Seeing Autumn Leaves during end Nov 2023?

I have a dilemma during making our trip itinerary to Japan this autumn. My family is planning to visit Japan between 25 November to 15 December 2023. This will be our third time visiting Japan, so we are keen to visit new places outside Tokyo and Osaka. There are several places we are eyeing to visit: (1) Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe, (2) Narai-juku / Ikaho Onsen, (3) Kanazawa-Shirakawago, (4) Hakone, (5) Takayama, (6) Wakayama, or (7) Hiroshima/Okayama.

We will land in Kansai and depart from Tokyo. We gonna stay in 4 to 5 cities (4 to 5 nights each) and are indecisive whether we should choose between Gunma / Nagano / Ishikawa area (either Narai-juku, Ikaho, Kanazawa, Takayama, or Shirakawa-go), Greater Tokyo Area (Fuji-kawaguchiko / Hakone) or going south (Wakayama, Hiroshima, or Okayama).

Because from what we see on other forums and Instagram pictures during the period, our trip period will be in the awkward time after end of Autumn colors but before true Winter and snow hits.

If the chances of seeing snow or autum leaves are really low, we plan to postpone our trip since we haven't paid for the tickets. Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

Hi, I think you might have dodged a bullet anyway. We are there 14/11 to 29/11, it is already hard getting decent accommodation and the week of 20/11 is particularly expensive with a holiday on the Thursday.

I find end November - mid December pretty good and you would have a fair chance of seeing colour at least the first week. The higher elevations are likely to be mainly brown and grey, probably a fair bit left in lower elevations, so I would start low and end high, maybe starting around Kansai and ending up around Nagano/Karuizawa will give you a chance of seeing some snow as well though unless you are prepared to travel to a ski field, probably not that likely to play in snow.

But nice time of year to travel, we have been there maybe 3 - 4 times at that time. I wouldnt bother with Narai unless it is a weekend (very quiet), similar Tsumago and Magome. Kiso Fukushima is a good place to stay if you are interested in those towns.

From my own trips, late Nov to early Dec is the perfect timing for Autumn colors in Kyoto. As this site says, Kyoto is the best spot for Autumn colors.
https://youtu.be/GymDc0mavfE

Late November - go to Kyoto for autumn colours.