Advice on my 18 days itinerary

Hi everyone, this is my first time to Japan, and currently this is the working itinerary i have now for my 18 days Japanese trip. Basically, i'll start at 12th May, which is well over Golden Week, but still in time to catch some seasonal flowers. the gist of my trip is as per follows:

12th May : Kansai - Tokyo (arr 6.40 a.m.)
13th May : Tokyo - Hitachi Seaside Park - Ashikaga Flower Park
14th May : Tokyo - Kamakura - Yokohama
15th May : Tokyo - Kawaguchiko + Shibazakura
16th May : Tokyo
17th May : Tokyo - Toyama ( late departure )
18th May : Toyama- Tateyama Alpine Route (end at Kurobe Dam)
19th May : Toyama - Kurobe Gorge - Takayama
20th May : Takayama - Furukawa - Shirakawa go
21th May : Takayama - Shin Hotaka Ropeway - Kamikochi - Takayama (early start at 7)
22th May : Takayama - Hiroshima
23th May : Hiroshima - Miyajima
24th May : Hiroshima - Okunoshima - Kyoto
25th May : Kyoto - Himeji - Nara -Kyoto
26th May : Kyoto
27th May : Kyoto
28th May : Kyoto – Osaka
29th May : Osaka - Kansai (10.30 am flight)

I have a few questions:

1. I'm starting to regret my decision to detour to toyama on 17th - 19th. The reason being is that Tateyama on May is covered in snow. I'm worried that it won't be a sight to see, and plus i will need to bring winter jacket that weights over 3 kgs. The highlight of the trip was supposed to be Daikanbo - Murodo - Jigokudani - Murodo. However, i understand that i can't hike around Murodo since it's covered in snow. Yuki Otani doesn't seem that interesting to me.

I'd rather have a greener destination. it's difficult to justify my detour to toyama only to see Kurobe dam scenic railway and snow capped mountains.

Another friend had suggested that i go for a hike at Happo Ike at Hakuba instead. However, i do not know if Happo Ike would still be covered in snow around 18th May. Can anyone advise me on this ? If Happo Ike is already full of lush greenery, i'd gladly change the itinerary at 17th - 19th to Matsumoto instead.

I'm thinking of cancelling my booking at toyama, and extending my stay at both Tokyo and Takayama instead. Are there any options of hiking in Toyama where i can see greenery like in Kamiichi?

2. Is it worth spending 1hrs +++ to see the nemophilias at hitachi on 13 May? I understand the event ends at 14 May. Is it better to see the wisterias at ashikaga on noon / night?

3. On 12th May, i expect to arrive from Kansai to Hostel around 1.30 at Asakusa. Should i do Yokohama straight away? My objective is only the cup noodle ramen museum, chinatown, red brick warehouse (sunset) and osanbashi pier to capture Yokohama's Minato Mirai famous scenery

4. Is Tokyo ICOCA usable in Yokohama and Kamakura? worth buying ICOCA for my itinerary?

5. I need to buy bus passess at takayama to get around, which is provided by Nouhi. I understand that roundtrip Shirakawa go is 4600- 4900 yen, and Kamikochi roundtrip takayama is 4400 yen.

There is an alpine pass 4 days that go to all of my wanted destination, but it will cost me 10,000 yen +

however, there is also a shin hotaka - takayama pass that is available for 4,410 yen that goes to Hirayu onsen. should i get this instead? The pass mentions free pass all the way to Hirayu Onsen, but none on Kamikochi as per this website : https://www.nouhibus.co.jp/english/ticket/

My 21st Itinerary should be as per following:

Takayama ( 7 am +) - Hirayu Onsen - Shin Hotaka - Hirayu Onsen - Hirayu Onsen Waterfall - Kamikochi - Takayama (expected return 9 pm)

6. Do i need to buy transport passes at Hiroshima? I only seek to see Miyajima, Peace Park and A-Dome

7. On the 24th, how many hours do i need to visit Okunoshima? Can i fit in Kurashiki on that day, seeing that they're on the same line, or is it fine as it is?


Any constructive feedback is appreciated, and do please reply!

2) Assuming they're still in bloom, I think the nemophilia are well worth it. I only saw the wisteria at ashikaga during the day; I bet it'd look nice at night too, but if I had to pick again I would choose the day again (as my hypothetical first time redo, I mean; if I were going again I'd go at night since I've already been there during the day.)

3) You could, but you'd probably be pretty tired, and Yokohama involves even more traveling around. I would recommend checking out the attractions around Asakusa and nearby areas (Sensouji, Ueno, Sky Tree, etc.) Being active and outside will also help with jetlag (if that's relevant to you.)

4) ICOCA is Kansai (Tokyo is SUICA,) but yes, both work pretty much everywhere. Normally I'd say it's worth it for the convenience factor with local trains, but you're not spending much time in Tokyo or Osaka... Note that you can only get a refund on the deposit and cash out of any remaining credit in the card's native area, so if you do get a card you should grab an ICOCA before heading to Tokyo.

