Hi -

My wife and I are planning our first trip to Japan from 6/27 to 7/8. We are a couple in late 20s and love hiking, nature and little bit of cultural stuff. My wife does not eat fish or red meat.

Based on some interweb research I was thinking of following. Feel free to critique:

Itenary
6/27 - Land in KIX at 11:40 am and transfer to Osaka
Spend the day in Osaka
6/28 - Osaka - Kyoto (day trip). Night stay in Osaka
6/29 - Osaka - Nara (day trip). Night stay in Osaka
6/30 - Spend the day in Osaka or Kyoto. Night stay in Osaka
7/1 - Travel to Miyajima, spend the day in Miyajima hiking and come back to Hiroshima in the evening. Night stay in Hiroshima
7/2 - Travel to Sendai or some other place in the north to see some parts in north of japan and maybe do a day of hiking (not sure if this can be accomodated). Not sure where to spend the night
7/3 Spend day hiking and travel to tokyo in the evening. Night stay in Tokyo
7/4 Day trip to a nice beach area (need suggestions for day trip beach places). Night stay in Tokyo
7/5-7/8 Tokyo
7/8 - Depart from NRT

Questions:
1) Based on my initial recommendations on this forum, i was thinking of landing in KIX and taking off from NRT. This seems to be the most economical way. We do however want to experience the Shinkansen. Does it make sense to take the JR 7 day pass? Are there some local day or 3 day passes that make more sense? I am totally confused with all the train options and pricing. Is there a good website where I can research this?

2) We are thinking of staying in Osaka vs. Kyoto as there are more food options there and hotels seem to be cheaper as well. Should we reconsider?

3) In Tokyo, we are thinking of staying at the IC using F&F rates. It comes out to $200 per night including taxes. Is IC in a good area and walking distance from the subways? Are there other better options that we should consider?

4) Given our dietary limitations, should we drop the trip to sendai?

Thats it for now more to come later Thanks in advance for all the help.

KD