A month-long trip in Japan - Itinerary review

We are a young couple, planning to spend our honeymoon in Japan!

We booked flights for a month-long trip from end-march to end-april.

This is our current planning, we would love to hear your thoughts and maybe some advice:

3/21/2018 Tokyo

3/22/2018 Shibu Onsen

3/23/2018 Matsumoto

3/24/2018 Kanazawa

3/25/2018 Kanazawa

3/26/2018 Takayama

3/27/2018 Takayama

3/28/2018 Kyoto

3/29/2018 Kyoto

3/30/2018 Kyoto

3/31/2018 Kyoto

4/1/2018 Kyoto

4/2/2018 Hiroshima

4/3/2018 Hiroshima

4/4/2018 Osaka

4/5/2018 Osaka

4/6/2018 Nara

4/7/2018 Hakone

4/8/2018 Ito

4/9/2018 Lake Kawaguchiko - 5 lakes

4/10/2018 Kamakura

4/11/2018 Minakami / Tokyo?

4/12/2018 Tokyo

4/13/2018 Tokyo

4/14/2018 Tokyo

4/15/2018 Tokyo

4/16/2018 Tokyo

4/17/2018 Tokyo

4/18/2018 Tokyo

4/19/2018 Tokyo

4/20/2018 Tokyo

We plan to purchase a 21 day JR pass and activate it on the 22/3 morning, which means it will end at 11/4 morning.

Thank you!

Overall I think it looks fine, but it obviously depends on your specific interests.

My personal take however would be that with 1 month travel time, I would reduce the time in Tokyo (unless you have a lot of specific interests in Tokyo) and include one or two more off the beaten track destinations, like Seto Inland sea (Naoshima, Teshima, Inujima...), or Sanin cost (e.g. Hagi...), or Sado island. It depends on what you personally enjoy doing, but maybe a few days hiking, or somewhere more rural (e.g. Sado islands, or Tono valley) could be nice. (or a lot of other destinations, really depending on your personal interests).

You will also be in Japan during sakura season, so you might think to incorporate a few Sakura specific points. (although there is sakura everywhere in Japan).

4/4/2018 Osaka
4/5/2018 Osaka
4/6/2018 Nara

Okay, so I am personally not a fan of Osaka, also because I am no fan of amusement parks. And apart from that I have yet to understand what is the attraction of Osaka. But yes, other people like Osaka. BUT, Osaka and Nara (and Kyoto) are really close. So I would do this as one set.

Maybe you could look into having two 7 day JR passes, for the first leg of your travel until you arrive to Kyoto, then spend about a week in Kyoto, Osaka and Nara (you can potentially just stay in one hotel or move between the 3 cities, but that transport is short, and not all of it is JR - well, JR is possible, but there are also other lines), and then activate the second 7 day pass to go down to Hiroshima and up again to Tokyo.

So essentially 1 week of travelling around, 1 week without JR pass in Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, Nara), 1 week again travelling around (Hiroshima and up to Tokyo) and 1 week in Tokyo with no JR pass. Just a thought.

But as said in my first sentence, your plan sounds reasonable.

Enjoy your honeymoon!!!!

lucky you, such long trip!

however, you have mostly cities in your list. I would spend more time in nature, hiking or with bike. When in ryokan/onsen, spend at least 2 nights there, othervice is hard to get real feeling.

JR Pass - in one hand it is safe and easy, other hand it creates lot of limits - in many occasions non-JR or even bus is quicker and more comfortable option. Also Nozomi is out of JR Pass. And in cities like Kyoto and Kanazawa, JR Pass is quite useless really.
Check your routes in Hyperdia, if Pass pays off or not.

some tips:
Matsumoto - has perfect citybike system (for free). Castle (take guide if possible), ukiyo-e museum, Nakamachi (nice izakayas for dinner).
Kanazawa - Hanamaru Udon, best udon ever had (and really cheap). We did nice side trips to Himi and Yuwaku onsen. We also had a geisha evening with dinner, not cheap but recommendable.
Takayama - has lot of character. Good antique shops.
Kyoto - I would spend a week there and less days in Tokyo. Gion Odori (maiko dances - don't miss). It is actually easy to spend week there visiting temples and gardens, Gion at night. Arashiyama, Katsura, Uji.
Tokyo - if Ghibli museum is in you interest, take tickets early in advance.

Thank You.

Getting all of our expected train rides into japan-guide JR pass calculator showed us the 21-days pass will be worth it.

We were thinking of travelling to a remote - preferably beach-kind-of location, possibly in the end of our trip , for 2-3 days.

Okinawa and Hachijō-jima came out as options, but the weather seems to be pretty chilly there in April for a "beach" visit.

Naoshima was also an option for a remote island - but we wonder if there is much to experience there if we aren't much of arts/museums persons.