Itinerary for November (14days)

If you're worried about money, why go to Hiroshima? There's lots of interesting stuff on the route between Kyoto and Tokyo, and not traveling an extra 500km or so will help your budget.

Tokyo and the surrounding region has enough of interest for you to spend years exploring, never mind one week.

Depending on your interests, there's some cool stuff in the north of Osaka right on the monorail line from Itami airport. I don't know if you'll feel like sightseeing straight off the plane though. How is it that you're flying (internationally, presumably?) into Itami Airport? Is it a rerouting because of the problems at Kansai Airport?

I am coming in from Okinawa :)

I normally don't pay much for accommodation and leave the budget for stuff like food or transport.

The ryokans in some places are charging like £100 a night which is a bit much for a bed to be honest

Ryokan typically provide more than just a bed. In fact, they usually don't provide a bed at all: you'd likely sleep on a futon at one. But they also often provide meals, onsen, age-old Japanese atmosphere.

If all you need is a bed though, there are other sleeping options!

There's one cheap capsule hotel in Koyasan, that I'm aware of.

I know that Koyasan is possible as a daytrip,but personally I wouldn't go all the way there for that...its a great place to visit,if you can do the temple stay and all the things associated with it,and have the time to go to the cemetery at night (which you won't on a daytrip).

You will be among crowds of Japanese tourists walking along the main street.Still some nice things to see (shrines mainly)but far from the overnight experience.

If you do a one night temple stay there..yes,its not cheap.But you usuallly get far more than just a place to sleep.Great traditional vegetarian dinner and breakfast,a fire ceremony in the morning which is really interesting,maybe some meditation sessions,use of the onsen etc etc.

Anyway,on the other question....for me you could easily do either of those options.

You don't have much time in Tokyo,and there is loads to do there.Alternatively two nights (or two full days and one night) for Hiroshima and Miyajima is no hardship.As Giora mentions that will cost you quite a lot more in travel expenses,but if there is stuff there you are interested in,why not?

You could also visit Himeji on the way there or back,so no need for another day trip there from Kyoto....

To be honest my 1st set of plans didn't include Hiroshima and have 6 days for Tokyo.

I know numerous people have said you have spend weeks there but then I grew up in another Asian metropolitan city. I know it has got a different feel to other places though so I am bit indecisive about that.

With Hiroshima, the first day including check in should give me some of the afternoon in the city, then perhaps spend a day in Miyajima. The only real difference I guess is whether I take a later train if available to Kyoto and just sleep, or have a night back in Hiroshima and then travel.

The extra cost for Hiroshima seems to be about £80 in train passes so it's more about whether there's a good amount to see / feels different to the other places I go to.

There are a few things to see in Hiroshima,mostly connected to Atomic bomb stuff.

If that doesn't interest you then IMHO there is nothing unmissable there.

Of course there are the usual..temples and shrines,a few museums,a castle.But those are all over the country too.

I do like bit of history but obviously won't particularly go out of my way to do it. Dachau in Germany was really depressing when I went there.

So for the sake of argument and not do Hiroshima round trip, if I put one extra day towards Osaka (2.5 days +1 day trip )and one to Tokyo (5 days) would that be okay ish?

Not sure about the public holidays/weekends in japan though, would literally everything be closed or would be open like other mega cities?

Things are especially open on a public holiday in Japan, because people have time off work, and can go out and do stuff. The public holiday in November won't be a big deal at all. It's like a weekend, basically. Places that are busy on the weekend will be busy on the public holiday. Also, more festivals tend to take place on public holiday weekends, so you have a better chance of running into one.

You are aware that there is much more to Japan than just Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, and Hiroshima, right?