Jan/Feb 2017 early itinerary check

Hi everyone!

I have traveled to Japan once before, in December 2014. Myself and a group of friends spent a month visiting different cities and I had a wonderful time. Now, I am planning to return with a different group of friends (likely 4 total, all of us young males, under 25), who have all never been to Japan before (apart from me), and take them on a similar trip.

I am posting this here as a very early itinerary check. Everything is flexible and can be changed before the itinerary is final. I'm planning to start booking flights and accommodation ~6 months before the trip.

Trip Goals

• Explore lots of Japan (mix of touristy and traditional things)
• Be in Sapporo for the snow festival
• Have the trip include Thu 26 Jan (Australia day public holiday, so less annual leave required)
• Trip length of ~3 weeks, and hopefully maxmiising value of a 14 day JR Pas

Itinerary (city listed is where we are planning to spend that night)

Tue 24 Jan 2017 – Outbound flight, arrive NRT in the evening

Wed 25 Jan 2017 – Tokyo

Thu 26 Jan 2017 – Hiroshima (Activiate JR Pass, travel to Hiroshima, Miyajima Island)

Fri 27 Jan 2017 – Hiroshima (Ōkunoshima (rabbit island) day trip)

Sat 28 Jan 2017 – Osaka (Peace Park, travel to Himeji Castle, travel to Osaka, Dontunbori)

Sun 29 Jan 2017 – Osaka (Aquariam, Osaka Castle)

Mon 30 Jan 2017 – Osaka (Universal Studios Japan, Umeda Sky Building)

Tue 31 Jan 2017 – Kyoto (travel from Osaka to Kyoto, Kinkaku-ji Temple)

Wed 1 Feb 2017 – Kyoto (Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine, Arashiyama Bamboo Grove)

Thu 2 Feb 2017 – Tokyo (visit Nara, then travel from Kyoto to Tokyo)

Fri 3 Feb 2017 – Tokyo (Disney Land)

Sat 4 Feb 2017 – Sapporo (mostly travel day, train from Tokyo to Sapporo)

Sun 5 Feb 2017 – Sapporo (Sapporo snow festival)

Mon 6 Feb 2017 – Sapporo (snow sports)

Tue 7 Feb 2017 – Sapporo (snow sports)

Wed 8 Feb 2017 – Tokyo (mostly travel day, train from Sapporo to Tokyo, JR Pass expires)

Thu 9 Feb 2017 – Tokyo (Disney Sea)

Fri 10 Feb 2017 – Tokyo (Yokohama day trip)

Sat 11 Feb 2017 – Tokyo

Sun 12 Feb 2017 – Tokyo

Mon 13 Feb 2017 – Hakone (3-day pass, travel from Tokyo to Hakone and stay at a ryokan)

Tue 14 Feb 2017 – Hakone (Hakone round course, second night at ryokan)

Wed 15 Feb 2017 – Travel back from Hakone to Tokyo, lunch somewhere, then travel NRT and fly home

Thu 16 Feb 2017 – Rest of the inbound flight

Questions

1. What are the best places to visit in Tokyo during the 3 days I haven't made plans for? Visiting Akihabara, Shibuya, Harajuku and Shinjuku are likely.

2. Does the itinerary feel too rushed? Last trip one of the hardest parts we found was switching accommodation often got tiring. I tried to reduce the number of bases in this trip, but still wanted to visit all of these places.

3. Is flying to Sapporo and back (or maybe one of the legs) viable? I did the train up and back last trip and it wasn't too bad, as it was minimal fuss (hopping on the train is easier than going to the airport) and no extra cost (with JR Pass), just the extra time.

4. Good locations to stay within the cities we are visiting? Also, should we consider AirBnB? (last trip we stayed in business hotels for ~$50aud each per night, which was reasonable and nice).

5. Any food recommendations for any of the cities we are visiting?