I'm glad the icing analogy is helping -- it certainly has helped me over the years!

Again, you can definitely see a segment of bunraku in Kyoto -- I provided the link upthread.

<i> Very serious about seeing Bunraku. </i>

There is a short Bunraku show at the Shishi-Kaikan hall in Takayama, which one can reach from Kanazawa.

I would chop a couple of nights from Nikko and extend Kyoto.