6) No.

Sorry, don't know answers to 1 & 7.

Other comments:

a) You're doing a lot of day trips out Tokyo, but only have a day committed to Tokyo itself. Maybe you've researched it thoroughly and decided there's not much that interests you in Tokyo, but that aspect of your itinerary strikes me as a bit odd.

b) Himeji is on your way from Hiroshima to Kyoto. You can certainly do it as a day trip out of Kyoto, but you're going to burn several hours and a decent chunk of change to go somewhere that you passed by the day before. And if you do do it as a day trip, doing both it and Nara on the same day is unreasonable. Nara deserves at least a whole day on its own.

6. If you have the JR Pass, you can use on a JR sightseeing bus in Hiroshima and the ferry to Hiroshima (incl. the train to the ferry port)

@gfoulk :

2. My deliberation is that if the nemophilia is bad, i'd go straight to ashikaga and see if i can catch the wisterias

3. Yeah, i knew i'd be pretty tired after a red eye flight, but yokohama is like only 51 mins away from asakusa to sakuragicho station. Most of the attractions i'm going for is situated around that area, cup ramen museum, red brick warehouse and osanbashi pier as well as the chinatown. It makes sense to do yokohama then so then i may have more time for tokyo after im done with kamakura

4. thanks! so i will have to get ICOCA once i arrive at KIX?

A) Yes, that's because i want to save tokyo for my future trips, and that at this may there's a lot of special seasonal flower festival around tokyo that i don't want to miss. Some of them are really popular that it warranted people to travel all the way to Japan specifically for them.

Anyway, i'm considering if i should cancel my toyama detour in order to add one more night in tokyo and takayama. If i do so, i don't think my itinerary will be too rushed by then.

Is it worth it to go to tateyama just to see this? is the view that spectacular? Here's a sample of the view before 18th May

http://live-less-ordinary.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Tateyama-Kuro...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ewNknmDvkXI/UmJLLkZGmXI/AAAAAAAAA34/5qW6HcSn...

I was hoping to see a spectacular mixture of greenery and white, but not all white. When i checked accuweather forecast on that day, it is said to be sunny with some clouds..

On the third day in toyama, i was supposed to go and see kurobe gorge scenic railway after checking out.

if both 2 sites scenes aren't considered as that good, i'd rather cancel them

b) My JR Pass runs out on 25th. which is why i wanted to use them to go to Himeji. but Tokyo and Nara is so close, i bet the train fare isn't that expensive. should i move it to another day while im still in kyoto?

@jr..

Wow, is that true? thanks so much for the tip!

i have additional questions: Can i use ICOCA AT Kyoto? or is it better to buy the Kyoto day pass at 500 yen instead?

3) Yokohama is on your way back from Kamakura - I think your original plan makes a lot more sense, at least in terms of efficient use of time.

4) Yeah, at least if you want to be able to get the deposit and any remaining cash on the card back when you leave. Then again, if you're planning on coming back to Japan within the next few years I would just hold on to it. In that case you could get a SUICA in Tokyo, it wouldn't really matter.

A) Ah, makes sense. I understand the draw of the flower festivals, I timed my trip a couple years ago so I could see the nemophila and wisteria (I was there early May.) They were indeed spectacular, particularly the wisteria.

I've never done the route, but personally I don't think Tateyama is worth it for that, given that it's quite out of the way. And the road carved out of the snow looks cool, but the snow wall will probably be a lot less impressive by the latter part of May. By the way, there's no way the forecast is going to be accurate almost two month out - I'm rather surprised Accuweather even has a forecast that far out.

B) I assume you meant Kyoto and Nara, not Tokyo and Nara? Yeah, they're close and the ticket shouldn't be very much.

I think it would make the most sense to go to Himeji on the 24th, but with Okunoshima on the docket that might be difficult. If you have JR pass coverage than going on the 25th won't cost you anything except time, but that's still around 3 hours travel you could avoid.

@gfoulk:

2) we'll see how it goes, if im too tired, since im staying in Asakusa, i can always explore surrounding area on that day.

a) i was recommended to go to Happo Ike in Nagano, but if the situation is the same, i'd rather visit one snow capped mountain in Shin Hotaka. If there's no good reviews or strong recommendations, i might strongly consider dropping Toyama and then adding 1 night each at tokyo and takayama. more leisure time on both cities.

b) yes, kyoto and nara, the spelling is quite close for typo.

And yeah, i think i'm pressing it if i were to put Himeji on 24th. Okunoshima is said to take at least half a day just to get in and out. I heard it's a unique destination for nature lovers and rabbits. I know it's pushing it, but at 25th, the day my JR pass runs out, i think i will prioritize Himeji.

Does anyone here have any idea on how Shin Hotaka is like on May?