Confirming itinerary and route

Hello Vineet,

Looks like a good itinerary to me with lots of great placed, including some of my personal favorites. Such as Naoshima, Nikko and Kanazawa.

Let's go a bit into detail. For the Kiso Valley, you could stay in Matsumoto or simply at the end of the Kiso Valley trail. There are different traditional lodgings available, which make for a perfect conclusion of walking the Nakasendo.

For Naoshima, there are a couple of options. First, you could stay on the island itself. This could be a great experience as the island quiets down a lot after dark. Another option is to do it as a day trip but this does involve a lot of travel. Yet the another alternative is to stay at Takamatsu in Shikoku. Takamatsu is a nice city to the north of Shikoku with direct Ferry access to Naoshima. You could do a day trip from Takamatsu to Naoshima and then have a good dinner in the bustling center of Takamatsu.

Also, I assume JR pass doesn't work on 24H bases and is valid from midnight to midnight? In which case we'll have to purchase one-way ticket from Tokyo to Narita if we use it on our arrival day, right? This is correct, every day is counted as a full day and not by the hour.

Finally, could you also confirm if Hyperdia is accurate for route confirmation by JR pass if we deselect private trains a NOZOMI / MIZUHO / HAYABUSA (SHINKANSEN)? This is also correct. The Hayabusa Shinkansen, however, is included in the JR Pass. Leave this option on if you travel north of Tokyo to Tohoku and Hokkaido (it looks like you won't this time).

Hope this helps,
Daniel