Suggestions on itinerary

Hi! I would like to make sure if this plan is good for our family, which includes two young adults and two seniors. We will be going to Japan in late October. I will also greatly appreciate suggestions on what we should do.

I actually like fast pace travel, but I know that my parents prefer slow pace. So I tried to plan our trip so that everyone will be happy.
What I like: pop culture, history and what my family like: gardens, nature, history, city lights

Day 1 Flight to Tokyo (at evening in Tokyo)
Day 2 Tokyo: Odaiba, Harajuku, Shibuya
Day 3 Tokyo: Akihabara
Day 4 Tokyo: Ueno, Ginza
Day 5 DisneySea
Day 6 Tokyo: Ikebukuro
Day 7 Tokyo: Shinjuku, Nakano, Tokyo Dome
Day 8 Tokyo: Asakusa, Ueno
Day 9 Tokyo to Kamakura, Kamakura | Yokohama
Day 10 Yokohama to Kyoto (maybe via Tokyo), Kyoto
Day 11 Kyoto: Ginkakuji, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion
Day 12 Kyoto: Kinkakuji, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, Fushimi Inari
Day 13 Kyoto to Iga, Iga | Nara | Osaka
Day 14 Osaka to Himeji, Himeji | Hiroshima
Day 15 Miyajima | Kanazawa
Day 16 Kanazawa | Kawagoe | Tokyo
Day 17 Flight from Tokyo (in the morning)

* | travelling

Also I don't know what I should do with Day 3 & 6. As I am an animefan, I know I will be running around from one shop to another, but for my family that will be boring. If you know other activities which can be done in Akihabara and/or Ikebukuro, please tell me. Of course, one plan is to leave them somewhere else, but I think reuniting will be a problem and in the end the parents want us to be close together.

Another thing which I am worrying about is Kiyomizu-dera. My mother suffers from knee problems so stairs always cause a problem. I have read here that you can take a taxi near Kiyomizu-dera, but there still will be many stairs left. So I want to ask how steep the stairs are and if it is worth the pain (for my mother). In the end, if my mother does not want to climb, is there any good place where she can rest while the rest take a quick look?

Thank you in the advance for the help.

if this plan is good for our family, which includes two young adults and two seniors.
I know that my parents prefer slow pace.
So I tried to plan our trip so that everyone will be happy.

I see, but some days sound still a little packed for elderly travelers....

It may be better
to narrow down sites to visit in Tokyo
and allot one or a few days instead for your trips in western Japan.

What days will your days in Japan exactly be?
That may concern
crowdedness at some popular tourist spots
and also the gap between high and low peaks of tides at Miyajima Port,
which affects scenes with Torii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine.

Day 11 Kyoto: Ginkakuji, Kiyomizu-dera, Gion
I have read here that you can take a taxi near Kiyomizu-dera, but there still will be many stairs left.
So I want to ask how steep the stairs are and if it is worth the pain (for my mother).

Well, that should depend on person and his/her physical conditions,
but Kiyomizu-dera Temple seems to have a barrier-free route (for wheelchair users) which includes slopes but no stairs.

In Street View on Google Maps,
you see some visitors, though not many, using a stick on the slope of Kiyomizu-dera.

Day 12 Kyoto: Kinkakuji, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, Fushimi Inari

That may be a bit hectic.

If this day is in a weekend, maybe you'd better to get early to Kyoto Imperial Palace.
Since 26 July 2016,
Kyoto Imperial Palace has been open to the public with no reservation to be made,
so it may attract many visitors on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

In October 2016, Kyoto Imperial Palace will be open from 9:00 to 16:00, with entry permitted by 15:20.

Day 13 Kyoto to Iga, Iga | Nara | Osaka

What do you plan to do in Iga and Nara?
You can stay overnight in Nara and make a trip to Iga,
which may be better if you have several things to do in each of the two cities.

- How to travel between Nara and Kyoto
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4107.html
- How to travel between Iga Ueno and Kyoto
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4353.html

Day 14 Osaka to Himeji, Himeji | Hiroshima
Day 15 Miyajima | Kanazawa

I recommend you reconsider this part.

It takes
about 1 hour to go from Hiroshima Station to Miyajima Pier
and at least 4 and a half hours to go from Miyajima Pier to Kanazawa Station,
so you may not have enough time on browsing in both Miyajima and Kanazawa on that day.

what my family like: gardens, nature, history, city lights
Day 14 Osaka to Himeji

Near Himeji Castle is Kokoen (with the first "o" pronounced long) Garden.
Your mother might hope to visit the garden while you climb up the donjon then get back.

Himeji Castle can be seen from a certain distance,
but routes to its donjon include slopes,
and inside the Main Keep,
there are narrow and steep staircases while there is no elevator.

Himeji Castle's Main Keep is counted
as one among the twelve keeps in Japan which have existed since before Meiji Era;
this main keep got renovated only recently,
so you may see its beautiful exterior, especially when the weather is fine.

Day 16 Kanazawa | Kawagoe | Tokyo

Kawagoe is not on the fastest route (by Hokuriku Shinkansen) from Kanazawa to Tokyo.

