Feedback on my 3-Week Japan Itinerary

Thoughts on my planned 3-week, 22 day trip to Japan. The dates for the trip are tentatively 11/6 - 11/27, (hoping to catch the fall colors), but that very well may change given the reopening of the borders and other entry policies (from the USA). I have been to Japan previously but have only been able to explore some of Tokyo and some places around the Kansai region.

Are these plans too ambitious? Am I missing other worthwhile things to see along the way? Are there days to avoid certain places? Will anything be closed the day I am there? Are there any conflicts with events/holidays to be aware of, or changes made to better fit with seeing the fall colors?

Thanks

Day 1 (Saturday 11/6)
- Flying from USA

Day 2 (Sunday 11/7)
Tokyo
- Landing at Haneda midafternoon
- Exploring Tokyo Tower and surrounding area at night

Day 3 (Monday 11/8)
Tokyo
- Tokyo Disneyland

Day 4 (Tuesday 11/9)
Tokyo
- Tokyo Disneysea

Day 5 (Wednesday 11/10)
Tokyo
- Tokyo Disneyland/Sea
(Travel to Fuji)

Day 6 (Thursday 11/11)
Fuji/Inuyama/Nagoya
- Fuji Shinkansen view
(Travel to Inuyama)
- Meiji Mura
- Inuyama Castle
- Inuyama Monkey Park
(Travel to Nagoya)
- Explore Nagoya

Day 7 (Friday 11/12)
Nagoya
- Nagashima Spaland
(Travel to Nara)

Day 8 (Saturday 11/13)
Nara
- Kofuku-ji
- Todai-ji
(Travel to Horyu-ji)
- Horyu-ji
(Travel to Kudoyama)

Day 9 (Sunday 11/14)
Kudoyama/Koyasan
- Jison-in
- Koyasan
(Travel to Himeji)

Day 10 (Monday 11/15)
Himeji/Hiroshima
- Himeji Castle
(Travel to Hiroshima)
- Shukkeien
- Peace Memorial Museum/Peace Park
- Orizuru Tower
- Hondori Street
- Okonomimura

Day 11 (Tuesday 11/16)
Miyajima/Osaka
(Travel to Miyajima)
- Itsukushima Shrine
- Ropeway to summit
- Walk Daisho-in Hiking Trail down
(Travel to Osaka)
- Namba Parks
- Dotombori
- Osaka Castle grounds

Day 12 (Wednesday 11/17)
Osaka
- Universal Studios Japan
(Travel to Kyoto)

Day 13 (Thursday 11/18)
Kyoto
- Kiyomizudera
- Yasaka Shrine
- Heian Shrine
- Ginkakuji
- Fushimi-Inari Shrine at sunset
- Kyoto Tower

Day 14 (Friday 11/19)
Kyoto/Kanazawa
- Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
- Togetsukyo Bridge
- Monkey Park
- Ryoan-ji
- Kinkaku-ji
- Kyoto Manga Museum
(Travel to Kanazawa)
- Explore Kanazawa Station
(Travel to Nagano)

Day 15 (Saturday 11/20)
Matsumoto/Nagano
(Travel to Matsumoto)
- Matsumoto Castle
(Travel to Nagano)
- Zenko-ji
- Aqua Wing
- M-Wave Olympic Museum
- White Ring
- Olympic Stadium
- Big Hat
(Travel to Nikko)

Day 16 (Sunday 11/21)
Nikko/Yokohama
- Shinkyo Bridge
- Toshogu Shrine
- Futarasan Shrine
- Taiyuinbyo
- Rinno-ji
(Travel to Yokohama)
- Osanbashi Port Terminal
- Brick Warehouses
- Yokohama Cosmoworld
(Travel to Tokyo)

Day 17 (Monday 11/22)
Mt. Fuji
(Travel to Fujiyoshida)
- Chureito Pagoda
- Fujikyu Highland Park
(Travel to Tokyo)

Day 18 (Tuesday 11/23)
Tokyo
- Imperial Gardens
- Tokyo Dome City
- Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan
- Meiji Shrine
- Olympic Stadium
- Metropolitan Government Building
- Kabukicho at night

