Itinerary for May 2015

Have now settled on a proposed itinerary for my honeymoon trip in May 2015, would be interested to hear any thoughts people may have on it, and I'm assuming that the JRpass is definitely value for money considering the travelling we're doing?

12th-14th arrive Tokyo early stay 3 nights
15th activate 14 day JR pass travel early to Nagano stay night
16th-17th travel Kanazawa stay 2 nights
18th travel Takayama one night
18th-22 travel Kyoto 4 nights
23-24th Hiroshima (staying 2 nights in Hiroshima and visiting Miyajima rather than staying a night in each?)
25th travel to Mount Koya (I understand that this requires a separate rail ticket/bus pass to the JRpass, what would be the best route: Hiroshima- Kyoto-Osaka -Mount Koya, or just Hiroshima - Osaka - Mount Koya?) staying one night.
26-27th travel to Hakone (maybe a short look around Osaka for a few hours) stay 2 nights
28th Tokyo
29th depart

One quick question I have regarding travel using the JRpass, I've noticed people discussing on here the concept of reserving seats on trains, I thought the idea of the JRpass was to effectively be able to jump on and off the trains without being tied to a specific train time, but obviously it would be ideal to have a seat guaranteed. Is it a simple process of reserving a seat and how far in advance is usually necessary? Am going for the regular pass and not the green pass.
Looking forward to hearing thoughts on this.

Thanks

"GW" is already overed
so no busy no worry about seat booking all Shinkansen/LtdExp trains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_(Japan)

All JR trains seat ticket sales starts just one month before same day.
JR-Pass include seat fee just ordered at stn ticket office before until dep time.
Seat ticket is not only in Japanese with English no poblem.
http://urx.nu/hqGQ

But...
For Mt.Koya by Nankai Railway and more private/subways/trams and more are NOT JR rail.
JR-Pass invalid check on HyperDia web or ask station staff before.
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

Thanks for the reply, so you think we would not need to reserve any seat on any train, there will always be two seats next to each other available? Do rail ticket staff usually speak English?
Does anyone have any thoughts on the itinerary especially the Hiroshima to Mount Koya, mount Koya to Hakone legs, all easily doable?

Reservations cost money (for non-JR Pass holders), so the reserved sections of trains are often less crowded.

On the other hand, you might find that a school party, or bunch of friends, or sports team, has made a block reservation and the reserved carriage is busy.

It's just a chance you have to take.

Not making reservations gives you flexibility. You just have to follow the signs on the platform to get to the unreserved carriages, and take your chance with everyone else.

Maybe reserve the trains you know you're going to take (e.g. you might know that you're going to leave a town straight after breakfast, so you could reserve the appropriate train in advance), and don't reserve the other trains (e.g. if you're going to leave another town at some time in the afternoon, but you're not sure whether you'll be sightseeing until 2pm or 5pm).

One suggestion for your itinerary is that you might want to try to spend a night in Shirakawa between Kanazawa and Takayama (instead of one of your nights in Kanazawa, or your night in Takayama). You can get a late afternoon bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawa, arrive there shortly before dusk, stay in a gassho house, and get the first bus to Takayama in the morning, giving you most of a day to see the sights there.

Thanks for that, yes we did consider Shirakawa, we wondered that it may get too hectic being constantly on the move, being our honeymoon we want a good balance of activity and relaxation. I'll have another look into that if it's easy to do.
Has anyone done the Hiroshima to Mount Koya trip, was it easier via Kyoto or direct to Osaka?

IMHO, staying overnight in Shirakawa is an experience you'll remember.

As for getting there, it's a bus from outside Kanazawa train station. Which is the same way you'll get from Kanazawa to Takayama (I assume). Buses then go from Shirakawa to Takayama, and you can get one after breakfast (IIRC - we did the journey in the opposite direction, so I can't be absolutely sure. The relevant page on the main japan-guide website has links to the bus company website).

Kanazawa (again, IMHO) is a fantastic city, with lots to do and covering all sorts of interests (food, crafts: lacquer and gold leaf, art, gardens, samurai and ochaya districts, etc), and if you just stayed there for two nights you'd no doubt have a great time. Takayama (unless you're there for one of the festivals) has less to offer - although it is also really nice (the festival float hall, the 9 old streets, the sake and beef), but staying overnight at Shirakawa is unique.

Basically, you've got a great itinerary as it stands. Your only "problem" is thinking about swapping out one good thing for another (possibly great thing).

Also, if you're willing to omit Hakone (which I assume you're going to in order to stay in a romantic ryokan), you could do 2 nights in Kanazawa, a night in Shirakawa, a night in Takayama, and a night or two in a ryokan in the Oku Hida region (short bus ride from Takayama, and home to some most excellent ryokans which I suspect are likely to be less crowded than Hakone at most times of the year.

The main j-g website has good info on Oku Hida http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5942.html

We stayed at Yumoto Cyouza in Oct 2013, and it was wonderful. Easily in the top rank of the several ryokans we've stayed in in different parts of Japan. Particularly good for open air baths, and with lots of private baths (free - first come first served) as well as good public baths and excellent food http://www.onsenexpress.com/site/display/displayonsen.php?displayonsen...
http://www.cyouza.com/

Thanks for that, you've almost convinced us re Shirakawa, we thought of Hakone as another place to stay, near mount Fuji, where we could chill for a couple of days before heading off, walking etc...the Ryokan you recommend looks fantastic, we'll investigate that, maybe we could do a night there or similar and one in Hakone as it's on route back to Tokyo.
Any thoughts on two nights in Hiroshima v splitting with one in Miyajima?

My view (other will differ) is that Miyajima is nicer when all the other tourists have gone back to the mainland, so staying the night can be a nice thing - especially if it's at a point in your hol's where you might welcome some pure relaxation. There are limited (but expensive - due to the place being so popular) ryokan options as well. A longer stay will also give you more chance to see the "floating" tori at both high and low tides (although checking out the tide tables and coordinating ferry times can also make sure you get this experience on a day trip).

On the other hand, Hiroshima is a friendly and interesting town, with options for a nice evening out and a bit of city bustle.

I think it depends on what you're looking for. We like to mix things up, so if it were me, I'd look at the rest of my trip and consider the overall balance between city and countryside.

Re Shirakawa, one thing I'd definitely say is that if you're planning to stay there I'd make sure to stay in a place where you all eat around the irori (open hearth). This isn't the case in all accommodation there.

We stayed at minshuku Maguemon, and the evening experience (with about a dozen guests all sitting around eating together, and the food being cooked over the hearth, all trying to communicate in friendly and often hilarious sign language and a few words of our various mother languages) was one of the things that made it so memorable. That, and the lovely thing of having the village "to yourself" when all the tour buses have left for the night, and before they arrive in the morning.

Yes I think we'll try to do the first night in Miyajima. The open hearth Shirakawa idea would normally be of interest but we're definitely after lots of just us time for this trip and of course experiencing Japanese culture and the Japanese.
I love the idea of that feeling of having the village to ourselves as you put it!

Just another quick question, when we arrive at Haneda we will need to get to Kiyosumishirakawa which I believe is the nearest station to our hotel in Tokyo, would it be advisable for us to purchase the Pasmo card or the Suica card at the airport and if so would either card be transferable for use in other cities we are visiting (Kyoto, Hiroshima etc but we will have a JR pass which should cover some buses too anyway)? I understand that the connection out of Haneda does not accept these cards so would we simply pay for a ticket on the monorail?
Thanks

Anyone got any experience of these Plasma cards..question about? I know it seem obvious but...