Japan 21 days Itinerary

Hi there!

From the 4th of April - 23rd of April my boyfriend and myself will travel through Japan by train (or bus if needed) for the first time, and we are really looking forward to this, so exciting!

After reading many travel articles about Japan, we have created the below 21 days itinerary, which we feel covers many of the things we want to experience in Japan.

My questions to you Japan experts;
- Would this be a good planning for 21 days? Or do you feel we should add or maybe skip something?
- Is Kamikochi already open on the 17th of April?
- Should we do 2 or 3 full days in Tokyo (besides the day trips)?

Thank you so much for your input, we appreciate it.

Japan 21 days Itinerary:
1 Arrival in Tokyo in the evening
2 Tokyo - Kyoto
3 Kyoto
4 Kyoto - Nara - Kyoto (day trip)
5 Kyoto
6 Kyoto - Koya-san
7 Koya-san
8 Koya-san - Osaka
9 Osaka - Himeji - Hiroshima
10 Hiroshima - Miyajima - Hiroshima (day trip)
11 Hiroshima - Kanazawa
12 Kanazawa
13 Kanazawa - Takayama
14 Takayama - Kamikochi - Takayama (day trip)
15 Takayama - Matsumoto - Tokyo
16 Tokyo
17 Tokyo - Kamakura - Tokyo (day trip)
18 Tokyo
19 Tokyo - Nikko - Tokyo (day trip)
20 Tokyo
21 Tokyo - Mount Fuji - Tokyo (day trip)
22 Tokyo
23 Departure from Tokyo in the morning

I'm not commenting on your itinerary, just advising you to finalise it and book accommodation ASAP for the earlier stages of your trip. Accommodation in a lot of areas, particularly Kyoto, started to book out months ago due to the cherry blossom season.

I'd say you have a pretty well balanced itinerary over all, but a few impressions...
For Kamikochi, I think you are in the ball park for opening day, but AFAIK the official first day has not been announced yet. I suggest you keep your schedule flexible.
For Tokyo, unless you really hate big cities, I'd say definitely put in 3 days for it. And with that, you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COJ_MeXbeow
plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb1wuyAGgyQ
and Abeno Harukas Bldg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AyUZmGbW8g
are wonderful.
Instead, take some day time and go see Kobe - it has a nice atmosphere and several great places to visit.
For your Day 9 there is really not enough time to see both Himeji and Hiroshima in a day. Stick with Himeji and see the castle, Kokoen Garden next to it, and if you can, go up to see Mt. Shosha.
For Day 10 you can see the main sights of Hiroshima and Miyajima is you have an early start. Everyone goes to see the Peace Park/Museum, but don't miss the Shukkeien Garden and castle. For Miyajima, the best sights to see are the Itsukushima Shrine, Daishoin Temple, and Mt. Misen.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7LcPcmoSg-iCNZ6AdsKGUB-HPKNxP1...
If you had a little more time, Iwakuni is a stone's throw past Miyajima and has a unique bridge and mountaintop castle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0COOZXi66mM
For Day 13, you might find Takayama rather touristy - but don't miss Shirakawago. It only takes a few hours to see.
For your time in the Tokyo area, if not too tiring you might group your day trips together and use a rail pass or regional pass for them. If you see Hakone there is the Hakone Free Pass. For Tokyo if you spend 3 consecutive days there, a 3 day subway pass is easy to make worthwhile.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03

Good balance, sufficient time allocated to each location. But like above, accommodation would be scarce due to cherry blossom period. Only the more expensive and the more out of the way lodgings should be left. Especially in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. You might have to stay in some smaller town like uji, fushimi, ikeda etc

Day 9 looks awfully full. You should drop Osaka or add is as another day. An early morning Himeji (8am) visit will get you to Hiroshima in time for lunch and the Peace Park/Castle can be done in that afternoon/evening.

You should also think about going to Kanazawa from Matsumoto on your journey west. It seems too much to double back since you're halfway to Kanzawa already when you're in Matsumoto.

Matsumoto-Takayama-Kanazawa fits most naturally between Tokyo and Kyoto.

Thank you all for your input, we really appreciate it. This is something we can work with so that we can finalize our planning. And as you say, start booking hotels :)

Thx!