This is the initial itinerary but i am really keen to hear from anyone regarding these ideas.

3rd April arrive 6pm at Kansai stay in Shin Osaka for one night just for convenience. I understand that it can take well over 1 1/2 hours to get through customs. So that would mean getting to a hotel aftert 8pm at night. This could be a bit of a problem for dinner as places tend to close early?

4th Himeji a fairly easy day just to Himeji , stay the night and enjoy this stunning castle which I believe looks terrific lit up at night. We would have our suitcases taken from Osaka to Kyoto and just have smaller carry bags.

5th leave for Hiroshima reasonably early, leave our small bags at the station and go to Hiroshima Peace Park and also Ueno Park. Then over to Miyajima for the night.

6th 7th and 8th Kyoto we will work out what to do and where to go. Several of us I know will be keen to do a bit of hiking or more strenuous temples such as Fushimi- Inara and Kurama to Kibune ( also I think this goes to Kiyamizu but I'd need to do a bit more research. I realise these aren't really hikes but at least it is a bit of exercise.

9th 10th Takayama stay in a ryokan here and our bags probably going to Tokyo or maybe Nagoya

11th Nagoya as we need to visit an elderly friend who lives there so the group could be on their own here for the day

12th 13th 14th Tokyo

15th leave Japan

We can easily add 2-3 days to this trip . i am wondering about one more night in Kyoto and one more in Tokyo. then those of us who want to seem a bit more countryside can still use the JR pass down to the Izu Peninsula from Tokyo. Maybe Wakayama or just Arashiyama from Kyoto My husband and I have been to Japan many times before and our friends have persuaded us to take them along . There are 10 of us in our 60's and 70's but fit and well travelled. Your comments and suggestions especially for reasonably priced accomodation would be appreciated.

IIUC, your plan has 10 people changing hotels for the first four nights.

Yes very good point thanks for that I will certainly change it. Maybe we will stay in Himeji? the main problem is arriving in Osaka late at night . what would you suggest?
i do appreciate the correction thanks

If you can add more time to this trip, I would. I'd reduce the number of moves in the early part of the trip and I'd add a couple of days to Kyoto.

Yes good idea Kathie, maybe we could do Kyoto for a few days first then go south. I will try and work out a better plan .

I'd definitely add 2 more days to Kyoto. Neither time that I've visited Japan did it take me anywhere near 1 1/2 hours to clear customs, albeit the first time at Narita and last month at Haneda.

Our agent has just found out that Air new Zealand are only going to fly into Narita in 2018. So I will have to replan the trip. I will start a new item on forum when I do so thanks so much for your input it is really appreciated.

The NZ nonstops to Osaka were seasonal, November to March.

NZ is adding peak-season nonstop flights from Auckland to Tokyo- Haneda starting in July this year.

Unfortunately, this press release doesn't say when the peak season is:
https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/pres...-airport-tokyo

The Narita flight does have codeshare connections with ANA to both Osaka Itami (ITM) and Osaka Kansai (KIX) Airports.

There might also be connections to other Japanese cities (Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Sapporo).