7 days japan, different itinerary

Hi,

i've already been in japan last year visiting classic places like Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Kamakura.

In may i will come back in japan alone for 1 week and i would like to visit something new.
I will arrive in tokyo on 19th may and i will leave tokyo on 27th may. Itinerary should be something like this :
20 may : Tokyo
21-24 : ????
25-27 : Tokyo again

Could you suggest me some nice places for 21-24 may ? I like old tipical town (on my first trip i enjoyed Kamakura a lot) full of temples and historical site. I think some options could be :
- kawaguchiko - matsumoto or takayama
- nikko - kawagoe/???

I'm not really impressed by these spots, if you have better suggestions i will be happy to read them :-)
I would like to sleep outside Tokyo, so i will be able to move quicker between towns.

Thanks for your help !

Instead of flying into Tokyo, fly into another city and fly out of Tokyo (open jaw) or pay for a connecting flight to another city to start off. This would give you a lot more options as you wouldn't have to backtrack or circle.

For example, fly into Fukuoka. You could check out a couple of places around Fukuoka, then head up to Tsuwano for the shrine and canals, then Matsue and Izumo. From there you could make your way to Takayama or Kanazawa before catching a shinkansen back to Tokyo.

You could fly into Sapporo and work your way south to Tokyo.

Starting in Tokyo and ending in Tokyo uses a lot of time just getting out of the Kanto if all you want to see there is Nikko.

I have already booked the flight (both on narita).
I am thinking to stay 1 day in tsumago-magome and visit the old postal way and 1 day in takayama. What do you think about these city ? Other suggestions? (I have one more empty day to plan)

I was going to suggest Kanazawa but you can easily spend 2-3 days there and I see you now need suggestions for one day. So save that for next time. Maybe Nikko if you haven't been there on previous trips?

Yeah, Nikko can be a good idea.
I have done a lot of research these days. I think this can be a good itinerary :
day1 : Tokyo
day2 : Tokyo-Tsumago. Walk from Tsumago to Magome
day3: Magome-Takayama
day4: Takayama. back to Tokyo in launch/afternoon
day5: Tokyo
day6: Nikko
day7: Tokyo.

What do you think ? My only concern is travelling. From Tokyo to Tsumago/Magome should require 4-5 hours; Magome/Tsumago to Takayama should be 4-5 hours and Takayama-Tokyo should be another 4-5 hours. Around 15hours travelling to visit 2 places (in 2-3 days)