Hiking in April

My husband and I are planning a trip to Japan in mid-April in hopes of doing some easy/moderate hiking (with our 1-year-old on our backs) in a cool climate, ideally with some beautiful mountain scenery - and we're considering Nagano.

Is there good hiking in the Nagano area in April? Seems the scenery is spectacular. Or Would Takayama (too crowded during festival?), Matsumoto, Kamikochi, Kiso Valley, Shirakawa-Go, or elsewhere be better? We can fly into Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya and have 5 nights.

We're hoping for a town/area with high-end lodging, excellent restaurants/cafes, and ideally some cultural/historic site-seeing too.

Thanks so much!

The Lonely Planet "Hiking in Japan" book is maybe what you're looking for. I loved Kamikochi when I visited it and I noticed they have everything from simple walks to moderate hikes and rock climbing there. However, Kamikochi won't open until 24 April so that might be a bit late for you.