Day 19 (Wednesday 11/24)
Tokyo
- Walking Rainbow Bridge
- Fuji TV Observation Deck
- Aqua City
- Joypolis
- Visit Olympic Venues
- Tokyo Big Sight
- Venus Fort
- Daiba Park
- Explore Odaiba at night

Day 20 (Thursday 11/25)
Tokyo
- Explore Asakusa
- Senso-ji
- Hanayashiki
- Ueno Park
- National Museum of Western Art
- Akihabara
- Explore Asakusa at night

Day 21 (Friday 11/26)
Open for places around Tokyo I missed/want to spend more time in/small day trips

Day 22 (Saturday 11/27)
Open for places around Tokyo I missed/want to spend more time in
- Fly out of Haneda in late afternoon
- Arrive back in USA

It's good to see a travel question on the forum for a change. A quick look at this itinerary honestly makes it look as though some days you are trying to do too much.

In general, expect it to take a certain amount of time to travel between different locations. For example, it might be possible to see 6/7 locations in Nikko where most of the things are within a 15 minute walk of each other, but this is not true on many larger cities in Japan. Others will have more to say.

One important question is - are you more interested in ticking off locations you have visited OR are you more interested in experiencing the location itself?

I'm personally a quick traveller but would not be able to do anything like you suggest. A good example is Day 6

Tokyo - Meiji Mura (about 3 hours travel time)

Meiji Mura is HUGE! I spent 4 hours there and felt it was rushed.

Meiji Mura is a fair distance from Inuyama and there is a good change you'll only be able to visit the castle or the Japan Monkey park.

You also plan to visit other sites in Nagoya that night. It's just honestly impossible unless you walk in and walk out.

What are your main interests for visiting Japan - as I could make some suggestions on major changes that you could use or ignore once I give them to you. I've visited Japan more than most - just click on my name to see my posts to see what I mean.

Very very rushed. Fujisan, Koyasan etc are places with funky transport options and require more than a few hours to get to. Fujisan to Nagoya for example doesn't have a direct route and requires interesting planning.

I'd start your itinerary again. Otherwise you wont be able to have the listed locations on the itinerary.

Hi!

I too tend to be a relatively fast traveler and there are definitely days I think you will have a hard time accomplishing all your goals as well.

For Tokyo Disney you want to check the crowd calendar. I use to have a link to it. In general, Mondays are busier than Tuesday-Thursday. I want to say the new Belle ride and Big Hero 6 ride did open and I am sure it is increasing crowds to land. Though you will have the advantage of jet lag which is awesome for getting to the parks early. We do tend to stay at a Disney hotel because those 15 minute early entry make a bigger difference than you would think.

Personally, going from Tokyo Disney Sea to Mt. Fuji, I would take a bus from Tokyo Station vs trying to take the train. It will be cheaper, faster and probably easier in terms of luggage.

I think Mt. Fuji to Inuyama to Nagoya with lots of sightseeing will be hard.

I'm unsure if you plan to take Kintetsu from Nagashima Spa Land to Yamato-Yagi, change there and then make one more change to Kintetsu Nara or back track to Nagoya and then take JR to Kyoto and then JR or Kintetsu to Nara. Either is going to take you close to 2.5 hours.

JR from Nara to Hashimoto is long and not often. My first trip to Japan, I didn't want to back track to Kyoto once I reached Hashimoto after visiting Wakayama so I made the mistake of taking JR from Hashimoto up to Kyoto. I would not do it again. Honestly, Hyperdia generally recommends when trying to get to Koya-san from Nara to backtrack to Osaka and catch the Nankai line there cause it is faster.

I think you can go from Miyajima to Osaka no problem, I have day tripped from Kyoto or Osaka the majority of my trips to Miyajima, but depending on your goals with Osaka castle grounds, you're likely to get in too late, unless you want to walk around in the dark.

USJ also gets super crowded. I am sure the new Mario land has insane crowds. My 10 year old is really keen on going.

I like Kanazawa, but the station is not that interesting unless you are hungry or into shopping so I am unsure what you are going to do there. I also think by the time you get there from Kyoto a lot of things are going to be closed.

