Most first Japan itineraries do not have too little in them.
They have too much.
I shared a 14 Day Japan itinerary last week. It is a useful starting point, but the actual route should change depending on what matters most to you.
The hardest part is not choosing places. It is deciding what is worth a hotel change, what deserves a full day and what can wait for a future trip.
These are the three decisions I would make first.
1. Is Hiroshima essential to this trip?
Hiroshima and Miyajima are both worth visiting. But they add travel time and can make the route feel tighter.
Keep them if they are genuinely important to you. If they are only on the list because every Japan itinerary includes them, save them for another trip and give Tokyo or Kyoto more time.
2. Do you want to stay near Fuji?
A day trip works if your main goal is seeing Mount Fuji.
An overnight is better if you want an onsen, a ryokan stay, an early morning view or time around Hakone or Kawaguchiko without watching the clock.
Do not add an overnight just to tick off Fuji. Add it because you want the experience around it.
3. Is Osaka a base or a day trip?
If you mainly want Dotonbori, food and one busy evening, you can visit from Kyoto without changing hotels.
If Osaka nightlife, street food, shopping or Universal Studios are important to you, give it its own nights. It feels much more relaxed when you are not racing for the last train back.
The best 14 Day Japan trip leaves room for a rainy afternoon, a neighbourhood you want to return to and the occasional slow morning.
Your ten minute task today:
Decide whether Hiroshima is essential.
Decide whether Fuji is a day trip or an overnight.
Decide whether Osaka needs hotel nights.
Once those three answers are clear, the rest of your route becomes much easier to build.
P.S. If you want full Japan itineraries, maps, booking guidance and 235+ saved places, you can find them in the Japan Complete Pack.