Realistic Itinerary

Be aware that sometime across May 1st (most likely 26th April + ~10 days from there) is Golden Week. The whole of Japan will be on holiday. Expect popular tourist spots (ie. Kyoto) to be filled with the brim, and flights, trains (Shinkansen included) all full. Try to be in a place during that period, or limit travelling on the start and end of the Golden Week when people would be moving about too.

You can read up on travel during Golden Week to have a rough idea of how things are.

Also keep an eye on the Fuji Area. Transportation is currently down due to the Typhoon. Timing is up in the air, but they expect things to be up and running by end of the year. There is a mega thread on this somewhere on the forum.

I would give myself:

• 4 days for Tokyo
• 4 days for Kyoto
• 2 days for Osaka
• 1 day Kawagoe
• 1 day Nara
• 1 day Kobe
• Not sure about Mt. Fuji--ask someone else, lol.

So all together that's like 14-ish days. If you wanted to really take it easy, you could add +1 day in each Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, and STILL have like 5 days left over. You should definitely go to some of the other places you're considering.

Adding all 4 (Hiroshima, Miyajima, Fukuoka, and Nagasaki) might be a bit hectic, but still doable for sure. I'd recommend adding at least 2 places.

Keep in mind April 29-May 6 is Golden Week, where most locals take time off. Expect huge crowds at places like Disney, USJ, and Nara....

You could definitely add Hiroshima/Miyajima and not be stressed about constantly moving, and at that point might as well go all the way to Fukuoka. Here is one way to do it, so you're never spending that much time on a train in one day, but still covering a LOT of distance.

8 nights in tokyo -> kyoto (3 hour train ride)
4 nights in kyoto -> hiroshima (2 hour train ride)
2 nights in hiroshima ->fukuoka (2 hour train ride)
3 nights in fukuoka -> osaka (3.5 hour train ride)
4 nights in osaka osaka > fuji (3 hour train ride)
1 night in fuji -> tokyo (1 hour)

I might also jam a night or two at an onsen town (kinosaki inbetween kyoto and hiroshima maybe) just for a different experience.

I think it's doable. 22 days is a lot. As others have pointed out, you'll be traveling during Golden Week, so make sure you book your stays for that period well in advance and be prepared for extremely crowded trains. But other than that, even including Fukuoka and Nagasaki I think it's not an overloaded schedule. If you have a couple of extra nights to assign after the "basics" are taken care of, I'd put those onto Tokyo or Kyoto rather than one of the smaller places though - that way if you do feel like you have too much unused time and are getting a bit tired by the city itself, there's a hundred daytrips you can decide to go on, but if you find great stuff while exploring / have a really late night and don't feel up to much the next day / discover that you can't stick to your schedule because you want to spend way more time on one of your planned items than you thought you would, you have a bit of a buffer. :)

I would personally avoid going all the way to Fukuoka and Nagasaki, as I'm a more 'depth' than 'breadth' type of person. Hiroshima and Miyajima are definitely doable, and recommended, especially as they just lie on the the Shinkansen line, so it's extremely accessible with the JR pass. Even without going to Fukuoka, the JR pass pays off with the trip to Hiroshima. My first time, my group was able to do both Hiroshima/miyajima in a single day trip from our Kyoto base, but if you can spend more time in the area, I would highly suggest it.

I'd personally do something like 5 days for Tokyo, a week for Kyoto, a couple days from day trips around Kyoto, a couple days Hiroshima, and use the rest on going back north to Tokyo like maybe Osaka, Kobe, depending on your interests.

I don't think you'll feel like you're always on the go, as you can base out of Tokyo, Kyoto, and maybe Hiroshima for the most part, as these areas will give you central access to the core areas as well as day trips (e.g. going to Nara from Kyoto). I think I'm mostly stressed and feel rushed when having to move luggage, so that will help.

I had I think 18 days in Japan and managed to do your whole trip minus the Mount Fuji area. I also went to Miyajima, Hiroshima, Himjei and Kanazawa. Miyajima was my favourite day trip. We based ourselves at only two Airbnbs, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka, which worked great for us. It was so hot and humid when we were there we were happy to get the air conditioned trains and tbh getting a bento for the shinkansen was such a cool experience we still enjoyed the journeys!

Do not miss Miyajima, you will regret it!

Agree with everyone's suggestions, but I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a "rest day" somewhere in the middle. 22 days of solid exploring/traveling/excitement will be leaving you feeling exhausted only 10-12 days in.

By "rest day" I mean just staying in bed, then maybe in the evening eating out somewhere closeby to your hotel/Air BnB.

My last two trips to Japan were the same 3 weeks length you're planning, and each time we were begging for rest by Day 10-12. So there's my advice for you haha. It may feel like you're wasting time just resting in bed, but it is required to enjoy the rest of your trip properly. Especially with what you plan to cover.

Have a great time :) I really do feel 3 weeks is the best time to enjoy a Japan holiday when it's possible.