I think day 15 is not going to work. You're spending 2 hours just going back and forth between Nagano and Matsumoto Station let alone any time in Matsumoto and any time waiting for trains. I think it will also take you longer than that to see everything in Nagano, you're then looking at taking the train to Omiya and transferring to Utsunomiya before transferring to Nikko. It just takes a while. I was trying to get to my destination (Koriyama) earlier in the day to make a transfer to Ononimachi, but I found the train from Nagano to Omiya to Koriyama took a long longer than you would think and I even only had ~20 minutes in Omiya.

I am confused why you are doing Mt. Fuji again. Perhaps when you finish at Tokyo Disney you just want to take a train directly to Nagoya and not take a side trip to Mt. Fuji if you're just backtracking again? If it's because you're hoping to see Mt. Fuji, spend the night in Shin Yokohama post Disney and then take an early morning train to Nagoya then. Going to either Mt. Fuji or even Shin-Fuji (the shinkansen station) will slow down your trip to Nagoya from the former and won't speed it up much from the latter (as Shin-Fuji is rarely a stop on Hikaris the fastest train covered by a JR Pass.)

Your Tokyo days are too full. You're also going to be exhausted from all the other travel you have planned from all your previous days.

I would definitely spend some time with Hyperdia or other program that gives you a good idea of travel and transfer times (and how often trains run! ) and then remember if you need to walk or take a bus from your last train station to get to your destination. Also remember, that while you get Fall colors in November you also get less daylight.

Good luck!

I also agree, that it looks like some days have too much packed into them.

I am wondering why, if you are going to Nagashima Spa Land, that you don�ft stay that night for Nabana No Sato, the winter illumination of the park.

The Meiji Myra is as expressed, a 4+ hour attraction.

I am also thinking the Himeji/Hiroshima is also stretched a bit thin.

If you are going to Koyasan, why not start in Namba, because the trains to Koyasan start from here.

Nikko and Yokohama are on opposite sides of Tokyo.

Visiting Kyoto during the day, and then moving to Kanazawa in order to get to Matsumoto the next day seems wrong. Maybe if you moved the stay in Nagoya to between Kyoto and Matsumoto, it would help. Nagoya to Matsumoto is about a two hour limited express ride.

As another suggestion that will shuffle things around, There is a 4 hour JR Shinkansen train (Hikari 533) from Shin-Yokohama Station to Hiroshima station at 6:00 AM. If you activate the JR pass and do this on your first day of travel, you can zip up to Hiroshima by 9:54 AM, and work your way back to Tokyo. Please check with Hyperdia, to make sure this option still exists.

I would suggest you cut back a bit on the number of places you want to visit.

Good Luck, in planning your trip.

This is a quick thumbnail sketch of my suggested travel plan.

Get a two week JR train pass, and wait to activate it until you leave Tokyo.

I�fm not going to be as precise as you were and say what you are doing each day, or get more precise, and tell you to take the photo from Tokyo tower at 5:37 PM. If you spend two days in Hiroshima, and it is raining on the first day, the maybe you would be better off going indoors to the A-bomb museum, instead of hiking trails at Miyajima. If it�fs sunny, then you might do Miyajima on the first day.

Anyway�c Arrive in Tokyo, and do things that do not involve getting souvenirs. If you plan to spend three days at Disney, maybe do the first two days at the beginning of the trip, and one day at the end. Maybe include the Imperial Gardens. Be flexible, and have a �erainy day�f and �esunny day�f plan or two.

Spend your final afternoon in Yokohama, and stay in a hotel near Shin-Yokohama station.

You have ten-ish days outside of Tokyo. I think you should relax that fast pace, and add at least 2-3 days, which works out well for a two week pass.

If I have an extra day left on a JR pass, I usually plan a day trip north of Tokyo, such as Mastushima Bay, or Hitachi Seaside Park near Mito. It could also be used to partially get you to the Mount Fuji area, but you will still need the private train or bus systems.

Activate your JR Pass, and start you �eaway from Tokyo�f time of your trip. In a prievious post, I mentioned the 6:00 AM bullet train. Visit cities in this order:

Hiroshima
Himeji
Osaka (side trip to Koyasan, and possibly Nara)
Kyoto (side trip to Nara could also go here)
Nagoya (side trip to Inuyama)
Matsumoto
Nagano

I usually include the Nara side trip from Kyoto. I usually do a half day in Nara, and then hit the Inari Shrine in the afternoon, and spend the evening in the Gion District.

