Itineraries for 14 days, 13 nights Japan trip

I will be traveling to Japan with my 2 teenager boys, arrive at KIX on 23 Dec '15 at 8.30 AM and depart from NRT on 5 Jan '16 at 11 AM.
This is the first Japan trip for my boys.
We want to visit main attractions in Hiroshima + Miyajima, Himeiji Castle, Osaka + USJ, Kobe, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Takayama + Shirakawago, Lake Kawaguchi, Hakone, Gotemba, Yokohama, Nikko, Tokyo + Disney Sea.
Our plan is staying 1 night Hiroshima, 3 nights Osaka, 2 nights Kyoto, 1 night Takayama, 1 night Kawaguchi or Hakone (which one is better?), 1 night Nikko, 3 nights Tokyo, last night stay at Narita.
Is this route sounds good? If it looks to tight, which place do we need to skip to make the trip more enjoyable?.
Is it better to go straight to Hiroshima on our arrival day or stay in Osaka first ?.
Which one is a better way to go to Takayama, from Kyoto or Tokyo?.
Is the 14 days JR Pass will pay off the trip?.
Thank you so much for the advice/suggestion.

Hiroshima needs a full day. It depends on how much time you can allocate to it. IMO Hiroshima is more interesting than Osaka. But your teenage kids may differ...
I would take the train from Kyoto to Kanazawa. Take a bus to Takayama and back. Then take a train to Tokyo.
Another way is to train to Nagoya. Take slow train to Takayama and back, and then train to Tokyo.
When i say train i mean high speed fast trains e.g. Shinkansen

Thank you for your reply JH. It is really helpful to arrange my trip.
According to you which way going to Takayama is faster/better, via Kyoto or Nagoya?.
How about the trip to Kawaguchi & Hakone?. Do we need to stay over there for 1 night or just do the side trip from Tokyo?.
How about the JR Pass? Is it worthed to buy the 14 days Pass or just buy the regular tickets?
Once again thank you so much for the info given.

The 14 day pass will pay itself.
You should spend the night in Hakone/Kawaguchi just for the experience of Mt Fuji sunset/rise with a lake in the foreground. Also both towns are rural hot spring resorts that are fun to visit in itself.

Usually people pick Kawaguchi as there are a number of other lakes nearby.

I've never taken the Nagoya to Takayama route. I find Kanazawa to be far more interesting and would only do Takayama when there is left over time and as a side trip from Kanazawa.
That said the ride from Kyoto into Kanazawa goes past some small towns, snow mountains, and you can see the sea. I believe the train direct from Nagoya to Takayama has more mountanious views. But don't take my word for it.

According to
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5908.html
Going via Nagoya saves an hour.

Enjoy!

Thank you for the info. However, what do you think about our itinerary? Is it to cramped? Should we skip Kanazawa/Takayama?Is it better going to Hiroshima & Miyajima straight away upon arrival at KIX or staying the first night in Osaka then go for Hiroshima & Miyajima the next day, stay 1 night in Hiroshima then going back to Osaka for another 2 nights (leave our big luggage at Osaka hotel during Hiroshima trip).
Is it better going to Kawaguchi/Hakone from Kyoto or Tokyo?.
Thank you so much for any suggestion & info given.

Thank you for the info. However, what do you think about our itinerary? Is it to cramped? Should we skip Kanazawa/Takayama?Is it better going to Hiroshima & Miyajima straight away upon arrival at KIX or staying the first night in Osaka then go for Hiroshima & Miyajima the next day, stay 1 night in Hiroshima then going back to Osaka for another 2 nights (leave our big luggage at Osaka hotel during Hiroshima trip).
Is it better going to Kawaguchi/Hakone from Kyoto or Tokyo?.
Thank you so much for any suggestion & info given.

You only state the days but did not say what you plan to do. Don't expect to see all the attractions of Kyoto proper with your allocated time but with the time allocated, your trip could still be interesting. Truly depends on your plan.
What time is your flight in? This will answer whether to start in Hiroshima or Osaka.
If you skip Takayama where would you be instead? If you say Osaka, I would say do not skip. If you say, Kyoto, then it would be more interesting. If you want to stay an extra day in Fuji (as Kawaguchiko and Hakone cannot be seen in a day), this is fine too.
It is better to go From Tokyo. but if you are coming in from Kyoto, might as well go to Fuji area instead of going eastward to Tokyo and back west again.

Our flight will arrive at KIX at 8.30 AM.
We would like to see only the main or favorite attractions in each city/place. For example, will not visit every temple but only the best/favorite one in each place.
My boys who love Japanese food would also like to try the famous local food in each place.
For now our rough plan is:
Day 1, Dec 23: arr at KIX 8.30AM, stay in Osaka. Side trip to Kobe.
Day 2, Dec 24: stay in Osaka: USJ, Namba.
Day 3, Dec 25: Osaka castle, Grand Front Osaka, go to Hiroshima after lunch, stay 1 night in Hiroshima.
Day 4, Dec 26: Miyajima, after lunch go to Himeiji Castle, stay in Kyoto, sightseeing at Higashiyama.
Day 5, Dec 27: stay in Kyoto, side trip to Nara.
Day 6, Dec 28: Arashiyama, Nishiki market?. Go to Takayama. Stay 1 night.
Day 7, Dec 29: Shirakawago. Go to Kawaguchi/Hakone via ?. Stay 1 night at Kawaguchi or Hakone?.
Day 8, Dec 30: Tokyo, Gotemba.
Day 9, Dec 31: Tokyo Disney Sea.
Day 10, Jan 1: Nikko, stay 1 night.
Day 11, Jan 2: Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza.
Day 12, Jan 3: Tokyo, Asakusa, Sky Tree.
Day 13, Jan 4: Tokyo, Tsukiji market. Stay at Narita.
Day 14, Jan 5: Departure
We would be happy to have any suggestions to make our trip better & enjoyable.
Thank you so much for the info/suggestion.

