Two week itinerary - any extra suggestions

Could add a million things to this, but not knowing you and/or what you've seen before it is a bit difficult to make any meaningful suggestions...

If you know Japan quite well, I am a bit surprised to see a fairly standard (first time) itinerary.

Not sure I need quite this long in Hiroshima - something else I could do instead here?

If all you want to do is the Peace Park plus the main sights on Miyajima, you could do this in one busy day. With two full days you could see all there is on Miyajima and see some of the minor (IMO less interesting) sights in Hiroshima. Personally I'd go with something in-between, i.e. around 1.5 days and see Iwakuni or something east of Hiroshima such as Bizen, Onomichi, Tomonoura, Himeji, ....

Would be easier to go to Osaka/Kobe as day trip from Kyoto instead of having to change accommodation.

Seems a bit of a detour for only one day in Kanazawa. With more time you could see Shirakawago, Takayama, the Noto peninsula.....

I agree that that is way to much time in Hiroshima and too little in Kanazawa. I would spend more time in Kanazawa itself and then yeah start thinking about things like Shirakawago or Noto Penisula.

I also agree there is no need to stay in Osaka or Kobe.

More time in Kanazawa is the one that stands out for me...

Thanks all for your suggestions, they're really helpful.

bamse, fairly standard itinerary is because I'm travelling with someone who has never visited Japan before, so trying to get a mix of things I have and haven't done before.

For Kanazawa, can I ask how you would spend your time there? I thought one day might be enough to see the main town, but I don't really know much about the place to be honest.

I'd give yourself 2 days in Kanazawa. You might want to travel in the evening, so as to maximize your daylight hours. Ie. spend the day in Tokyo, then hop on the train afterdark to Kanazawa. Spend two days in Kanazawa, and travel in the later afternoon of the second day to Kyoto. That kind of thing.

Make sure you know what's on at Koshien when you're coming, if you want to see baseball there. I think going from Okayama to Takamatsu, and then all the way back again and onto Hiroshima is a bit nuts for the day, if you ask me. Anyway. There's certainly enough interesting stuff around Okayama/Kurashiki/Takamatsu to keep you there longer, if you like.

Are you traveling to Kanazawa the evening before?

If so,one full day is better.But there is plenty to fill more time....lots of temples,including the very interesting ninja temple.Lots of old shops,small house museums...its a great place for wandering around.An excellent food market too.And some nice galleries if you are interested in Japanese art.

Super, thanks for the replies. Kanazawa sounds like it is worth the extra time, might break up the Takamatsu day by going on to Onomichi for the evening instead of Hiroshima.

We are thinking of freeing up a couple of days by spending less/no time in Osaka/Kobe, and having a full day in Kanazawa rather than two half days.

Which of these four places would you recommend for the extra day and a half and why?

Hakone, Matsumoto, Takayama, Shirakawa

We are thinking of freeing up a couple of days by spending less/no time in Osaka/Kobe, and having a full day in Kanazawa rather than two half days.

Which of these four places would you recommend for the extra day and a half and why?

Hakone, Matsumoto, Takayama, Shirakawa

Are you spending more than just 1 day in Kanazawa? I would add time there before you add additional locaitons.

Hakone can be done as a day trip or single overnight from Tokyo. It is probably the easiest to fit in to already arranged travel plans because it doesnt change anything.

You could pretty easily add Shirakawa and Takayama to your trip. The villages in Shirakawa and around are small(tiny) so none of them take very long. They are also between Kanazawa and Takayama so can be done when transiting between them by bus. The interesting part of Takayama is also not terribly large so can be done fairly easily. If you do this you end up with a bus from Tokyo to Takayama that costs a third as much as the train from Tokyo to Takayama and is faster.

You could also take a train from Tokyo to Matsumoto and then transfer to a bus to Takayama, but I dont htink 1.5 days is enough for all of that.