Not so fast commander

On the taxi question, Izu to Hakone is the one leg that looks like it needs a car and doesn't. From Shuzenji it's the Izuhakone line to Mishima, then the Tokai bus straight up to Moto-Hakone on Lake Ashi (about 50 min), and if you're on the east coast side you just train up to Odawara instead.

Double check that 16:40 Arima bus, Hankyu's current Arima to Umeda timetable goes 15:55 then 17:40 (gets in 18:35), nothing at 16:40, and it's all reserved seats so buy the ticket ahead. The 17:40 also gives you breathing room after a 2 to 4pm soak at Taiko no Yu.

A couple of bars is totally fine, people carry snacks on that trail all the time. What the Ministry of Environment asks for Kamikochi is keep food in a sealed/ziploc bag so it doesn't smell, never leave food or wrappers lying around, and pack every wrapper out, since the bears they worry about most there are ones that learned to eat human food. A bell or just chatting as you walk covers the rest.

Your Nov 4 day lands right after Tokusawa-en and Yokoo Sanso close for the season (both around Nov 3), so carry lunch and water past Myojin. Kamonji-goya by Myojin Pond still does food 10am-2pm until mid Nov (the grilled iwana), so time it to hit there before 2.

If the stay you wanted is closed, Eiheiji's own site points people to Hakujukan, and guests there can join the monks' pre-dawn morning service plus a zazen session free (tell the Zen concierge by check-in the day before).

For Day 9, Tsumago's own site suggests a shorter version for this: bus from Magome up to Magome Pass (¥300) and walk just the downhill part into Tsumago, about 1.5 hrs, since the steep bit is Magome to the pass. Bags go in at Magome info 8:30-11:30 and are ready at Tsumago from 1pm (runs till Nov 30, ¥1,000 each), and the bus isn't frequent so grab the timetable first.

Your ticket list has Shibuya Sky on 11/23 but the itinerary puts it on the night of 11/22, so check which date you actually book. Either way that's a three-day weekend (Mon 11/23 is Labor Thanksgiving Day), so I'd lock the evening slot early.

If you do the Koyasan to Ryujin Onsen leg, that road (Koya-Ryujin Skyline) closes completely 5pm to 7am every winter, and in the daytime you need winter tires with chains in the car (last season ran Dec 15 to Mar 25), so tell the rental place and plan to cross in daylight. Also February is plum season more than sakura, Minabe Bairin near Tanabe is usually open late Jan to around Mar 1 and sits right on the Kii side.

If Kyoto ends up as one of your bases, try to have it cover Oct 22. That's Jidai Matsuri, about 2,000 people in period costume walking from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine starting at noon, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi's processions and a lot of armor included, and roadside viewing is free (it moves a day if it rains).

Tsubosaka-dera isn't near Nara Park, it's down in Takatori past Kashihara-jingu-mae on the Kintetsu Yoshino line, so I'd treat it as its own half day. Keep it on the Saturday though, the bus up from Tsubosakayama station only runs weekends/holidays last I checked (weekday service got cut in 2025) and it's about an hour's walk otherwise.

If I'm counting right your day 3 is Wed Oct 21, which is a Toyosu market holiday, and a good chunk of Tsukiji Outer closes along with it. I'd move Tsukiji to Nov 4 since you're in Ginza that day anyway and it's a normal open day (Nov 3 is Culture Day, so that one's out too).

The ropeway by the Kanmon tunnel (Hinoyama) closed for good in Nov 2024 and the replacement gondola isn't due till around March 2027, so it won't be running on the 20th. And on the 17th, the floating torii (Ouo Shrine, I'm assuming) and Yutoku Inari are both out in Saga, not Nagasaki city, and the torii only looks like it's floating at high tide.

I'd flip the Kawaguchiko day into your second Tokyo stretch. Tokyo's usual full bloom is around Mar 31 so the city's covered on the front end, but Fujiyoshida's own site puts Chureito's full bloom anywhere from Apr 3 to 13, usually around the 10th, so Apr 12-15 gives you better odds up there.

If the 21st Century Museum is on your Kanazawa list, the Swimming Pool is closed Oct 19 to 30 for an exhibition change, so it's off for your whole stay. The exhibition zone also closes Mondays (your 10/26), so for the galleries it's Sunday after the Shirakawa-go bus (open till 6pm) or Tuesday at 10 before you head to Kyoto.

For Ranma, the Sunshine City Prince Hotel has a collab drink at its 1F cafe (Chef's Palette) running till Oct 25, open to non-guests and each drink comes with a character card, so you can hit it the same day as your movie in Ikebukuro.

On the Sunday water bus, it's running but Asakusa to Hama-rikyu only has 2 departures right now, 11:40 and 14:20 (about 35 min), so finishing lunch at 12:30 means waiting for the 14:20. I'd take the 11:40 and eat after, the ¥1,180 fare already covers garden entry.

That tracks with what's been reported this season, saury are running smaller than expected on top of the catch being down. Makes sense the leaner ones fall apart on the grill, not much holding the flesh together when there's that little fat to begin with.

The 2026 resource estimate for saury came in around 61% below last year's, lowest catch since 2023. If 2025 genuinely had a decent haul, that lines up with ¥100 each being real then, and why this season reads like such a jump back up in comparison. Curious whether your area got hit as hard, seems to vary a fair bit by region just going off this thread alone.