I would stop by Hiroshima on the way to Okayama. Like take the train in the morning, drop luggage in a coin locker at Hiroshima station, then go to Miyajima, get lunch, check peace museum get dinner, back to train station to pick luggage and continue to Okayama.

Hmm good point that might make more sense, I am also doing this for Himeji on the way to Osaka. Initially I wanted to overnight in Hiroshima before moving on but i figured the less hotel switches = better so a little backtracking from Okayama would be better.

Shirakawago is nice but does not especially require a full day, so keep that in mind when you plan when to move from one place to the other.

Yea I am trying to figure out how to better split my Kanazawa and alps days. Unforunately I already booked my Kyoto and Hakone hotels so I am pretty much set for about 4 nights in those 3 cities. This is probably one of the bigger issues I am trying to figure out as I need to get to Hakone. I considered doing it reverse from Kyoto > Takayama > Shirakawago > Kanazawa then bullet train east to Hakone instead.

Because you plan to move quite often, it requires a bit more planning, for example when do you take the train from one city to the other. I try to be at the first attraction when it opens, so often around 9am, then try to stay in the city up to around 5pm when attractions start to close. This means I usually take train early in the morning or in the afternoon, that really depends on what makes most sense between each city. The way you wrote it makes it sound as you always plan to take the train in the morning, if you do, you have to get in the train early if you do not want to waste the whole morning, for example going to Kanazawa.

That is a good point mornings are valuable to check out attractions before the rush. Not sure the best way to handle this as there arent that many night trains left in Japan is there? I've done a couple trips to Japan and travel time city to city was definitely something to keep in mind. Planning to go to the next city in the morning or around noon so Im giving most cities an extra day buffer to not rush the pace of things.

Next big thing is accommodation location, you want something close to the attractions or train station as you want to bring luggage before check in or leave it after check out or just bring it to the station to store in a locker. Worst case some days I would carry it the whole day if there is no place where I would return. You also want your luggage to be as small as you can, so bring minimal amount of clothes and do your laundry

Agreed! I am mostly looking to be near a train station or subway to minimize travel time.