Hi Daniel San,
Saw you have given fantastic advises and would like to have your advises on my itenaries with some questions of what not to miss with logistic advises since I am completely new to Japan.
I am traveling with my husband, ariival and departure from Haneda Airport between 2-13 Nov (12 days) and planning to get the 2 days Hakone free pass cum 7 days JR pass with the IC Card for local cities (Tokyo and Kyoto?). We prefer cultural and some nature sight seeing in Japan (with no hiking, selective onsen and museums prefer but not overwhelm, prefer more varieties of local interesting cultural exploration).
Day1-2 (2-3 Nov) - Spend 2 nights in Asakusa. Any good recommendation of places of interest for the 1 and half day surrounding?
Day3 (4 Nov) - Move to Hakone. Is it more economical to get the free pass from Shinjuku or Odawara? Is the romance car worth to try, viewing and saw it is direct (85mins) versus express (2 hrs journey) from aspect of time? For the short period, what not to miss?
Day4 (5-7 Nov) - Activate JR pass day 1. Move to Takayama and spend 3 nights from Odawara. Will visit Shirakawa-Go for half day. Any good recommendation for others good to see for the balance 2 days time?
Day7(8-10 Nov) - Move to Kyoto and spend 3 nights. Will visit Hiroshima. Any nice places not to miss?
Day10 (11 Nov) - Day 7 of JR pass. To move back to Tokyo. On the shinkansen timing, hope to plan on the time in advance with the suitable programs and not missing the right train schedule? e.g. Day trip to Osaka or Kobe with lugage and head back to Tokyo, frequency of the shinkansen from e.g. Osaka to Tokyo. If it is too much for the day, may skip Osaka also.
Day11 - Stay in Japan. Frankly not very keen on shopping areas. So if there is a more cultural place to visit near by. Will stay near to Fish Market as would like to hit to the Tsukiji Market on the next day.
Day 12 - Hit fish market and go on easier pace....flight at 4:40pm same day back to Singapore.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers