Taking our first trip to Japan in April (3-23) and would like recommendations for the last part of our itinerary. So far we have a set itinerary of 6 nights in Tokyo, followed by 3 in Kobe for a memorial, then 3 nights in Osaka. We'd like to spend 4 nights in Kyoto, leaving us with 4 nights before we return home. Options we've been considering (but open to others!):

1. After Osaka, spend 4 nights in Kyoto, then head to Kanazawa for a couple of nights, then down through Nagano (2 nights) to Haneda on the Shinkansen.

2. After Osaka, head straight to Kanazawa then come back to Kyoto and take the Shinkansen to Haneda from Kyoto.

3. After Osaka, head southwest (Himeji Castle, possibly Naoshima or Kurashiki, or ???) for a few days, then back to Kyoto. Is that area different enough to warrant giving up Kanazawa?

In your itineraries with Kanazawa, add Takayama, a favorite of ours.

1. Ok, that works, though am not clear on what you mean by "down through Nagano". Your best route from Kanazawa to Haneda would (almost surely) be the Hokuriku shinkansen which travels through Nagano prefecture with a stop at Nagano city. (then you change from that shinkansen at Tokyo to get another shinkansen to Shinagawa and get to the airport from there). You could fly.

2. IDK why you would want to do that.

3.The areas of Western Japan that you mentioned are different from Kanazawa

What are you interested in? What is it that you think you would be giving up if you didn't go to Kanazawa.

Oh, checked your profile and see that this thread is basically a duplicate of your other thread:
Non-urban Japan suggestions? - Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (fodors.com)

It is the same topic, really