Itinerary Help for 10 days in Japan

Hello,

We are landing at Narita for 10 days in Japan. Late August (hot). First time visitors (early 40s) with interest in food, music, and unique japanese experiences (onsens, karaoke, robot bar, ryoken, food food food). Will see a few shrines and temples but that is not our focus.

Day 1: Tokyo (arrive late)
Day 2: Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo
Day 4: Tokyo/Hakone (leave for Hakone in morning, stay night in Hakone)
Day 5: Hakone/Kyoto (leave for Kyoto mid-day)
Day 6: Kyoto
Day 7: Kyoto/Hiroshima (leave for Hiroshima mid-day)
Day 8: Hiroshima (maybe day trip to Miyajima or not)
Day 9: Hiroshima to Tokyo
Day 10: Depart Narita

We're worried about the heat. Will we want to do ryoken/onsen in Hakone when weather is warm? Should we visit Nikko instead because less hot? Should we drop Hiroshima because it's too much for a 10 day trip? Should we change everything and head for cooler areas (northern Honshu, Karuizawa, Kamikouchi, Nikko)??? So many options!

Thank you so very much for any input :)

It is partly up to what climate you are used to. Are you OK with temperatures above 33, or 35 degrees C? If you are from warm countries all you have to deal with is the humidity. but if you are used to cooler temperatures, you will suffer with both temperature and the humidity. Kyoto does get very hot in summer. So does Tokyo.

People dip into hot springs even in summer, but whether you enjoy it or not will be another question.

If you want to avoid the heat altogether, you might consider Hokkaido, etc., but that is for nature and flowers in summer, so it is not quite what you seek in your trip to Japan :(

Thank you for the advice. We're from southern california so used to high temps but it's usually low humidity. We've visited southeast asia before during late fall and it was quite hot/humid but manageable.

Any advice on the itinerary in general beyond my heat concerns? Thank you!

If you're not too interested in temples/shrines I think that time in Kyoto is enough. Typical late August temperature/humidity will mean that it's very energy sapping.

In terms of switching out Hakone for other places, to be honest, I think it's fine like that. Unless there is a specific thing you would like to do at one of the other places, Hakone is a good pitstop on your way from Tokyo to Kyoto. If your only reason o go to Hakone is to go to a ryokan though, there are plenty in other places (staying at a ryokan at Miyajima instead could also be an option?).

If you are interested in food though, Osaka is generally considered the food city of Japan - okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. etc. It's close enough to Kyoto that a lot of people stay at Osaka while catching the train to Kyoto for sight seeing to hit 2 birds with 1 stone.

To do Miyajima in the itinerary will be a push.

Personally with only 10 days. I wouldn't bother with Hiroshima/Miyajima. But if you still wanna, then keep the itinerary as is. Being that you aren't too much into temples, then the itinerary is good as is.

2 days, 4 nights in Tokyo
1 day, 1 night in Hakone
1.5 days, 1 night in Kyoto
1 day, 1 night in Hiroshima.

As above, if food is a interest. I'd agree to stay in Osaka. Travel to Kyoto's highlights by private railways, Arashiyama, Kiyomizudera, Fishimi Inari and eat like gods in Osaka at night.

Thank you so much for all the excellent advice!

We're now looking at changing itinerary to move Hakone to the Japan Alps and drop Hiroshima. Possible itinerary as follows:

Day 1: Tokyo (arrive late)
Day 2: Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo to Takayama
Day 4: Takayama to Shin-Hotaka Onsen
Day 5: Shin-Hotaka Onsen to Shirakawa-go
Day 6: Shirakawa-go to Kyoto/Osaka
Day 7: Kyoto/Osaka
Day 8: Kyoto/Osaka
Day 9: Kyoto/Osaka to Tokyo
Day 10: Depart Narita

This is basically a rip-off of the Lonely Planet 10 day itinerary. Ughh.

Are the Japanese Alps lower temp in late August and early September? Should we stick with the original itinerary? So confused.

sure Japanese Alps have lower temperatures. they are really nice in summer.

also many nice trips there, where no tourists are... for example in the highlands https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/三本滝

I live in southeast asia, and Japan's August heat and humidity was hard and uncomfortable even for me.

Tsukiji is a good place to have sushi and sashimi. Any of the restaurants are good. We ate at Hokkai Banya earlier this year.

Dotonbori is foodie heaven in Osaka. We had our fill of okonomiyaki and takoyaki in this area. Don't forget to take a picture of the Glico man and the animatronic crabs.

I love gyudon so Yoshinoya, Matsuya and Suki-ya are good, delicious and affordable "fastfood" joints for this. They are everywhere and offer other dishes aside from gyudon.

Maisen in Shibuya is famous for tonkatsu.

Honke Owariya in Kyoto is the oldest restaurant in Japan. They specialize in soba and confectioneries.

Not sure if sitting in a hot spring in the middle of summer is recommendable. I did this once and I felt that I was going to faint.

Thanks hey. I must say that I would probably opt out of the hot springs bit. Getting a bit worried about the heat

Thanks everyone for the tips. Very much appreciated.

We've altered out route after many days of research. New plan is as follows:

Day 1: Tokyo (arrive late)
Day 2: Tokyo
Day 3: Tokyo
Day 4: Tokyo to Matsumoto
Day 5: Matsumoto to Kanazawa via Alpine route
Day 6: Kanazawa
Day 7: Kanazawa to Kyoto
Day 8: Kyoto (maybe day trip to Osaka)
Day 9: Kyoto to Tokyo
Day 10: Depart Narita

We might just stay one night in Kanazawa and go to Kyoto next day. REALLY wish we had a full 2 weeks because it would be nice to have more time in Matsumoto, Kanazawa, and more time to visit Osaka. But we are fortunate enough to even have the 10 days.

Some helpful links that guided our decision for anyone looking at similar routes:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7552.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7550.html
http://love-and-adventure.com/kurobe-alpine-route/
http://nerdnomads.com/japan-two-week-itinerary
http://nerdnomads.com/alpine-route-japan
https://www.alpen-route.com/en/courses/course07.html

Any feedback is appreciated!! Thank you all for helping us plan our route.

Day 6 - I would have the day in Kanazawa and travel to Kyoto latish. Say 4pm or so? It is a 120 minute trip, so even a 6pm departure would work?

Having the early morning (7-8am) in Kyoto to go to Fishimi Inari or Kiyomizadera is better than arriving day 7 in the middle of the day.