trip to Japan in April for 15 days

Hi there!

Firstly, lets see how much savings you'll make with a 14 day pass over your travel:

1. Tokyo > Takayama: ¥14,600 (275mins, 532km)
2. Takayama > Kyoto: ¥9,980 (190mins, 314km)
3. Kyoto > Hiroshima: ¥10,990 (112mins, 380km)
4. Hiroshima > Tokyo: ¥18,250 (292mins, 894km)
5. Tokyo > Narita airport terminal 1: ¥3,140 (58mins, 79km)

JR ticket cost: ¥56,960 for 5 legs

• 14 day Japan Rail Pass (¥45,100) saving: ¥11,860

As you can see you'll make good savings with a 14 day Japan Rail Pass so I can certainly recommend this option for you.

As you'll be in Japan for 15 days, you'll need to pay for one of your legs from/to Narita. I recommend paying for the first trip into Tokyo through purchasing the Keisei Express + 2 day metro card deal on arrival at Narita. The Keisei Express travels directly to Ueno station from Narita in 41 mins, so will be the quickest way to your hotel from the airport. The discounted deal also includes 2 days of unlimited metro travel in Tokyo so this will help in conjunction with your 14 day rail pass from the 8-9th. You can make good use of the jrpass in Tokyo (here's a map for reference), but the Metro card will fill in any areas that are harder to get to with the rail pass (Here's a map of the metro). On the way back to Narita you can use the JR operated Narita Express from Tokyo station.

Overall I really like your itinerary. I recommend staying one night on Miyajima island near Hiroshima as this is by far the highlight of many trips. In addition, while you are in Kyoto you may want to also look into staying overnight in temple lodgings at Koyasan, or staying one night in an hot spring spa in Kinosaki onsen.

Hope this helps!