Put your trip to Nikko on your return to Tokyo. It is northwest of Tokyo, and closer on the return from Nagano. As for when to go to the Mount Fuji area, it could be at the beginning or end of the trip. That�fs up to you.

Spend the final days in Tokyo, before boarding your flight home.

This is very loose, but should give you a general idea.

Once again, Good Luck, in planning your trip.

About going to Koyasan and Kudoyama.

These locations are accessible on the Nankai private rail line, which starts at Namba(Nankai) station. There are four train stations in Namba, including JR-Namba station, and yes, it�fs confusing.

When I went to Koyasan, I purchased a Koyasan World Heritage Ticket, which gives a round trip vouchers (one for each direction) for the train from Namba(Nankai) Station to Gokurakubashi Station, and for the Nankai cablecar to Koyasan Station. It also includes two days unlimited bus travel in Koyasan.

One one leg of your trip, you want to get off at Kudoyama Station, and walk the kilometer or so to the Jison-in Temple, and then return to Kudoyama Station to complete that leg of the trip.

If you get the World Heritage Pass, make sure you can get off, and then get back on. If it does not allow this, you might want to get either a 2,3,or 4 day Kansas Thru Pass, which gives you access to 20+ different privately owned subway, bus, cable car, and train lines in the Kansai area. The Nankai train, cablecar, and Koyasan bus lines are all included.

Since you are planning to go to universal studios, this does make getting there easier than JR, which requires two transfers to three different trains. You could cut it down to only one transfer by taking the Hanshin line from Osaka-Namba Station (and yes, there are four different stations in Namba).

Good Luck�c again�c

Just to note, rain and Tokyo Disney or Disney Sea is absolutely amazing and rain on your day in USJ can be awesome too. I got lucky and it rained one of my trips to Tokyo Disney Sea. It kept lines super short all day and since there was no lightning, it didn't affect any of the rides. It did prevent parades but since you are planning more than one day, you can catch them on another day. It was actually so empty at Sea that we parkhopped over to Disneyland in the mid afternoon when the rain had stopped and hit up a bunch of their most popular rides with no line *cough* Pooh's Hunny Hunt *cough* and rode it multiple times. Again lots of indoor rides. We could have done even more, but my kid was only 6 that trip and just done because of jetlag. I now always hope it will rain on TDR days. We also had rain for USJ (and it was close to when an earthquake happened, June 18, 2018) My kid was too short for Flying Dinosaur (though I did see it up and running) and refused to do the Jurassic Park ride. But we went on Forbidden Journey 5x, the Hippogriff 4 or 5 times and Space Fantasy (which at the time was Final Fantasy themed) 4 or 5 times. It did take a while to get the coasters up, but again there was no lightning so everything did come up. Mario world of course was not open. The Minion ride was open, but my daughter hates Minions. Our biggest problem by a lot was jetlag hit, we wanted to go to our hotel in Kyoto and there were insane train delays all over Osaka. I don't know if it was the rain or recent earthquake but we waited over an hour for a train between USJ and Osaka proper, gave up, ate dinner, waited for another hour, and got on a train so packed I thought we were going to suffocate. We took a limited express from JR Osaka to JR Kyoto because none of the locals were running well and we had a pass. I would still go to USJ in the rain, but next time I would call up the hotel in Kyoto, warn them I would be there for check in the next day and just eat the night of hotel accommodation and book a new night down near USJ.

Disney hotels, particularly non Disney owned ones, can be a decent deal and a much larger hotel room for the money. I stay at Disney proper for the 15 minute early entry, but honestly for a "luxury" hotel you can do better for the same amount of money in Tokyo, but I want that early entry! I find otherwise you need to add in a good 40+ minute commute from Tokyo and that includes if you are staying someplace like the Tokyo Station hotel which is attached to Tokyo Station. It just takes a while to get to the Keiyo line and get out there.

If you've not done the parks before, lines build quickly for entry.

