December/January Itinerary

Hello All!

I'm currently planning my trip to Japan over December & January and looking for suggestions to fill in my 35 day trip.

My current plan is (in order)
Tokyo (5 days)
Kanazawa (2 nights)
Ainokura (2 nights)
Takayama (2 nights)
Osaka 3 days (1 night at Mount Koya)
Hiroshima (2 days)
Onomichi (1 night)
Shikoko (2 nights)
Kyoto (4 days)

I am looking for feedback/suggestions on the above and some more off the beaten path type cultural experiences. Small rural towns with lots to see and experience.

Thankyou for your help!
Sam

It would make more sense to visit Osaka after Kanazawa, as it is directly connected to Kanazawa by limited express train. Consider Tokyo > Takayama/Ainokura (personally unsure of order between these two) > Kanazawa > Osaka.

But if they visited Ainokura and Takayama after Osaka, they would need to backtrack........ It's fiddly to get to Ainokura from anywhere, so Kanazawa makes just as much sense as anywhere else.

I think your itinerary is general quite well balanced and covers all the musts as well as some less popular but as great sites. I now live in Japan but traveled here in the past many times in the January and always had a great time. Less crowds and definitely much cheaper accommodation. December in Koya will be quite cold, it is easier to manage outside but if you will be doing a temple stay, inside the temples tend to get very cold (also during the morning praying ceremony) so i suggest that you are prepared for that. There is a night walking trip to Okunoin Cemetery that you can book in advance online. Onomichi is also a nice town but I found the small inland sea islands that you could get to from Onomichi even more exciting. So tiny, so laid back but very interesting (I was there in May so I am not quite sure about the travel situation during your dates: https://bizarrejourneys.com/shimanami-kaido/) Kanazawa is an outstanding city - it will really please you with good food, nice museums and gardens. They also have couple of really high quality hostels if you are looking for some cheap accommodation. Some of the best that I have ever stayed in in Japan.