12 Days in Japan - Am I doing too much?

It is pretty packed in a few places, but doable. To go from Aomori to Kyoto though will take just over 6 hours - so it will eat up a lot of your day just to see cherry blossoms. Hirosaki is one popular place. A little more time in Kyoto would be well worth it also. Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg, and Abeno Harukas Bldg are great.

If you are going to see Hiroshima as a day trip, start as early as you can and visit some of the best places (Peace Park/Museum, Shukkeien Garden, the castle) before heading over to Miyajima. Okayama has some good places, including its castle, plus one of Japan's Top 3 Gardens, Korakuen, plus another beautiful garden, Handayama.

If you like flowers, before returning home, in late April or early May the wisteria hit their peak, and one of the best places to see them are in the Ashikaga Flower Park - truly stunning - if you have a chance, they are well worth going to see.

Hi there,

Doing Aomori - Kyoto will mean spending a long long time on the train. It's certainly possible but be sure t check the route before going. You won't have much time (or energy) to explore Kyoto the same day.

Also, please note that the Sunrise express can be sold days, sometimes weeks beforehand. Try to make seat reservations as soon as you can, once you are in Japan.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Toraneko, Daniel - Thank you both for your advice.

Much appreciated!