We're trying to work out a 10 night trip to Japan in mid-late May. We're interested in seeing the following: Kyoto, Osaka, Himejijo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, some Tokyo, and Matsumotojo. One thought I had was to spend 5-6 nights in Kyoto and use it as a base of operations for Osaka, Kobe, Himejijo, Hiroshima, etc., then go by slow train to Matsumoto and wander the mountains for a couple of days before immersing ourselves in Tokyo.

We're both in our 30s, basically healthy and we like castles, temples, scenery.

Help appreciated.

A 10 night stay would limit you to Tokyo and Kyoto with day trips to some of the cities you mentioned sandwiched in between. You could do Hiroshima and Himeji, Osaka or Kobe from Kyoto. Save Matsumoto for another time.

Try flying into NRT and out of KIX to maximize your time.

Aloha!

What is your flight itinerary? Into/out of Tokyo?

What is your interest in Kobe? Osaka?

The flight itinerary, of necessity, is into and out of Tokyo. We're doing this on mileage awards. We're also not enamored of staying in Tokyo for more than two nights, thus the 6 nights in Kyoto, two in another city or in the country and two in Tokyo or so.

We plan to obtain JR passes to go to and from Kyoto on our wanderings and possibly JR East passes for Tokyo's surrounds. Transferring from Narita to Haneda to Kyoto, with layovers, seems like it will take as long or longer than jumping on the Narita Express to a Shinkansen to Kyoto.

We're also not averse to taking various trains all around Central Honshu from whatever base of operations we choose -- the island itself is only slightly larger than Minnesota and we're not going to the far east/NE or west/SW points.

You won't need a JR Pass and a JR East Pass. You have a couple of good options for your two days that are not Tokyo/Kyoto if you don't mind traveling. I will explain later.

You should check with your FF program and see if you can get an open jaw ticket flying to Osaka Kansai (KIX) and returning from Tokyo. Or you could buy a ticket for about US$120 and connect from Narita to KIX. In either case, it would be time-saving and would mean that you would only need a 7-day JR Pass. So, if you had to pay $100 to change your ticket you could still save. Other option is to connect NRT-HIJ (Hiroshima).

Go from Kyoto to Takayama in the morning and spend a night. Take bus to Kamikochi and continue to Matsumoto for the night. See castle then go to Tokyo.

Go from Kyoto to Kamikochi (or other mountain spot), etc.

Go to Kiso Valley, walk the Nakasendo, spend the night. Next day stop at Matsumoto to see jo, continue on to Tokyo or maybe go on to Nagano same day without a night in Matsumoto.

Go to Takayama or Kanazawa, spend night. Go to Shirakawago and spend a night. Then to Tokyo.

Go to Takayama and spend a night. Day trip to Shirakawago and back to Takayama for second night. Then to Tokyo the next afternoon/evening.

Go to Nagoya for a night. Enroute stop at Gifu to see the castle, continue to Inuyama to see the castle. Night in Nagoya. See Nagoya-jo then walk the Nakasendo in the Kiso Valley. Spend the night in Kiso Valley or in Matsumoto. See Matsumotojo the next day then train Tokyo.