Itinerary & JR !

Hi there,

The Cherry blossom season will mostly have passed this year when you arrive in Japan, if you would still want to see it, then you'd have to travel up to the north of Japan, such as the top of Tohoku or Hokkaido.

That said, I think the plan you have so far looks nice and family friendly. It works well and you could make very good savings using a 7 day JR Pass if you use it to travel to Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka. Adding these trips is something I would certainly recommend.

In Kyoto, great visits with your son include, Fushimi Inari, Arashiyama, Sangano Scenic Railway, JR West Railway museum (if you are into trains), Toei Uzumasa Eigamura (Kyoto Movie park) and much more.

In Hiroshima, a visit to Miyajima is not to be missed. You may also like the Mazda museum.

In Osaka, just walking around Namba/Shinsaibashi/Dotonbori will be a great experience. Universal studies and the Aquarium are great too!

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hi,
You could still see the cherry blossoms at some higher elevation places like Matsumoto around April 17th, and it is possible you could still see some good blooming at the mecca of blossoms, in Yoshino, Nara Prefecture. Worst case, you could still see the shibazakura near the Fuji 5 Lakes, or in Chichibu.

You can see both Hiroshima and Miyajima with an early morning start. You can cover the Peace Park/Museum, castle, Shukkeien Garden and Okonomiyaki-mura, and then go down to take the JR ferry to the island. Aside from the Itsukushima Shrine with the giant "floating" torii, the Daishoin Temple is also a must-see place. There are several other pagodas and temples, and climbing Mt. Misen offers a fantastic view over the island and whole area.
I recommend you also make half a day open to see Nara which has some great sights, and your son can also feed the deer. For Osaka don't miss Dotonbori in the evening, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg, and Abeno Harukas Bldg are killer.

Good luck.

Thank you so much I really appreciate your suggestions and I reckon we will more or less stick to this itinerary and try to include Nara as well perhaps by cutting down a day in Tokyo if necessary. However, we would really like to show at least some good glimpses and experience of Cherry Blossoms to our son who is very keen on it. Is there something we could add or do to ensure our son has a fairly good experience of cherry blossoms ? Thanks as this would really help us decide.

Hi Once again Thanks Daniel and Toraneko

Would it help if we take a day trip somewhere in the north to ensure our son has a fairly good experience of Cherry Blossoms and perhaps drop swing something else. Thanks so much again.

Best

Hi Once again Thanks Daniel and Toraneko

Would it help if we take a day trip somewhere in the north to ensure our son has a fairly good experience of Cherry Blossoms and perhaps drop swing something else. Thanks so much again.

Best

Hi,
You can see current forecasts of the peak blooms for the blossoms here. A list of popular places to see them is here.

Good luck.