12 Days in April

We will arrive in Narita , Tokyo in the second week of April. This is our second trip to Japan.

We plan to cover Hokkaido in April. Are there any sights not to be missed during April?

Also, bringing the old folks who want to visit Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.

Are we better off to base our day trip from Sapporo or Hakodate?
Day 1 - Arrive in Tokyo Morning
Day 2- Train to Hokkaido
Day 3 - Hokkaido
Day 4 - Hokkaido
Day 5 - Hokkaido

Day 6 - Leaving Hokkaido for Osaka as a base for day trip.
Day 7 - Kyoto
Day 8 -Kyoto
Day 9 - Hiroshima/Miyajima
Day 10 - Osaka back to Tokyo
Day 11- Tokyo
Day 12 - Morning flight back from Narita

We intend to purchase a JR Pass. Not sure if we should combine a 7 day JR pass or Hokkaido Pass or JR West pass to make it worthwhile to save on the travelling costs. Advice very much appreciated.
The days are flexible still as no accommodation has been booked at this point.

Is there a specific reason you have to cut your stay in Tokyo into two pieces (one day at the beginning of your trip and one at the end, as opposed to two consecutive days at either end)? This is inefficient.

Also, you very much want to do yourself a favor and fly from Tokyo to Hokkaido and from Hokkaido to Osaka. 12 days is short, you don't want to waste the best part of two days in trains. This is also another reason to consolidate your two days in Tokyo: since the cheapest flights are from Narita, you can save yourself a trip into Tokyo by flying directly from Narita to Sapporo.

Actually, maybe your flight arrives at Haneda, you don't say. Then maybe it would be worthwhile to do Tokyo-Osaka-Hokkaido-Narita.

Hi Firas

We have covered Tokyo in the first trip rather extensively. So this time round, we just limit it to the first day and the last two days.

We will try to look around for the air tickets. The older folks prefer to take the train though.