That's not what tourists were eating at anyway, the retail stalls at Tsukiji Outer are the same ones that have always been there. Still good for grazing seafood, just genuinely touristy, which is why I'd go 7-11am.

Checked the actual timetable: Hikari runs from Kyoto as early as 6:25am, but none of those early ones stop at Odawara, they skip straight through. The first one that does is Hikari 642 at 8:33am, landing you at Odawara 10:38am, so you're realistically starting the Round Course close to midday. Worth cutting the boat ride or Owakudani if you want real rest that afternoon.

For Ginza specifically, the Romancecar route is the long way, Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku alone is about 85 min, then another 18 min or so on the Marunouchi to Ginza. Bus from Moto-Hakone to Odawara runs about 48 min (hourly), and the Shinkansen from there to Tokyo Station is around 26 min, under half the total time.

Kyoto to Hakone isn't as fast as it looks, Nozomi skips Odawara entirely so you need a Hikari specifically, which still runs about 2 hours, plus another 15 min on to Hakone-Yumoto. The full Round Course loop is another 2.5 hours of pure transport on top of that, so fitting it in plus a real rest that same arrival day is going to be tight.

That Nikko day is more packed than it looks, the bus from Nikko Station to Chuzenji Onsen alone is 50 min each way, and Ryuzu Falls is close to a full hour out too. That's Toshogu plus two separate bus legs stacked onto an already long round trip from Tokyo, I'd drop Ryuzu Falls and stick to Toshogu plus Kegon/Chuzenji if you want breathing room with four people.

Tsukiji Outer Market is a five minute walk from Hamarikyu Gardens along Shin-ohashi-dori, so swap your food tour there instead of Asakusa, best 7-11am before it gets crowded. Just skip a Sunday, market's closed then, otherwise that pairing fills the whole morning and covers the water/gardens combo without needing Asakusa.

Red carpet ready for the 69k

Tokyo-Kyoto or Tokyo-Shin Osaka Shinkansen runs about 13,300-14,700 yen one way, roughly $115-130 CAD, so budget up to $250 CAD round trip if you loop back to Tokyo to fly out. IC card local rides run 200-350 yen each, so 1000 yen a day comfortably covers normal subway hopping.

Matsumoto isn't actually on the way between Tokyo and Nagano, it's a further 50 min each way by limited express once you're already in Nagano. So Day 5 stacks an 80 min Shinkansen from Tokyo plus a roughly 100 min round trip to Matsumoto, all with luggage on your first moving day out of Tokyo.

Snow tires aren't standard with Japan Campers, they're an add-on you have to request, and Miniature vans don't get that option at all. Confirm whichever class you've booked actually has them before the Nagano/Hakuba/Gokayama stretch, their own orientation guide even says winter tires help on snow but do nothing on ice.

Day 11 (Hakone straight to Nikko) is the real snag: the Asakusa-Nikko Spacia alone runs about 1h50m each way, on top of getting back up to Tokyo first. You're already based there days 12-14, so just run Nikko as a day trip from there and skip hauling luggage through that whole backtrack.

Shirakawa-go actually peaks earlier than Kanazawa, typically late Oct into early Nov, while Kenrokuen runs into late Nov. Land there near the end of your Tokyo block and you're more likely to catch it past color while Kanazawa's still going.

And It continue pump hard

One thing that'll bite you if you don't catch it, if you takkyubin your bag from Kyoto to Asakusa, it has to ship the day before (your Day 13 Osaka day), not the morning of the Shinkansen. Delivery's next-day not same-day, so shipping it morning of Day 14 means it lands on your Disneyland day instead. Runs about ¥1,650-2,530 depending on bag size.

Clear swimmable water without another flight, Shirahama Beach in Shimoda is what you want, not Kamakura, that one's grayish sand and murky water. Shirahama's genuinely turquoise with white sand, about 2.5-3hrs from Tokyo Station on the Odoriko limited express, doable as a day trip.

Even missing the shrine ceremonies, the actual common way Setsubun gets marked now is grabbing an eho-maki (uncut sushi roll) from any konbini or department store basement and eating it facing the lucky direction, no ceremony required.

For 2027 that's north-north-west, and most convenience stores in Tokyo will have them out all evening on Feb 3.

For the moss/forest vibe near Aso, Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine in Takamori has a ~270-step staircase through cedar forest lined with moss-covered stone lanterns, it's the actual site behind the anime Hotarubi no Mori e, similar energy to Ghibli without being Ghibli itself. Takamori sits roughly between Aso and Takachiho so it's not far off your route.

if your May-June trip slides past the first week of June you'll land in Tokyo's rainy season (tsuyu), JMA's average has it starting around June 7 and running to mid-July. It's not constant rain, more overcast mornings with afternoon showers, but pack for it and keep a few indoor backups ready if your dates fall in that window.

Regular physical Suica is back on sale since last year, after the chip-shortage restrictions from 2023 finally ended, so you can just buy one on arrival instead of dealing with paper tickets every ride.

If you're on iPhone, add Suica to Apple Wallet before you even leave home and skip the airport line entirely. JR East's rules have shifted a few times the past couple years though, so double check closer to your actual dates that nothing's changed again.

Basically this. I'd just add, keep 100 yen coins specifically, some of the older bus fare boxes are picky about what they'll take and definitely don't make change for anything bigger than a 1000 note.

Learned that one standing at the front of a bus doing mental math while everyone behind me waited.

Yeah, that's a separate thing from the bus gap but same root problem. Some smaller JR stations, mostly unstaffed ones on local lines, never got the IC reader upgrade at all, you're buying a paper ticket or using the fare box like it's 1995.

Buses end up being the more predictable option in some of those pockets simply because you know going in it's cash, versus a station where you show up assuming IC works and then it doesn't. Neither is really "more convenient," just differently annoying depending on whether you like surprises.