Hello everyone!

I’m finally planning my long-awaited first solo trip to Japan and I’d love to get some feedback on my itinerary. A few things about me:

• I’m really not into aquariums, zoos, animal/pet cafes, maid cafes, or robot restaurants. I've read about them and all of them feel too depressing or too cringe for my taste. Also, Ghibli Museum, Tokyo DisneySea and Universal Studios Japan will remain for a second trip.
• I prefer exploring different neighborhoods in a relaxed way and just going with the flow. That’s why I don’t like planning every single spot in advance or cramming 100 things into one day hour by hour, it just feels unnecessarily restrictive. I’d rather pick fewer places and enjoy them at a slower pace.
• Also, if a destination is more than 2 hours away I really don't like to call it a day trip so I'd rather go there in the morning or in the evening, book a hotel and spend a night there. The only exception I’m considering is a day trip to Amanohashidate, which would mean spending around 5 hours on the train in a single day, so I’m still not sure about it.

1st leg – Tokyo base (10 days)

• Day 1 – Recover from jet lag after 35+ hour flights
• Day 2 – Ueno + Yanaka: Ueno Park – Tokyo National Museum – National Science Museum – Ameyoko – Yanaka Ginza
• Day 3 – Asakusa: Sensoji Temple – Nakamise Shopping Street – Sumida Park – Tokyo Skytree
• Day 4 – Shibuya + Harajuku: Meiji Jingu Shrine – Shibuya Sky – Omotesando Street and possibly somewhere else
• Day 5 – Shinjuku: Shinjuku Station – Don Quijote Shinjuku – Golden Gai – Kabukicho – Shinjuku Gyoen – Metropolitan Government Building
• Day 6 – Odaiba & Southern Tokyo: Sumida River Cruise – Small Worlds Tokyo – Rainbow Bridge – Sengakuji Temple – Tokyo Tower
• Day 7 – Kamakura + Enoshima: Great Buddha of Kamakura – Hasedera Temple – Enoden Train – Enoshima Island
• Day 8 – Yokohama: Minato Mirai – Cupnoodles Museum – Chinatown
• Day 9 – Hakone: Hakone Round Course + Ryokan night
• Day 10 – Hakone: Open Air Museum – Owakudani – Odawara Castle → travel back to Tokyo

2nd leg – Osaka base (5 days)

• Day 11 – Osaka: Dotonbori – Namba – Denden Town – Shinsekai – Shitennoji Temple – Abeno Harukas
• Day 12 – Osaka: Osaka Castle – Umeda Sky Building – Museum of History – HEP Ferris Wheel – teamLabs Botanical Garden
• Day 13 – Osaka: Mino Park and surroundings
• Day 14 – Nara: Todaiji Temple – Kasuga Taisha – Nara Park
• Day 15 – Kobe: Nunobiki Ropeway – Earthquake Museum – Chinatown – Meriken Park

3rd leg – Kyoto base (5 days)

• Day 16 – Kyoto: Kiyomizudera – Higashiyama – Nanzenji Temple – Gion
• Day 17 – Kyoto: Fushimi Inari Shrine and surrounding area – teamLabs Biovortex
• Day 18 – Kyoto: Kinkakuji – Ryoanji Temple – Nijo Castle – Kyoto Railway Museum (I know they're quite far away from each other but it's ok)
• Day 19 – Kyoto: Arashiyama, Hozu River boat
• Day 20 – Amanohashidate: Both ends of Sandbar

4th leg – Hiroshima base (4 days)

• Day 21 – Hiroshima: Peace Memorial Park – Orizuru Tower – Hiroshima Castle – Shukkeien Garden – Okonomimura
• Day 22 – Miyajima: Itsukushima Shrine – Mount Misen
• Day 23 – Onomichi: Temple Walk
• Day 24 – Morning / afternoon in Himeji → travel to Kanazawa

5th leg – Kanazawa base (3 days)

• Day 25 – Kanazawa: Kanazawa Castle – Kenrokuen Garden – Higashi Chaya District
• Day 26 – Kanazawa: Nagamachi Samurai District – D.T. Suzuki Museum – Ninja Temple
• Day 27 – Shirakawa-go → travel back to Tokyo

Final day – Back to Tokyo

• Day 28 – Tokyo: Akihabara