Our flight will arrive at KIX at 8.30 AM.
We would like to see only the main or favorite attractions in each city/place. For example, will not visit every temple but only the best/favorite one in each place.
My boys who love Japanese food would also like to try the famous local food in each place.
For now our rough plan is:
Day 1, Dec 23: arr at KIX 8.30AM, stay in Osaka. Side trip to Kobe.
Day 2, Dec 24: stay in Osaka: USJ, Namba.
Day 3, Dec 25: Osaka castle, Grand Front Osaka, go to Hiroshima after lunch, stay 1 night in Hiroshima.
Day 4, Dec 26: Miyajima, after lunch go to Himeiji Castle, stay in Kyoto, sightseeing at Higashiyama.
Day 5, Dec 27: stay in Kyoto, side trip to Nara.
Day 6, Dec 28: Arashiyama, Nishiki market?. Go to Takayama. Stay 1 night.
Day 7, Dec 29: Shirakawago. Go to Kawaguchi/Hakone via ?. Stay 1 night at Kawaguchi or Hakone?.
Day 8, Dec 30: Tokyo, Gotemba.
Day 9, Dec 31: Tokyo Disney Sea.
Day 10, Jan 1: Nikko, stay 1 night.
Day 11, Jan 2: Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza.
Day 12, Jan 3: Tokyo, Asakusa, Sky Tree.
Day 13, Jan 4: Tokyo, Tsukiji market. Stay at Narita.
Day 14, Jan 5: Departure
We would be happy to have any suggestions to make our trip better & enjoyable.
Thank you so much for the info/suggestion.

Day 4 is too crowded. There's no way you can spend a morning at Miyajima, see Himeji castle and then also sightsee in Kyoto. The Higashiyama area has a lot of sights and can take a whole day, if not more! And Hiroshima is quite far away; you probably won't get to Kyoto until late afternoon so you won't have much time before the major sights close. Consider seeing Fushimi Inari that day; that has no closing times.

Your last day in Tokyo (Tsukiji Fish Market) is quite empty. The fish market is best in the early morning (i.e. 4am for the tuna auction; around 6-7am for general look around), so you've got a lot more time there.

i can't help a lot with the other bits, but you might want to nail down exactly what you plan to see on your tokyo days. for example, the day you are doing skytree, it's easily walkable from asakusa and the senso-ji temple (a very large complex, worth seeing) and i would suggest doing both of those things together in a day. on the days you are going to shinjuku and shibuya, what do you want to see there? there are large shopping districts, but if you just sort of amble, you may find only crowds and new year's shopping sales.

my suggestion is, on your shinjuku day, provided it's not a day when things are closed (you would need to check the website), to go to the tokyo metropolitan government building and go to the 42nd floor observatory. it's free, and has great views of the city. you can get there via the toei oedo subway line, getting off at tochomae stop (basically the basement of the building itself). the oedo line connects to shinjuku on your way back, so you could go around there if you wanted to see the sites (maybe stopping in at a big department store or something). afterwards, it might be worth going to the meiji shrine outside harajuku station, and then walking takeshita street (which will be crowded, but it's an experience). it's also easy to walk to shibuya from harajuku, where you could see hachiko and scramble crossing. if you figure you will end in shibuya, figure out what you want to do after nightfall: karaoke, izakaya, or dinner at a restaurant, maybe.

i would personally not recommend ginza or roppongi, as they are mostly just foreign tourist traps and expensive shopping, but maybe you are interested in that. unless you plan to hit up an illuminations show in one of those locations, which should still be going on. the best shows, however, are outside the city: last year i saw the illuminations at sagamihara's oddly named "pleasure forest" and they were very, very impressive, but it's a haul to get out there if you are short on time and going from the city. just an idea, though. i believe they usually run after new year's for a week or two.

Thank you sq & kay for your info & suggestions. Really appreciate it.
So we will revise our day 4: to Fushimi Inari.
For day 5: Is it possible to do half day Higashiyama + Arashiyama or side trip to Nara?
Day 6: Nishiki market? Or any other interesting place in Kyoto before we leave for Takayama?
Any other suggestions for day 5 & 6?
Day 11: sky tree, asakusa, senso-ji temple
Day 12: tokyo metropolitan govt bldg, shinjuku, meiji shrine, harajuku, shibuya (we love hachiko). After that we would like to have a good but not too expensive japanese food for dinner (we love japanese food)
We want to go to Ginza & Roppongi just for sightseeing. So on which day do you think it's better to go?
Is the "pleasure forest" far from Tokyo city & difficult to find for non japanese speaking?
Day 13: Tsukiji market + ?. Any other suggestions?
Any idea which one has better offer & varieties for shopping, Rinku or Gotemba?
Anyone knows about the price of Samsonite/Rimowa/Tumi luggage in Japan? Are they about the same price as the ones in Europe/USA?
Thank you so much for the info & suggestions.

Here is the website for the pleasure forest illumination in English, though it has not yet been updated with 2015 information:

http://www.sagamiko-resort.jp/english/event/

The trains getting there are not a problem, but you do have to get on a bus in order to get to the area itself, as it is a bit remote. If you make sure you know the characters for the name, I think you will be alright. If I am remembering correctly, getting on is done at the bus stop furthest away from Sagami-ko Station (of which there are only 2 or 3, it is not large at all). We were pretty impressed with the number of lights, but if you don't fancy going out that way, Roppongi also has a much smaller illumination show that you could easily walk to on that day during the evening.