Tokyo, Osaka, Shirakawago, Mt Fuji in 9 days

Travelling with a group of 7, including two kids (a 9 yr old and a pre-teen) and two grandmas (over 60 yrs old) this December. I've been trying to form an itinerary that includes Tokyo, Osaka, Shirakawago, and Mt. Fuji. If possible, we'd like to squeeze in Nagoya (to see the winter illuminations at night) and Kyoto as well. Is it realistic? What is the least tiring and inexpensive way to cover those destinations over 9 days? What are my best transport options?
I'll be arriving in and departing from Narita 15-23 December.
Do appreciate the help. Thank you

6 destinations for 7 days is not going to work.

I would skip Shirakawago, because it is far away from everything else you are interested in.

Regarding Fuji, what do you want to do there? Looking at the mountain? How long will that take you and do you need to dedicate essentially an entire day to that one activity. It�fs your call how important Fuji is for you, but I�fd just try my luck at seeing it from Tokyo or the Shinkansen (no guarantee) or the plane.

My suggestion of your would be Tokyo and Kyoto and spend the day in Nagoya on the day you are riding back from Kyoto to Tokyo.
If you can manage to get open jaw ticket you could arrive in Tokyo and depart from Osaka. Depending on price of flight ticket this would be the cheapest for your transport in Japan as then you really only have one long distance ride Tokyo to Kyoto. (You�fd be doing then Nagoya on the way to Kyoto).

Enjoy planning your trip to Japan!

Hello, thank you for the reply.
Shirakawago is actually our main destination for this winter trip, so we can't exclude it from our itinerary. Regarding Mt Fuji, we just want to take a day trip to where we can see it from afar and take family photos with it as the background (any recommendations?).
So, the itinerary has come to 3 nights Tokyo and 2 nights Osaka. I'm still confused on how to arrange the itinerary to include an area near Mt. Fuji (maybe Kawaguchiko) and Shirakawago for the remaining 3 nights.

we'd like to squeeze in Nagoya (to see the winter illuminations at night)
Are you referring to the illumination near the Nagoya station? If you are, you need to reconfirm, I discovered on my last trip that "the illumination" had been discontinued.

If you are referring to the Nabana no Sato Winter Illumination, you may want to consider a night stay in Nagoya.
https://jw-webmagazine.com/nabana-no-sato-spectacular-winter-illuminat...

I would really recommend the Kobe-luminarie, one of the most popular Winter Illumination in Japan.
https://hyogojapan.com/kobe-luminarie/

Best time to visit Shirakawa-go is winter time when snow is plentiful.
If you are expecting snow on the date you are visiting, be prepared for a disappointment.
Shirakawa-go, snow falls from around late December until early March.

Kawaguchiko, a day trip from Tokyo, would be a good choice for viewing Mt Fuji and the Autumn leaves .

I'll be arriving in and departing from Narita 15-23 December
Arriving KIX and departing NRT would be a better option if you would like to see the Kobe- luminarie.

If Shirakawago is one of your main goals I would use it as an excuse to see more in that region and skip something else. My proposal would be
- Tokyo (x days)
- Kanazawa (1 night)
- next day Shirakawago and night in Takayama (or if you can make it a bit longer day, night in Hirayu onsen (Okuhida region)
- then from Takayama to Nagoya
-back to Tokyo.

Ie skipping Kyoto but getting more out of your trip to Shirakawago.

Btw, from all I hear Shirakawago is too touristy. I only went to Gokayama and Ainokura and specially liked the later.

Or you could also skip Shirakawago completely and go for the Hida Folk village in Takayama instead. Would be easier transportwise.

Regarding taking a family picture with Fuji, consider Photoshop. I am serious here. You only have 7 days, why would you use 1 entire day for a round trip to hopefully take a few selfies.

Alternatively you could try Enoshima. It�fs a nice daytrip from Tokyo anyway (potentially combined with Kamakura, specially if skipping Kyoto) and you can (!) get nice views of Fujisan there over the ocean. But no guarantee.

Are you driving or taking a bus/tour to Shirakawa-go? Because it is your main destination for this trip, I would make sure I can get there and back. When I tried to go in April a few years ago, I couldn't get bus tickets from Kanazawa on the day I went to the bus office or the day after. Maybe it's easier from Takayama or maybe someone knows how to reserve the tickets in advance.

With that small amount of time, I suggest Tokyo 3 nights, Kanazawa 2 nights, leave the bulk of the luggage in storage at Kanazawa to go to ainokura 1 night (yes as LikeBike said, Shirakawago is overrated. It is packed with tourists), Kanazawa 1 night, Tokyo 1 night.