Kanto/Chubu/Kansai Itinerary

Hi All,

A couple months ago a friend living in China convinced me to visit him, which led to an impulsive ticket purchase and a rather rushed travel plan put together. I visited Japan 5 years ago and absolutely loved it, largely following the "Best of Japan in 14 Days" itinerary I found on this website while adding on a bit in Kyushu and cutting out Hakone. This has left me with less research time than I'd like and a bit of haze on new places to go. My current Itinerary looks like this

March 9th - 12th: Tokyo
-Leave Japan for China-
March 24th: Kagoshima
March 25th-26th: Yakushima
March 27th: Back to Kagoshima and fly to Osaka

March 28th: Osaka - Himeji day trip (?)
March 29th: Nagoya (?)
March 30th: Kiso Valley (?)
March 31st: Matsumoto (?)
April 1st: Fujigoko (?)
April 2nd: Fujigoko (?)
April 3rd: Hakone (?)
April 4th: Tokyo (?)

April 5th: Fly out of Tokyo (HND) back home

Those tail 8 days are wide open, and I'm looking for suggestions. The places I listed are mostly just a combination of the "Best of" Itineraries for the area that I haven't been to. The only things I definitely want to do are visit Himeji Castle (it was under major renovation last time), spend time on/around Mt. Fuji, and hopefully find a good spot to enjoy Cherry Blossom vistas. I am perfectly comfortable with a fast pace (or slowing down if an area is worth it) and not afraid to get out of big cities. Generally if it involves mountains, I'm excited.

On my last trip, finding out about Kamikochi through this website turned into possibly my favorite travel memory of anywhere in the world, and while I wouldn't mind going back it seems too early in the year. I also spent a good amount of time soaking in Kyoto and Koyasan and am conflicted on spending too much time there because there is so much new stuff still to see! Obviously I'm cutting it close, leaving in just over a week so any comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time!

Ifd say generally looks fine. I would probably cut out Nagoya and either stay an extra night in Matsumoto or use the day to see the castle in Hikone.
You are there for the best Sakura Hanami time so check the forecast on this webpage where good spots will be, but you should be able to see it in some. It might warrant a day in Kyoto.

Also as you have your first part of the trip organized you can still organize the later part while in China.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

You love castles?

3 of your destination cities (Osaka, Nagoya and Matsumoto) have castles which are not far from main stations(Osaka-station, Nagoya-station and Matsumoto-station).
These castles are only a couple of stations away from the main stations.

If your plan is to visit as many castles as possible, your trip can be a wonderful one.

Like another poster says, Nagoya can be cut out because there are not many things to see but there's at least a castle.

And another lucky thing for you is that Japanese castles usually have many cherry trees around them.
The end of March is usually the best time to see cherry blossoms.
It depends on the weather but I think you can have several chances to see castles with nice cherry blossoms.


Another place to see in Nagoya is Tokugawa-en(Tokugawa garden).
If you want to see more castles, there's Kiyosu-castle which is several stations away from Nagoya-station.
There's also Gifu-castle in Gifu-city. Gifu-station is six stations away from Nagoya-station but you need to take a bus or taxi from Gifu-station to the castle.
Gifu-castle is much different from others because it's built on the top of the mountain.

I don't know how much you are interested in them but there are so many castles in Japan.
And you seem to have enough time to visit many of them if you like.

Matsumoto-castle is sometimes said to be the most beautiful one in Japan.
Matsumoto-city(Nagano prefecture) is a little cold place, there may be no cherry blossoms on the day you visit. But it depends on temperature.
Nagano is a beautiful and quiet place surrounded by mountains. Soba and Miso are great in Nagano.