[Gahzirra]

To muddy the waters possibly further, this was my itinerary

Fri day 1 05th Narita arrive 4:25pm à Tokyo
Sat day 2 06th Tokyo
Sun day 3 07th Tokyo
Mon day 4 08th Tokyo - Kyoto (activate JR 21)
Tue day 5 09th Kyoto
Wed day 6 10th Kyoto -- day trip Nara
Thu day 7 11th Kyoto - Osaka
Fri day 8 12th Osaka -- day trip Kobe
Sat day 9 13th Osaka
Sun day 10 14th Osaka - Okayama - Hiroshima
Mon day 11 15th Hiroshima --day trip Miyajima - Fukuoka
Tue day 12 16th Fukuoka
Wed day 13 17th Fukuoka
Thu day 14 18th Fukuoka àAso
Fri day 15 19th Aso - Beppu - Yufuin
Sat day 16 20th Beppu - Osaka via ferry
Sun day 17 21st Osaka - Hakone - Tokyo
Mon day 18 22nd Tokyo
Tue day 19 23rd Tokyo
Wed day 20 24th Tokyo -- day Nikko night Utsonomiya
Thu day 21 25th Tokyo -- night Yokohama
Fri day 22 26th Tokyo -- day trip Kamakura
Sat day 23 27th Tokyo
Sun day 24 28th Leave Japan 7pm flight

Pretty close difference was I went south to Kyushu to hit Fukuoka for the Grand Sumo Tournament and I really wanted to see all the hot springs down there...Yufuin was the highlight and I wished I had planned at least another day.

One thing I did feel and I do see it in your plans as well...before I headed back to Tokyo for my last week I was super tired of bouncing around from location to location. It was nice to use Tokyo as my base and just head out from there.

I felt Nara was nothing special after seeing so many temple's in Kyoto only difference... it has deer. Lots of people get "temple-itis" after Kyoto. Now you may say but my wife loves deer...Miyajima has the deer too.

Myself I would allot more time to Tokyo, there is a lot to see and do...each ward has a different feel to it. Yokohama is really cool as well with MM21 and the China town.

Osaka is not a huge difference from Tokyo if you are only popping in for a day trip, you will probably just get to see dontonburi, maybe the aquarium, and won't get a feel for the differences between the two cities.

**Also why not fly into Osaka its a whole lot closer to Kyoto?