20 day trip to Japan - problems?

This is a rough schedule of my trip. Does anyone see any potential problems? If anyone knows of some good places to visit that are associated with classic Japanese cinema, please let me know.

JAPAN (20)

FLIGHT (1)

TOKYO (2)
tokyo national museum (taito)
senso-ji (sumida)
asakusa shrine (sumida)
sanrio (chuo)
imperial palace (chiyoda)
club sega (chiyoda)
super potato (chiyoda)
leisure land (chiyoda)
akihabara lights (chiyoda)

TOKYO (3)
tokyo tower (minato)
zojo-ji (minato)
sengaku-ji (minato)
meiji-jingu (shibuya)
toho studios (setagaya)
shunjuen cemetery (tama)

NIKKO (4)
nikko station
shinkyo bridge
shoyo-en
rinno-ji
toshugu shrine
futarasan shrine
taiyuinbyo
kanmangafuchi abyss

KAMAKURA (5)
tsurugaoka-hachiman-gu
enno-ji
choju-ji
kencho-ji
hansobo
kakuon-ji
kamakura-gu
zuisen-ji
sugimoto-dera
hokoku-ji
myoho-ji
anyo-in cemetery
ankokuron-ji
komyo-ji
zaimokuza-yugihama beach

KAMAKURA (6)
hase-dera
daibutsu
sasuke inari-jinja
zeniarai benten
jochi-ji
tokei-ji
engaku-ji

IZU-OSHIMA (7)
chouon-ji
kinko-ji
kaichu-ji
myoan-ji
mount mihara
gojira statue
hama-no-yu onsen
chigasaki point scuba
camellia park

NAGOYA (8)
inuyama castle
nagoya castle
robot museum
atsuta shrine

MATSUMOTO (9)
matsumoto castle
japan folklore museum
nawate-dori
nakamachi-dori

HIKONE/OTSU (10)
hikone castle (hikone)
genkyu-en (hikone)
ryotan-ji (hikone)
ishiyama-dera (otsu)
hiyoshi taisha (otsu)
mount hiei (otsu)

KYOTO (11)
horin-ji (north)
arashiyama monkey park (north)
koryu-ji (north)
toei movie land (north)
myoshin-ji (north)
ryoan-ji (north)
ninna-ji (north)
kinkaku-ji (north)
daitoku-ji (north)
imamiya-jinja (north)

KYOTO (12)
sento palace (central)
imperial palace (central)
nijo castle (central)
higashi-hongan-ji (central)
nishi-hongan-ji (central)
kyoto tower (central)
to-ji (central)
tofuku-ji (central)
nintendo headquarters (central)
fushimi inari shrine (central)

KYOTO (13)
sanjusangen-do (east)
kiyomizu-dera (east)
kinnan-ji (east)
gion (east)
kodai-ji (east)
yasaka shrine (east)
chionin-ji (east)
shoren-in (east)
heian shrine (east)
konichi-in (east)
nanzen-ji (east)
eikan-do (east)
philosopher�fs path (east)
ginkaku-ji (east)

NARA (14)
byodo-in
kofuku-ji
gango-ji
shin-yakushi-ji
kasuga taisha
todai-ji
isuien garden
horyu-ji

KOYA (15)
dai-mon
garan complex
kongobu-ji
nyonin-do
okunoin cemetery
hall of lanterns

OSAKA (16)
osaka castle
shitenno-ji
sumiyoshi taisha shrine
tamatsukuri inari shrine

HIMEJI (17)
himeji castle
harakiri-maru
koko-en
senhemi shrine

FUKUOKA/HIROSHIMA (18)
shofoku-ji (fukuoka)
fukuoka castle (fukuoka)
momochi beach (fukuoka)
sky dream (fukuoka)
mitaki-dera (hiroshima)
hiroshima castle (hiroshima)
shukkei-en (hiroshima)
peace park (hiroshima)

MIYAJIMA (19)
daisho-in
senjokaku
itsukushima shrine
floating torii
mount misen

FLIGHT (20)

Your itinerary is NOT DOABLE.

You will not be able to visit all the places on days 1,5,11,12,13,18 for 1 day each. I can't comment on days 7-10, 14, 15 because I haven't been there yet.

Do more research on the travel time in between the places and the business time of each place for a more feasible schedule.

For example, I limited the places you can do in day 1
tokyo national museum (taito)
senso-ji (sumida)
asakusa shrine (sumida)
imperial palace (chiyoda)
akihabara lights (chiyoda)
club sega (chiyoda)

I think you should allot 1/2half day for sanrio alone

Way too many places! And please look up travel times between cities. You seem to neglect them.

You have jammed A LOT into day 2.

Also one major item I am very worried about is unless you are traveling for religious purposes, or have a very very fond fascination with temples, you will seriously. seriously, be "templed out". Even most Japanese people I know get tired after seeing 2 or 3 temples.

Many of the days are simply not possible, unless you just want to turn up at each site, take a photo outside and leave. Even then some days would be tight with all the travelling time. Some of the attractions will take an hour, other need a half-day to do them justice. Then allowing time for travelling, waiting for trains, checking into hotels, moving your luggage, finding somewhere to eat, eating, and getting lost - it all gets a bit crazy. Currently, to me it looks like a stressful and unfulfilling trip.

