Our Itinerary - Nightlife, Local Sights

I'd like some opinions on the itinerary we are working on. We will be flying in to Tokyo, and out of Osaka at the end of Sept.

We are a young couple, and we really like to check out local nightlife/major cities. Additionally, we like to meet local people, and see how they live/work.

Of course we would also like to visit of a few of the more common tourist spots.

So here is our itinerary, I know it's a lot of Tokyo, but we do have a real interest in the city life. We are arriving in Tokyo on a Sunday, so we want to stay a full week in order to experience what a weekend night is like in Tokyo

Day 1 to 7 Tokyo, with day trips to maybe Kamakura and Yokohama

Maybe also visit Fuji 5 Lakes or Hakone

Days 8 and 9 head to Takayama and Kanazawa

Days 10 and 11 Kyoto

Days 12 and 13 leave Kyoto and head to Miyajima and spend night there, then head to Osaka

Last 3 days in Osaka

One plus to doing it this way is that i think we may be able to do a 7 day JR Pass just for the later part of our trip, does that sound reasonable?

I know we will use the Loop line quite a bit in Tokyo, but I think it may still be cheaper to just pay each time?

If you could add/change anything about this trip, keeping in mind our focus, what would you recommend?

Thanks!

During your Tokyo stay: a day trip to Nikko. Yes 7 day JR Rail pass for your long distance travel Tokyo - Kanazawa - Kyoto - Osaka starting Day 8
You need not two different accommodation for Kyoto and Osaka. By shinkansen using your Rail Pass it is only a 15 min ride.
During Osaka day ( day 14 last day validity ) day trip to Himeji castle.
Yes inner Tokyo JR loop ( Yamanote line ) does not justify JR Pass. A typical ride can be around Yen 190, subway similar.

From day 8 to 11, don't forget the time you will spend on trains and buses. I recommend to allocate at least 24 hours in Takayama and at least half a day to Kanazawa. That translates into at least two nights for the Takayama/Kanazawa part plus transportion from Tokyo and to Kyoto. Then, I recommend two full days in Kyoto.

Thanks for the responses. I wanted to post an update, we have now reserved all our hotels, and decided on the 14 day rail pass just for ease of use and because the cost was going to be close anyways with day trips, local trains etc.

Here is what we are planning

Day 1 (Sun): Arrive Tokyo Narita (~3PM), staying in Shinagawa.

Days 2-8 Staying in Shinagawa, seeing many areas of Tokyo.

Day trips to Kamakura one day, and Hakone another day.

(Maybe consider a day trip somwhere else if we run out of things to do? Suggestions?)

Day 9 Leave Tokyo early for Takayama. Spend the day in Takayama and night in a Minshuku there.

Day 10 Leave Takayama for Kyoto, spend night in Kyoto

Day 11 Spend day and night in Kyoto

Day 12 Leave Kyoto for Miyajima, spend night in a ryokan there.

Day 13 Leave Miyajima for Osaka, stay in Osaka.

Day 14 and 15 Spend nights in Osaka. (Need to figure out what to do for the time we are in Osaka, between day trips to Kobe, Hameji, Nara, and Osaka itself. Think we could see all of those things? How would you rate them?

Day 16 Fly out from Osaka (~3PM)

Thanks for any responses and opinions!