You can get off your train at Omiya (with "O" pronounced long) Station and visit Kawagoe,
but depending on where in Tokyo you will stay overnight,
it may be easier to go strait to Tokyo and make a round-trip to Kawagoe.

- How to get to Kawagoe
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6505.html

A typo is found.

NOT: to go strait to Tokyo
BUT: to go straight to Tokyo

For Day 4- I would suggest going to imperial palace, there is a park like place to stroll, you can also go around Tokyo station and walk around marunouchi area then go to Ginza (it is also possible to walk to Ginza), there are some nice restaurants and cafe along the way
If I was you, I would totally skip ueno- you are doing it anyway on another day
Evenings you can try yaki tori dinner under the bridge at Ginza/Shinbashi area
Lot of walking but slow paced in this plan

Day 2 Tokyo: Odaiba, Harajuku, Shibuya
Day 3 Tokyo: Akihabara
Day 4 Tokyo: Ueno, Ginza
Day 5 DisneySea
Day 6 Tokyo: Ikebukuro
Day 7 Tokyo: Shinjuku, Nakano, Tokyo Dome
Day 8 Tokyo: Asakusa, Ueno

I would change the order of visits, and add some nice places of sightseeing, though, personally, there are some destinations that are of no interest for me in your list (sorry).

Day 2: Odaiba, and (by water bus to) Asakusa
Day 3: Imperial Palace (and its East Garden) , Ginza, Akihabara, Ueno (these three on foot on Chuo Dori Street, or by Tokyo Metro Ginza line)
Day 4: Harajuku, Meiji Jingu shrine(a must), Shibuya
Day 5: DisneySea
Day 6: Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Nakano
Day 7: Tokyo Dome, Koishikawa Korakuen garden, Kagurazaka, Yasukuni shrine
Day 8: Enoshima, Kamakura (to Fujisawa by Tokaido Line to change for Enoden), and stay at Yokohama
Day 9: Yokohama and to Kyoto

Dear omotenashi,
I also feel that I located too many days to Tokyo, but I think there is at least one thing to see in each area and if I put everything together it would be too much trouble for my parents (from my experience; they only remember that we travelled from one place to another in Vienna). I think I will cut something out if they feel tired.

I actually hoped that we would be for 21 days (which would add more Kansai days and also Kyushu), but as we have different schedules that is impossible. We will be there from 29.10. to 14.11. so sights might be crowdy, but not as much as later in November (I hope).

Thank you for telling me about a barrier-free route. We definetely will be using that.

Yeah, our last full day in Kyoto is packed. I am thinking to move some sights to the first Kyoto day depending where our hotel is. If everything goes by plan, we will be arriving by noon to Kyoto, so we have some time to go sight-seeing that day.

Iga has the ninja museum which organizes those ninja shows. However, as I read here, they might cancel shows. So if that day does not have any shows then we will just go to Nara (deers and Todaiji). Osaka will be mostly be our dinner and resting place as Osaka seems to have many cheap options and is close to Nara.

Yeah, she wont climb to the top of Himeji Castle. I will suggest Kokoen Garden to her.

Dear Kamal,
Imperial Palace and its garden is perfect for my parents so will be definitely going there. Marunouchi area seem interesting so we might just explore there (and find some good eating place) before we go to Ginza.

I cut Ueno actually to two parts as one is for sights and another part is for shopping in Ameyoko market street, but yeah, it might be better if we did all things in Ueno in same day.

Dear ...,
No worries, everyone have different interests.

I didn't know you can go to Asakasa from Odaiba. It seems a good idea to put them together if it is possible.

Yeah, Akihabara alone might be too boring for my family. We might go Imperial Palace before Akihabara, but if we also go to Ginza (exploring area & Kabuki-za) and Ueno (exploring area & Ameyoko), it might become too hectic.

I wasn't sure about Meiji Jingu shrine, but if you think it is must we will be going there.

I will add Koishikawa Korakuen garden and Yasukuni shrine to do list and Kagurazaka seems a good place to have a dinner.

By your plan, we could have one day more in Kyoto which would be great and see more leisurely Kamakura (+Enoshima which seems to be a fine and relaxing resort). Hopefully, we can do Tokyo sights with one less day than I planed.

You wrote:
Day 15 Miyajima | Kanazawa
Day 16 Kanazawa | Kawagoe | Tokyo

What are you planning to do in Kanazawa? That's a lot of traveling to stay only one night. Personally I hate packing and unpacking and dragging suitcases around so prefer to stay 2-3 nights everywhere I go. And you can fill three days in Kanazawa with no trouble.

Dear SkipperL,
The main interest in Kanazawa is Kenrokuen Garden. We might arrive Kanazawa late in the night, but I thought that we would start the next day by going to the garden. Also after being in the garden for 1-2 h, we could explore Higashi Chaya a bit.

Of course if everybody is too tired then we would skip Kawagoe. Tecnically, we will travel only with backpacks, but we might use coin lockers on the trip.

Actually our original plan was to go to Shirakawa-go from Hiroshima via Kanazawa, but that would be too much. But I agree that specially this last day before the flight might be a bit stressful.