Solo, April, 12 days, what not to miss?

Hey everyone,

My name is Jill and I'm curious for your advic, this forum is already a great help.
I'm entering Japan from Haneda airport in April and have 12 full days of travel time in Japan!

I kind of made a schedule on what to do (so I could already arrange some accommodations and stuff). Can anyone say if this is reasonable within the matter of time (note: this is my first time abroad, solo and do not speak or read japanese, jep, adventure ^^)

Day 1-4 Tokyo (adjusting, visiting different districts)
Day 5 in the early morning I travel with JR to Kyoto
Day 5-8/9 Kyoto
Day 9 - 11 ??? Book a night near Mt Fuji??
Day 10/11 - Tokyo and daytrip Nikko(?)
Day 12 - Tokyo and departure

My questions:
1) I'm not sure what to do between Kyoto and Tokyo. (day 9 -11) I wonder if a visit to Mt Fuji is easy by train and do-able.Is there a city between Kyoto and Tokyo (with the JR/shinkansen) that is worth a visit.
2) Are four days enough or too many for Kyoto?

I would love to see SO many things, but I try to keep it easy on myself as I want to enjoy my environment and not have to rush from touristic highlight to highlight. Just wandering around is fine too. My interests are design, temples, nature (parks and lakes), shopping and wandering I guess.

Would love to hear your opinion.
Many thanks!

1) Don't miss your flight
2) Don't miss the train
3) Don't miss the bus

A word of caution: April in Japan is a peak travel time so if you haven't already booked accommodation yet you should do it ASAP, many hotels in Tokyo and Kyoto are already booked out during this period. Mt Fuji is a 2 hour trip from Tokyo but is unfortunately out of the way from Kyoto so would require a special trip. Saitama is beautiful and very close to Tokyo. I would suggest also visiting Osaka, Kobe and Nara which are all very close to Kyoto and could be done as day trips from Kyoto if necessary. A big city between Tokyo and Kyoto is Nagoya, there are many things to do there. There are many other wonderful places to see that are a bit further away from the Tokyo - Kyoto route but if you're only here for 12 days it might be best to stick to the main cities on the East coast.

@champion: Thanks, that's really helpful ;-) I'm also not gonna miss out the fun

@jennjett: Thanks for the tips! I was wondering visiting Kamakura for 1-2 days (have you been there?) maybe but I'll also investigate Nagoya now!

Jill - there are so many options I don't know where to start.

You list of locations seems to be pretty standard - but that's not always a bad thing.

I would highly recommend that you visit Kyoto - but you can also stay in cities close to Kyoto (Osaka, Nara, Kobe) and catch the train in.

If you do miss Kyoto - then Nara is another options but do note that accommodation tends to be limited in this city.

Kamakura is nice but I'd not visit here if you are visiting Kyoto. It's kind of like a mini Kyoto with lots of temples.

A possible options which would be good is...

Tokyo - Matsumoto - Kiso Valley (Tsumago - Magome) - Kyoto.

It's also possible to visit Takayama and Shirakawago as well.

Or - you could also go Tokyo - Kyoto - Hirosima & Miyajima....

Jill,

There are 30 days in April, and there are much differences among the specific days, especially in Kyoto.

April 1st to 10th: Cherry blossom season in Kyoto. Hotel tends to be full and at this time you will have difficulties in booking the room. Osaka, Otsu and Kobe might be also booked out, but I think you will have chance to book some nice and affordable (less than 9000 yen a night) hotels in Nagoya (I checked a Japanese booking site Rakuten travel).

April 11th to 27th: Cherry blossoms are fallen, but the hotel will have vacant rooms if you book now.

After April 28th: Japanese holiday season (called Golden Week). You might have difficulties in booking hotels in Kyoto.