Questions about my 10 days Japan trip

Hi guys! My mother and I are planning to travel to Japan from May 18th to 28th this year. This is our first time visiting Japan and our first time traveling to a foreign country without a tour group. This is our plan, and we want to hear some advice from you guys.

-- 3 days in Tokyo (arrive on the 18th and leave in the early morning on the 21st): we plan to visit Skytree, Tokyo Tower, Meiji Shrine, Ginza District, Asakusa, Tsukiji fish market, and Imperial Palace

-- 2 days in Hakone/Mt. Fuji (arrive in the early morning on the 21st and leave in the early morning on the 23rd): we plan to stay in the K's House for both days - on the first day, we will follow the suggested Hakone round course. And on the second day, we want to go closer to Mt. Fuji, attend Fuji Shibazakura Festival, check out some of Fuji Five Lakes, and visit Chureito Pagod.

-- 5 days in Kyoto, Osaka, and then maybe Kobe (arrive to Kyoto in the morning on the 23rd and leave Japan on the night of the 28th): we haven't plan out the specific places that we want to visit at Kyoto and Osaka yet.

Some Questions:

1. Does this plan sound reasonable/realistic in terms of amount of time spend at each destination?

2. What transportation pass should we get to save money? Should we get JR Pass for the entire trip or different local passes such as the Suica Pass and Fuji Hakone Pass?

3. Should we spend just 1 day in Hakone and not another day to go to Mt. Fuji? We read many people saying that it is not worth it going closer to Mt. Fuji.

4. During the 5 days in Kyoto&Osaka&Kobe, should we book a different hotel for each city? Or is it possible to book only 1 or 2 hotels and travel between each city?

5. What is the current situation and policy with Airbnb in Japan? We are planning to use it for our entire Japan trip except for our visit to Hakone.

1) Seems pretty realistic to me!

2) Are you returning to Tokyo or are you flying out of Osaka? If you're returning to Tokyo, the 7 day JR Pass *might* be worth it, depending on what excursions you do. The Fuji Hakone Pass also might be worth it, but it's complicated by the fact that you probably want to be coming from Shinjuku but then leave via Odawara (no need to go back to Tokyo if you're headed to Kansai.) Not sure how that all plays out.

Regardless of what passes you get, you should get a Suica card because of it's convenience (note that Suica and other IC cards aren't passes - they're stored value cards, which you load money on. They don't save you any money, but don't really cost you either, and saves you from having to calculate fare every time you ride the subway.)

3) Don't have direct experience here so I'll leave this to others.

4) You can stay in one place the whole time. They're all very close to each other. Osaka is most central and would be most convenient if you're going to explore each city a similar number of days, but if you're planning on spending the bulk of your time in a particular city obviously it can be a bit more convenient to stay in that city. Your hotel's proximity to the main lines will have as much to do with convenience as which city you stay in. Also I recommend adding Nara to your list, as it's very much worth a visit.

5) My understanding is that you should be just fine. Obviously there's always a bit more risk than a fully licensed hotel/B&B, but that's true anywhere with Airbnb.

Question 3 - Hakone while it has views on Fujisan. It is not the best location if that is the reason to go to Hakone.

If you want to see Fujisan, go to Fuji five lakes.
If you want to see Hakone region, go to Hakone, if you see Fujisan, that is a bonus.

1 - Yes.

2 - No if that is a one way trip, yes if it is a round trip.

4 - As per gfoulk, It is possible to be based out from one city. Depending on what you want to see and where, either Osaka or Kyoto can be nice bases for day trips to the outlying cities. Nara is a much better draw than Kobe, as well.

3 - I agree with these people, a visit to the 5th stations and all of the five lakes are overrated. Interesting but not must sees. Hakone too, for that matter. Pray for good weather for the round course, fog or heavy rain will make you regret going there in the first place. If you do get a JR pass you might want to spend a night or two in Hiroshima/Miyajima instead (and visit Himeji and maybe Kobe either way from Osaka).