USJ hotels are surprisingly cheap. I paid under 14,000 yen for 1 adult and 1 7 year old to stay at the Universal Keihan Tower. It included a buffet breakfast for both of us in the morning but not the rooftop spa, which was additional. Our first stay in 2016, we paid 28,700 yen for 1 adult and 1 5 year old with park tickets to USJ, buffet breakfast, and spa tickets. Our room in 2016 was way nicer than in 2018 (always book the renewal rooms!) but it still was just not as pricy as you would think considering you are so insanely close to the parks. I admit, I also got a kick out of the hotel's "New York" theming and the breakfast buffet contains some wacky things like a chocolate fountain. We stayed there both times for the rooftop spa. You can go up for free as a guest and just lookout. I think the Singulari also has a rooftop spa and I've also thought about staying at the Park Front.

I've been waiting for my daughter to make height and age limits to go to Nagashima and Fuji Q. (which when Japan lets us back in, she should.)

Another idea might be to fly from Tokyo to Hiroshima and then work your way back east. It gives you a bit more flexibility, in that you would not need a 2 week pass and could break up your Tokyo time more. I flew from Narita to Itami, not to Hiroshima, but the view of Mt. Fuji from the plane was even better than the view of Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen.

Just to reinforce what the others have said, unless you are stepping inside the gates of some of these places and saying "yep, been here, done that" you are trying to do WAY TOO MUCH on many days. Generally you have about 16 hours worth of stuff on too many days.
Things like your trip to Kanazawa is a bit weird??
Meiji Mura - I have been once, it was a full day (and we had a car so transport was less of an issue). You say travel from "Fuji" but don't actually say where - people confuse different places around the mountain. AND you are travelling from there to Nagoya.
Your Miyajima day includes the walk down from Misen - are you actually going to go to the lookout, or just come down. Even so, it takes time, probably more than you think (and it is not the easiest of walks simply because of the vertical distance. And then to spend anther 2 1/2 - 3 hours travel to Osaka to sightsee there?? Impractical IMO. Miyajima I have done as a half day visit, but there is enough to fill a whole day and skip Osaka.

Rather than comment on everything - that would take a long time, the most important recommendation I would make is this: do not go to Nikko on a weekend in koyo season.

RE - Nikko

From memory - the areas of Nikko which are most spectacular (upper sections) normally change colours in late October - Early November. In general - the later in November the better the fall colours in Kyoto. I also agree that visiting Nikko during Koyo season on a weekend (pre-covid) is a death wish with crowds. The same can also be said with Kyoto as well.

Hello, your planning is very packed, as the previous answers said. I think you can cut on travel time by shifting some cities.

For example, go to Nikko just after Tokyo Disney, and when coming back, visit Ueno and Asakusa (if coming back at Ueno station) or Meiji Jingu and Metropolitan Government Building (if coming back at Shinjuku station). The next day, visit Yokohama on your way to Osaka/Nara/Hiroshima.

For the Kanazawa/Nagano/Matsumoto station: if you are not planning to visit Kanazawa, then you can save time by going directly from Kyoto to Matsumoto. Spend the night there, visit the castle in the morning, then Nagano in the afternoon.

Another alternative, since the route from Kyoto to Matsumoto requires a transfer in Nagoya, would be to move your day at Nagashima spaland there.

----
Day 5 (Wednesday 11/10)
- Tokyo Disneyland/Sea
(Travel to Nikko)

Day 6 (Thursday 11/11)
- Nikko in the morning
(Travel to Tokyo)
- Ueno/Asakusa or Meiji Jingu in the afternoon.

Day 7 (Friday 11/12)
Tokyo/Yokohama/Nara

(... continue with the rest of your planning)

Day 14 (Friday 11/19)
Kyoto/Nagoya, or spend one more night in Kyoto.

Day 15 (Saturday 11/20)
- Nagashima Spaland

Day 16
Inuyama / Matsumoto

Day 17
Matsumoto castle / Nagano / Tokyo

(then the rest of your Tokyo/Fuji planning).

The stop in Kanazawa actually makes more sense to me than just about anything else. I assume the sole reason for it is to break up the train trip between Kyoto and Nagano, and that is something that I might do myself, although by the time you leave Kyoto it will probably be getting dark so you will miss some nice scenery. (Bear in mind that it gets dark early in November and many places shorten their hours according to the season.) Just be sure to pick a hotel that is very close to the station.

