Greetings,
My husband and I will be visiting Japan in Fall 2025, probably from 10/24 - 11/24. We're guessing it will be a full 4 weeks, but may end up being just 24-25 nights, depending on our final choices. Thanks to everyone who has posted planning threads and trip reports -- they've been instrumental in our decision to visit Japan.
We're a late-60's/mid-70's retired couple who have traveled independently in Europe and Israel, and we usually spend a couple of weeks in the Caribbean each late-winter in a locally rented home, all of which goes to say that we're pretty decent with travel planning and travel, but Japan may be a stretch for us to coordinate.....................

Currently mulling over:
Tokyo, 4-5 nights
Shizuoka 2 nights
Hiroshima 2 nights
Miyajama 2 nights
Okayama ??
Nagano/Alps region 2 nights, plus an overnight in Matsumoto
Okuhida Onsen 2 nights
Kanzawa or Takayama 2 nights
Kyoto 6 nights

We'd like to figure out the best layout of our itinerary to minimize backtracking, however we really want to save Kyoto for the end of our trip, and fly home from Osaka (connecting to Tokyo). That will be around November 18th-24th, so we're hoping to see some lovely autumnal color then. Most of our travel will be via train, but it's possible that we'll decide to rent a car for several days or a week for the Alps/Okuhida/Kanazawa portion of the trip, for flexibility, and return the car to Kyoto.

Would it make sense to fly into Hiroshima and do that part of the trip first, as it's the furthest-out part of our itinerary? we could then spend several days in Tokyo, take a train to Nagano and pick up a car after our stay there.

Our main interests are: gardens, temple, Japanese art (including Hosukai, looking forward to the museum in Obuse), artisanal crafts and food. It's long been a dream of mine to see Mt Fuji but I know it's weather dependent, so we've decided not to visit the more heavily touristed areas near Fuji. If the weather permits, we may have some view in Shizuoka, and there's an inn there which seems very cool and crafts-focused (Izumiya Craft Inn).

Thanks in advance for any feedback: all suggestions are welcome! Hoping to book our airline tickets within the next week or so.

I'm not sure I can comment intelligently on your route, but I have a couple of questions:

Are you sure you'll need to connect through Haneda to return home? For many people, flying into Tokyo (Narita or Haneda) and out of Osaka (Kansai or Itami) makes sense.

I don't think it makes sense to plan on 2 nights for Kanazawa OR Takayama; I think each is better visited with a stay of 3 nights. Personally, I think it's worth considering at least 5 nights for the two. They are quite different from each other! And I think each would be of interest to you, perhaps Kanazawa in particular because of its arts.

Given your interest in Hokusai, you might want to visit some of the other ukiyo-e museums along your route. For example, I enjoyed the small Ota Memorial Museum in Tokyo. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2291.html

If you haven't already consulted it, japan-guide.com is an excellent resource. Consider making it your first go-to for your planning.

Overall your allocation of nights for each destination makes sense. I would suggest that you reorder your itinerary so that you go to Nagano after Tokyo and from there continue onto Matsumoto, Takayama, Okuhida, and Kanazawa. This would increase the likelihood that you will enjoy the fall foliage in the Japanese Alps, as well as better weather.

If you want to leave Kyoto at the end, you could go from Kanazawa to either Himeji or Okayama, which would require a change at either Kyoto or Osaka. 2 to 4 nights in Okayama would make sense, not so much for Okayama itself but the number of day trip options available from there as Okayama is a transport hub.

From there you could continue onto Hiroshima and Miyajima before coming back East, to Kyoto and Shizuoka, before returning to Tokyo. By leaving Kyoto towards the end of November, you will also increase your chances of foliage at the many temples. While foliage at the major temples will be crowded, there are numerous temples where it won’t be.

If you drop Shizuoka, you could fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka.

For Fuji, you can view it from Tokyo on a clear day. If it is nice, you could go to Lake Kawaguchi or Hakone for the day to see the snow-capped mountain.

thanks to both of you for your thoughtful responses! your suggestions are very helpful. Himeji as a day-trip is definitely on our wishlist, just hadn't figure out if it would be from Kyoto or Okayama, but I think the latter would make a lot of sense. will also look into adding days to Kanazawa and Takayama. a lot of folks prefer to stay in fewer bases and do day trips, however we really enjoy being able to wake up where we want to be, and get out early for sightseeing and other activities. we travel pretty light so packing and moving isn't an issue for us.

the other place I'd really like to visit, but am finding it hard to work into the itinerary, is Naoshima.

I mentioned connecting through Haneda simply because all of the flight schedules I've searched with flights home from Osaka involve a plane change there before the nonstop portion to JFK. our home international airport is usually Boston, but the fares from JFK are roughly half the cost!

the other draw to Shizuoka is the Hiroshige museum.............so many choices!!

There are definitely plenty of things to do and not enough time, so I hear you on that. You can visit Naoshima as a day trip from Okayama if you'd like, as you can Kurashiki or Takamatsu. If you are traveling by train from one point to another, you can take advantage of the extensive luggage storage facilities at the train stations. For example, we visited Himeji when traveling from Kyoto to Kurashiki, leaving our bags at the station while we went exploring. If you want fewer bases, you could visit Okuhida from Takayama or vice versa; you can also do that with Hiroshima and Miyajima.

In addition to the extensive luggage storage facilities as train stations in Japan (lockers and often manned, too) ...scroll down
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2274.html
there is an excellent, inexpensive, and rapid luggage forwarding option, takuhaibin.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2278.html

Ok, there is a lot here.