Other days should be fine, but that depends on where you intend to stay each night (which you haven't told us and when you intend to travel). E.g. the Nara day is fine as a busy day trip from Kyoto, but it becomes tight if you're then trying to get to Koya san for dinner.

As above, where is your travel time? getting to Izu-Oshima takes half a day just in itself, and then getting from there to Nagoya is going to take most of a day. How will you travel around Izu-Oshima? Unless you rent a car you will have trouble accessing some of those areas, as public transport is not frequent. You would have to run to see even half of the temples/shrines in your Kamakura list, and very soon they are all going to start looking the same anyway.

You have the same issues with time to travel between places and far too many sites on a lot of other days- look into travel times before you do anything else, as you may have to make major modifications to your itinerary.

Hello I am 41. At my age I just chose about 5-10 things that I might want to see in each area. Then if I have time I fit other things in. I usually do have more time and I get to see plenty.
For example I plan to go to a certian museum, not rush through it experience all it has to offer. Then I walk around the museum and I always find several other things to do near the museum area.
Maybe you are young and just want to say been there done that.
But you might find quality over quantity, is another way to look at it.
Coming from the Los Angeles area,
I still have not seen everything it has to offer.
I think you will have a great trip whatever you decide.
If your young and full of energy just GO FOR IT??
I have the advantage of time off because I am a teacher, so I have learned to take my time.
Let us know what you do. Maybe you will set a sight seeing record.

thanks for the responses thus far. many of the cities (kamakura, kyoto, etc.) will be done on bicycle - and most of the temples will be outside viewing anyways. still, i probably need to trim them down to avoid temple fatigue. i'm fascinated by the architecture and will be building my own pagoda soon. everything seems to close around 4pm in japan which is going to hurt. maybe i'll post a revision soon.

If you are getting around on a bicycle, don't underestimate how spread out Kyoto is. No way in the world will you be able to get to all the sites on your days in Kyoto on a bicycle- or by any other form of transport really. You might manage half of them if you really rush and don't stop to eat!

You don't say when you are coming, but if it is in summer you might have to cut back even more-overdoing it is not recommended during the very hot and humid summers here.
Parts of Kamakura are quite hilly so factor that in as well.

If you like architecture then you have to do way more than taking a quick photo from the outside.
Many temples look relatively plain from the outside. The interesting part is the complex structure of the posts and beams and the often complex roofs structures.
Also a temple, or a shrine, is often not just one building but a collection of many buildings spread out in a big park. In some places all you see of a temple is a high fence in wood or earth.. You have to enter to see the garden and the buildings themselves.

Same things with castles..the ones in Osaka, Himeji, Matsumoto, for example, have a big park around them...and surely you aren't going to ride a bike between Tokyo and Osaka???

If you post your revision indicating where you intend to stay and when you intend to travel, we could probably help with more specific advice. I guess if you travel in the evening and eat on the train, you could make the most of your time after things have shut.

Also bear in mind that it gets dark relatively early in Japan, even in the summer, maybe by 7pm (in fact I'm convinced we're in the wrong time zone). Also, as Sira says, depending on the time of year, your travel might be slower and, if it is at other times, you have absolutely no slack time built into your plan so you may miss things if you lose an outdoor day or so to heavy rain.

Specific advice:
If you drop Fukuoka, then the end of your trip becomes more comfortable.
Dropping Kamakura will avoid the temple overload and gives you extra time for doing all you want in Tokyo/Kyoto. Then you could go straight to Matsumoto from Tokyo and on to Nagoya and Hikone, which would be easier than backtracking.
Bare in mind that something like visiting Inuyama castle could take up most of a day in itself; as travelling there and back from Nagoya will take several hours and the castle is some distance from the station (really nice walk through the old town though), and then maybe an hour in the castle - worth the time in my opinion.

Or instead, if you're desperate to go to Izu-oshima, it make more sense to get the quick ferry there direct from Tokyo and stay there to give yourself time to see all you want. Then onto Nagoya missing out Matsumoto.

I know it seems like everyone is being negative, we just trying to help you be realistic about what's possible in a short trip to a huge country.

Hope that helps.

Wow, a very ambitious travel plan. I would say just use it at a checklist of places you CAN visit. And then if you covered 25% say you succeeded...
You mentioned that you will do the sightseeing places by bike. Unless you want to rent a bike -if possible- on all those places check how you can bring your bike from let's say Tokyo to Kamakura on a train. And maybe somebody can respond to that because i think there are all kind of restrictions (time when allowed and so on) for bikes on trains/metro/buses. BTW You do not see too many bikes in trains!!
B. Salger

The bike info will be around on the internet somewhere, but if I recall correctly you need to remove the front wheel (if it's not a folding bike), and put it in a special bag to take it on the train, as well as paying a fare for the bike as well. As above times are restricted, and you wouldn't even want to consider taking a bike on a rush hour train anyway, multiple injuries (and possibly damage to the bike) would result!

I should clarify that I would be renting a bike in the cities, not transporting one. After reading initial reactions, I've decided to drop the Tokyo National Museum, Fukuoka, 50% of Kamakura, and expanded Kyoto by one day. Might drop Oshima too. I won't be going for about a year so I have more time to plan. I really am more of a 'see as much as possible' rather than a 'fully take in'. Probably not a good idea for Japan. Thanks everyone for your continued help.