It is possible that you are confusing going to a lot of famous places with having memorable and meaningful experiences, but many people do that. Just be aware that Japan has a great deal more to offer than famous sights, and that in many cases the most famous sights have all but lost the essence of what made them famous in the first place. (This is true of a lot of the places in Kyoto.) I think that trying to visit too many temples and shrines is a common tourist "mistake," but since these spots occupy a lot of the slots on top-ten lists, they tend to get a lot of traffic. Consider cutting some of them or replacing them with less-famous places (which are often a lot better!).

Presumably you fully understand that some of the days are too full and you will have to omit some of the items. The choices of what to cut will often need to be made on the fly. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you don't end up feeling a lot of regret.

With an itinerary like yours, luggage management is bound to be an issue unless you can get all of your stuff into a day pack, and you should plan in advance how you will handle it on every day of your trip. (I actually prepare a detailed luggage management plan for all of my trips to Japan, but I'm a bit weird in that regard. It sure makes my trips a lot easier, though. I include laundry as part of the plan and pick my hotels accordingly.)

Oh, wait... Sorry, I misread your day 14 plans and was somehow thinking you were going to spend the night in Kanazawa and then take an early shinkansen out to Nagano. (I in fact might do that myself, but unless you are an early riser you won't get to Matsumoto very early that way.) But stopping in Kanazawa just to take in the station really doesn't make much sense. If you have planned out the train transit and it works better for you than going via Nagoya, then okay, I guess. Another thing you could possibly do is spend the night at a Nagoya station hotel and take the first LEX Shinano to Matsumoto, visit the castle and then continue on to Nagano. No matter how you slice it, trying to get to Nagano from Kyoto after a day of sightseeing is biting off quite a bit. I'd look at some of the alternate suggestions and do a little more thinking on that. Going from Nagano to Kyoto (and vice versa) is something I have done many times, and there are always some trade-offs to consider. A lot is lost if it is after dark, though.

The stop in Kanazawa actually makes more sense to me than just about anything else. I assume the sole reason for it is to break up the train trip between Kyoto and Nagano

Kyoto-Nagano is indeed long, that is why I suggested doing Kyoto-Nagoya-Matsumoto-Nagano instead, since Nagoya and Matsumoto are already part of OP's itinerary. If going to Kanazawa, it would be nice to spend the night there and visit the garden early in the morning, before heading to Nagano.
Just spending one or two hours in Kanazawa station is not worth the detour.

Sorry, I wrote my reply before seeing your second message, @Kim :/

I am planning a three week trip in October/November 2022 (arrival October 27th), but it is a lot different than yours. It does includes some similar locations, and includes some bus transportation in the beginning. It might give you some travel ideas, if you want me to post it.

Not the original poster, but I would love to see it, just because I love seeing where other people want to go.

Since I feel less sure about December 2021-2022, I am hoping for June 2022. :D

A few things to clarify for points of discussion:

I am a fairly brisk and well organized traveler. I spend as much time as a need to at certain places, but I don't linger. I have taken several trips of this style in the past (albeit usually only a week and a half long) and general find that I have even more, not less, time than I had planned for. Ironically, this plan is a parred down version with fewer destinations and sights, for a more relaxing time.

The plan after leaving Tokyo Disney is to spend the night in Mishima (1.5 hour train) and in the morning travel to the area around the city of Fuji (1 hour train and walk). There I intend to photograph the shinkansen passing in front of Mt. Fuji. From there it will take 3.5 hours to get to Meiji Mura. I do plan to spend a few hours there before hopefully visiting the Monkey Park back in Inuyama if I have time. I am unlikely to go into the castle given the time but intend to view it from the river below. I have nothing in particular I plan to see in Nagoya and simply intend to walk around for a couple of hours at night.

In Kanazawa, I only intend to visit the giant torii out front (as a cool piece of architecture). The Kyoto to Nagano train schedule already has a 45 minute stopover at the station scheduled. I would love to spend a full day in Kanazawa, and had originally planned it, but don't think I'll have enough time to add it back to my itinerary.

