28 days (month) inerary help needed

I'm planning on going to Japan in April but I need major inerary help. I want to visit tokyo,kyoto,osaka,Mt. fuji, and himeji. Other than those locations I'm not sure where to go. Though I would like to visit some of the less saught after places during the last week due to the "Golden Week", I think thats what its called. I would prefer more traditional, historical japan with scenic areas blended with more modern (tokyo like) places to visit and the most efficient way to go about it. I'm also planning on buying a JR pass but not sure which one to get. A Cherry Blossom festival included and the best place to stay to get full hot spring benifts would be great too. I'm sorry there's so many questions (and they are some what general) and I don't expect anyone to come up with all the answers but simple suggestions to make things easier would be lovely. All help is greatly appreciated =).

itinerary* not inerary.

I'm also planning on arriving at the Narita tokyo airport if that helps any.

What are the dates and times of your arrival/departure? And do you also depart from Narita?

Yes, I plan on departing from there too. I'm not sure of the dates or times. I'm not planning on going this April but next or even the one after that. I'm trying to get most things put together beforehand. Right now I just want to figure out a flexable itinerary. And see what places others suggest are worth seeing.

I'm not sure how flexible of an itinerary you're looking for.

I would suggest starting off by searching this site or Google and figuring out what you want to see and do in the places you intend to visit.

Don't forget to account for the travel time to get between each city and between sites.

I don't think you'll be able to decide on a JR pass until you have a rough itinerary.

When I plan my itineraries, I use Hyperdia and Mapion quite extensively because I hate being lost.

Hyperdia.com (there's a link for English) gives you a rough estimate of how long it will take to travel using the subway/bullet train.

Mapion gives you online street maps but it's in Japanese:
http://www.mapion.co.jp/index.html

OK, I'll keep my comments general. One thing I find could be a problem, you say you want to see cherry blossoms and also be there for Golden Week. The cherry blossom season has been getting earlier (global warming?) and, with a 28 day trip that takes in Golden Week, you will not arrive in Japan early enough unless you head north to somewhere like Sendai or even Hirosaki.

Is there a reason that you want to be there for Golden Week? If you can, I would suggest that you go earlier (last week of March) and avoid Golden Week.

To cut down on costs and travelling, see if you can fly into Tokyo and finish your trip in Osaka, leaving via Kansai Airport. This should cost no more than flying in and out of Narita.

Spend a week exploring Tokyo and area (Kamakura, Nikko, etc).

On the second week use a 14 day JR Rail Pass to head south, maybe to Kyushu. If you like castles, maybe go via Matsumoto and thru the Kiso Valley to Nagoya. Check out Kurashiki (near Okayama), Hiroshima, possibly Tsuwano, possibly Hakata, Kumamoto and Nagasaki.

Use the last day of your 14 day rail pass to get to Osaka and use this as a base to explore the area (Kyoto, Nara, Koyasan, etc) using a Kansai Thru Pass.

I would suggest searching on Flickr.com for some of the locations I have suggested to see if you think they look like the sort of places where you would want to go.

I second Rob Beer suggestion. don't forget to look at all the pages on this site (under travel, living, Japan A-Z) for lots of info. google tourist info for various towns. invest in a guidebook on Japan, even if it is a second hand one from last year, and read it at least twice and highlight places you are interested in. Shikoku island (access from Okayama) is a great place for country side and old houses and temples. if you have a fast computer google "skyscrapercity Kansai" then osaka then tokyo or ...for great photos. skip the comments as many are juveniles or misinformed. skyscrapercity has a huge number of pages on cities all around the world.