in my opinion as well as taking a Sushi breakfast at Tsukiji :)

Thanks for getting back to me guys! I hadn't received the notifications!!

Thanks for all the info, a lot of great advice! At the moment we've 2 days in Osaka, spare day, 2 days kawaguchiko, spare day, 2 days tokyo then 2 free days!

I don't want to cram too much in until we get there so prob just take a chance on accommodation for the other days!

I love hiking, the bf not so much! We'd really like to squeeze in a cooking class somewhere?? Any you've heard of! Tried and failed to get into a few of the 3star sushi restaurants in tokyo! But any other suggestions welcome, we're staying in shibuya!

How are you traveling? If you are going to use a 7 day JR Rail Pass you'd need to roam about more to make it worth it.
If you're willing to branch out more, there are countless sites that delight you.
Hiroshima and Miyajima are one good choice, worth staying a night.
If you want to see more, Iwakuni makes a nice day trip also. The bridge is really unique and the mountaintop castle gives a nice view over the whole area:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM
Or if you really want to get off the beaten track, try a day trip to the Konpirasan Shrine in Kagawa, Shikoku. The shrine and mountaintop view are wonderful, but it's actually the trip up that is the real adventure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ley9rVIewoQ
For the Tokyo area you could make very enjoyable day trips to Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone.