Kanazawa to Mt Fuji

Hi
I am a first time visitor to Japan flying into Nagoya and leave from Tokyo - are 3rd April -1st May. I am a single female traveller in her early 60�fs, well travelled, and on a budget.

I am interested in natural beauty, rural life, buddhism, walking (though not too strenuous ), textiles, markets, gardens. I realise that most place of interest and beauty will be busy with tourists but hopefully I can go somewhere that is not overrun with day-trippers and tour buses.

I would like to experience some more old style traditional smaller areas/villages. I don�ft like to move too fast preferring to stay in one area for 3-4 days.

I will start by going on the Nakasendo Road - but as I will have my luggage (small but not suitable for walking) I thought I could base myself in one or two of the villages (Narai??) and do day walks. 6 days

I am also interested in the area around Takayama and Shirakawago but the number of day tourists is a bit concerning. Gokayama sounds/looks nice. Again I would like to base myself in one village and then do the day trips/ walks from there. 3-4 days.

I will arrive in

9th April Kyoto 3 days.

12th April Yoshino 2 nights

14th April Kumano Kodo Trail but again thinking of basing myself in one of the villages and then doing walks from there, Any suggestion which village to stay in? - 5 nights

19th Mt Koya and a monastery stay on the way there or back - 1 night

20th Kyoto - Market 21st - 2 nights

22nd - 25th NOT SURE should I go up to Kanazawa

25-27th - Shouji - 5 Lakes to view Mt Fuji

27th Kamakura - market 28th

29th Tokyo

1st may depart

Is it possible to go from Kanazawa to Kawaguchi-Ko overnight bus or should I leave Kanazawa out or possibly Mt Fuji for another time

I would grateful if you can offer me some advice or other suggestion of areas you may know and like. Also any recommendations on accommodation would also be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards
Mandy

Is it possible to go from Kanazawa to Kawaguchi-Ko overnight bus

No. There are buses from Takayama not too far, but they are only daytime, not overnight.

http://bus.fujikyu.co.jp/highway/detail/id/38

This page lists up traditional villages in Japan. Northern Kyoto could rival the Shirakawa area.
http://www.nihonnotabi.com/syuraku/
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3985.html

This is for textiles.
http://www.seni-search.jp/japan_products.html

Kiso Valley, a part of Nakasendo, is 80 km in length from Niekawa to Ochiai. I would think of just one day each for Magome-Tsumago and Narai; two nights and one as a maximum. You may choose one place in between.
http://www.kisoji.com/kisoji/feature/shukuba.html

Kumano Kodo covers most of Kii Peninsula. It includes routes of Ise-Kumano, Yoshino-Kumano, Koya-Kumano, and Kumano-Tanabe-Kushimoto-Kumano.
http://www.hongu.jp/kumanokodo/

Even inside the central Kumano, Hongu-Hayatama-Nachi is 55 km. There are many trails around Hougu. I may assign three, one, and two nights in each place, as a maximum. Hayatama could be a base. Do you plan to walk through all?

Shibazakura at Motosuko would be in full bloom. If you want to see Mt Fuji itself, January would be the best month with the highest possibility of a clear sky on a dry and cold day.

An overnight bus from Kanazawa to Tokyo and another bus to Kawaguchiko is a possible route to take. I would prefer a Shinkansen train from Kanazawa to Tokyo. You may stop at Nagano to walk on Togakushi Kodo nearby.
http://www.togakushi-21.jp/common/data/kodou_map.jpg