>> Nagano/Alps region 2 nights, plus an overnight in Matsumoto
Could you please explain this a bit more? Part of Nagano-ken (prefecture) is in the Japan Alps but Nagano-shi (city) is not, or at least I don't think of it being in the Apls. The city is worth visiting, is that what you mean? What is your plan for that? Matsumoto is in Nagano-ken and there you can point and say there are the Alps.

You could get a car in Matsumoto and drive across the alps, Kamikochi, Okuhida, Takayama. Could go on to Kanazawa. In any case, you won't (I would not) drive to Kyoto.

mrwunrfl, I should have been more specific about the Nagano area -- we're thinking of staying near Jigokudani (snow monkey park), in a ryokan. seeing the monkeys has also been on my wishlist, and we enjoy hiking........our thought process is that there might be nice autumn foliage in this area by early November, and it would be convenient to the Hosukai museum. Nagano city is not really part of the equation. And no, we would not drive to Kyoto, we would find a place to return the car close to a good train connection.

Ok, hell valley and the snow monkeys. It is at 2800 ft elevation so, yes, at that time of year you might see fall colors.

Would be shinkansen from Shizuoka to Nagano via Tokyo. I recommend visiting Zenkoji temple. It is not far from Nagano station, so would be easy to visit on the way.

Then Matsumoto, car to Okuhida via Kamikochi, then Takayama/Kanazawa. It is a long haul (5 hours or more) from Takayama to Hiroshima, but ok because you would stay 2 nights and then just move to Miyajima. Kanazawa to Hiroshima is shorter (two transfers but the one in Tsuruga is probably very quick and easy).

You have Hiroshima and Miyajima in the right order.

If you want to stop in Okayama then it would be a good idea to do so on the way to Hiroshima, just to shorten the travel that day. I think I would stop there on the way from Takayama (maybe not from Kanazawa) because that would keep the travel time for the day to under 5 hours. But stopping in Okayama on the way from Miyajima to Kyoto works too. Or skip Okayama.

Based on our experience from trips in 2019, and fall of 2024 (trip report is in the works), I recommend the following:
Add another night in Tokyo if that is where you are starting as there is so much to do there, and you may have a few slow days due to jet lag.
Try to schedule so that you are not on Miyajima for the weekend or a national holiday. We were there Sat/Sun and the place heaved. Loved our stay, though.
We spent three nights in both Kanazawa and Takayama, and felt that was just right.
We were able to fly non-stop from Osaka to San Francisco this trip. We took the bus from Kyoto directly to the airport.
Enjoy your trip. Planning is half the fun!

Would it make sense to fly into Hiroshima and do that part of the trip first, as it's the furthest-out part of our itinerary? we could then spend several days in Tokyo, take a train to Nagano and pick up a car after our stay there.

Yes, it makes sense to start the journey in Hiroshima. But you don't necessarily have to fly there. Hiroshima airport is over 1 hour away from Hiroshima city by coach. You can consider landing at Kansai airport or Fukuoka airport (with more long haul flights) and change to high speed rail Shinkansen. Japanese rail west offers discounted one way Shinkansen fare for tourist.

https://www.global-yamato.com/en/hands-free-travel/ - Use the hands free travel luggage delivery service as much as possible. Regardless of age, it saves so much hassle in moving luggage around. It'd pay off for sure.

Update: we have further refined our plans, and now have the following itinerary sketched out. seeking suggestions on where to spend a couple of nights between Miyajima and Kyoto, as well as lodging suggestions for Takayama and Kanazawa.

Tokyo: 5 nights, hotel won't be booked until April (6 months out), hoping to stay in Akasuka@ Richmond Premier. arriving at Haneda late afternoon
Matsumoto: 2 nights @ Matsumoto Marunouchi Hotel
pick up rental car
Shibu Onsen: 2 nights @Sakaeya Ryokan
Takayama: 2 nights, Hotel Wood? elsewhere?
Kanazawa: return rental car, 3 nights, not sure where we'll stay, possibly an Air BnB
Hiroshima: 2 nights, not booked yet, probably Hilton
Miyajima: 2 nights, Auberge Watanabe
???????: 2 nights thinking of Okayama or Nara. Naoshima would be nice, too, but the transportation might not be too easy
Kyoto: 6 nights, hoping to stay at Hotel Mume, once reservations open for November
Osaka Airport: 1 night @ Hotel Nikko Kansai Airport, prior to flight home

Would love to hear any and all feedback. Not sure how many day trips we'll take. Nara is a possibility, as is Himeji.

Looks good.

Miyajima to Naoshima would not be as difficult as it seems: ferry- walk- JR local- shinkansen- JR local- ferry- and (i think) a bus. It could take over four hours. Instead, you could stop at Okayama when traveling south or north and go to Naoshima as a day trip. You will have enough time on your travel days (particularly the day after your second night in Okayama) to see the main sights (castle, garden) of Okayama and to visit Kurashiki.

There is a ferry to Miyajima from a port nearish to to the Hilton. It is different from the JR ferry you will use when you leave Miyajima.

I adored Nara and the very ancient temples of nearby Ikaruga.

Kansai is only 70 minutes by train from Kyoto. Depending on the time of your flight, relocating for the last night before you fly home might not be necessary given the incredible on-time performance of Japanese trains.

we have an early-ish flight, 8:30 am. we connect at Haneda for our flight back to NYC, and once we arrive it will be another 2.5 - 3 hours to get home. so, having a chill afternoon and evening to simply read, relax and organize all of our stuff will be the best option for us.