12 Days Osaka/Kyoto/Hakone/Tokyo Sakura 2018

Hi folks! I will be travelling to Japan during the cherry blossom period in early apr 2018. I wish to know if my itinerary is okay and whether it is too rush? I researched online and realised alot of people starts from Tokyo and end in Osaka. I would wish to do Osaka first and end my trip in Japan. Reason for doing so is because in case i missed the sakura at Osaka, i still have a chance to view it in Tokyo as the blossoming goes upwards. is it advisable to do so? Below is my brief itinerary, hope to have your advice on additional/interesting things to do or things i should cut away.

Besides that, im buying Hakone free pass and came to realise it only can be collected from tokyo. any solutions on this? THANK YOU EVERYONE! :)

Day 1 OSAKA
1pm: Arrive at Osaka International Airport
3pm Visit Owl Café
5pm Umeda Sky buiding and nearby malls, osaka station city

Day 2 OSAKA
9am breakfast nearby
10am Himeiji Castle & Garden
6pm Shinsaibashi, indoor shopping, pablo tart, lobster roll…

Day 3 OSAKA
9pm Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum
2pm Osaka Castle & Nishinomaru Garden Picnic
5pm Dontobori all the way to Nipponbashi

Day 4 OSAKA to KYOTO
9am Check out and travel to Kyoto
10am Check in Kyoto
12pm Head down to Path of Philosophy
2pm Ginkakuji
5pm Gion, geisha district
• Hanami-koji
• Shirakawa

Day 5 KYOTO
9am Travel to Arashiyama
Jojakki Temple, Bamboo Forest, Togetsukyo Bridge, Saga, Tenryuji Temple, Torinmoto street
Take Sagano Trolley Train, Return to Arashiyama via River cruise from Torokko Kumeoka Station.
4pm back to kyoto , Fushimini Inari Shrine
7pm dinner

Day 6 KYOTO Southern Higashiyama, central
9am Kiyomizu Temple; built without needles
Walk down Ninen Zaka and Sannen Zaka Street
Kodaji Temple
Maruyama Park
5pm Shinbashi Street
evening, best for cherry blossom period; named the prettiest street in asia
Kinkaku0ji Temple
7pm Ponto area for Dinner, Famous Omurice; Kichi Kichi

Day 7 KYOTO to NARA to KYOTO
10am Nara Day Trip
5pm Back to Kyoto

Day 8 KYOTO to HAKONE (onsen!)
Check in to ryokan
Hakone Loop (train, cable car, ropeway, boat and bus)

Day 9 HAKONE
Hakone Loop (train, cable car, ropeway, boat and bus)
ONSEN!

Day 10 HAKONE to TOKYO
Check in tokyo airb&b (shinjuku)
Asakusa Kannon Temple + asakusa nakamise shopping street (infront of temple)
Shibuya (Ippudo Ramen, Statue of Hachiko, Shibuya crossing …) / Harujuku
Golden Gai (row of tiny bars in Shunjuku)

Day 11 TOKYO to Shiroishizao Station (2hrs Shinkasen)
12pm Zao Kao Fox Village (entrance 1000yen; taxi 100 sgd to and fro / 9am -5pm)
4pm Urakasumi Sake Brewery
Mour way back to Tokyo


Day 12 TOKYO to SINGAPORE

If you're travelling to see cherry blossoms, you'll want to keep your itinerary more flexible, to be able to go to where the blossoms are. There's no guarantee they'll be at their peak in the place you're planning to be on a particular day. Also, Tokyo blooms slightly earlier than Kansai on average.

You can purchase a Hakone FreePass in Odawara instead of Tokyo.

I just did this year back in beginning of April 2017 from Osaka to Tokyo.
Our experience was it was a few days too early in Kansai and perfect by the time we got to Tokyo. However on average, it does start in Tokyo First before Kansai and that's what I was banking on which did not happen this year as it was cooler. I agree with the flexible to switch days or drop altogether if main focus is Sakura Blossoms. We had also done that. We were going to go to our schedule day of Matsumoto but the night before while looking at the forecast of the Cherry Blossoms, it said Tokyo (Apr 12, which is kinda late) would be Full Bloom! So we decided to drop Matsumoto and head straight to Tokyo and was not disappointed!
So make it flexible if you can and don't be disappointed if you see nothing because we can not control the weather. Just treat it as a bonus to see Sakura :)

Hope this helps!

So you are spending 2 days in Hakone doing the same thing?