For Nagano, I plan to rent a bike from the station to ride around the city, knowing the larger distances between the Olympics sites. The train to Nikko will take three hours.

For my luggage, I intend to get a locker from the station for the week and a half I will be out of Tokyo for my excess luggage and purchases. I can last a week and a half off just my backpack and have done so previously.

In Wakayama, I will be spending the night in Kudoyama before heading to Koyasan in the morning. The Wakayama Line works best for me as there are places I intend to see along the way.

On Miyajima, I intend to take the ropeway up the mountain and hike down. For Osaka (2.5 hour train and ferry), I have been there previously. I mostly expect to walk around for a few hours and enjoy the city like at night while walking around.

Regarding the use of a luggage locker in Tokyo, please read this:

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html#storage

Note that station staff will remove your items after just 3 days. Not sure how you get your stored items back or if there is a penalty charge. If you do travel with your luggage you may find it impossible to find large lockers at smaller stations.

Hopefully someone else on here can give more information.

Here is my general idea for my trip in the fall of 2022. I have not nailed down how many days at each location yet.

I will arrive in Yokohama on October 27th, departing the Norwegian Sun cruise ship. It starts in Seattle, and includes an Alaskan cruise. I plan to spend at least a day in Yokohama, going to Chinatown, and the Minato Mirai district, and maybe go on the Cosmo World Ferris Wheel. I will be using my Suica card to get around.

I then plan to go to Shinjuku in Tokyo. There is a nice park nearby, and I may go on a packaged excursion from there with one of the passes. There are packages going to Endoshima/Kamakura, Harkone, and the Fuji Five Lakes area. Again, I am planning to use my Suica card to get from Yokohama to Shinjuku.

The next destination is Hirayu Onsen by Nohi bus. My plans here include the Black Castle in Matsumoto, and the Shin-Hotaka Ropeway.

Next is Takayama by Nohi bus again. I am going to be visiting the Nohi website, and watching what tourist packages they have this year. I do plan on taking the bus tour with the English guide to Shirakawa-go, and going to the Hida Village, but in the past they have offered packages for the Alpine pass and Kurobe Gorge.

Up to here is pretty solid. I don�ft know how many days at each location, but Yokohama, Shinjuku, Hirayu Onsen, and Takayama feel right. The next part is really if I can add an extra week.

Nohi bus to Nagoya. I also plan to go to Nagashima Spa Land and Inuyama.

I plan to get a Kintetsu 5 day pass, and eventually end up in Namba. I might stop in Mei/Toba, Iga Ueno (ninja village), and Yoshino along the way. Yoshino might be a day trip after I arrive in Namba. I know Mount Yoshino is known for several elevations of cherry trees, which extends the cherry blossom season, and I am expecting that this will result in earlier fall foliage.

Back to reality, I am guessing that I will actually travel from Takayama to Osaka/Namba.

After a few days in Osaka/Namba, I plan to take an overnight ferry to Beppu. This is where my plan deviates away from the trip in this thread. The plan is then to travel by train down the eastern coast of Kyushu, going to Takachiho by bus from Nobeoka, then to Miyasaki, and finally to Kagoshima.

There might be a Jetfoil to Yakushima Island, before activating a one week JR pass, and going back to Tokyo. There would be possible stops in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Okayama, Himeji, Kyoto, and Nagoya, on the way back. Most likely, two days in Hiroshima, two in Kyoto, and two in Nagoya. The two in Nagoya would be dropped, if I add the extra week and the Kintetsu pass.

I realize that I have packed too much into three weeks, so my current plan is to use Japan Guide to cut back the trip. I think I am either going to have to expand to a four week trip, or, cut the whole Kintetsu pass part, and travel to Namba directly from Takayama. Nagoya would then become a stop on the way back from Kagoshima to Tokyo. Even though I mentioned it, I also think going to Yakushima Island is out. I need to find things to cut from the trip. I may also cut Miyazaki and Kagoshima out, and take the bus from Takachiho to Kumamoto, to start the return to Tokyo. I still have 17 months to figure this out.

I hope this expands the options in planning a trip to Japan. Good Luck!