Great advice there. I would defer to his opinion.

You can see a lot of the country along the the main routes.
Plan for many temple/castle/city stops along the way, if that is your interest.

The Bullet Train or Shin-kan-sen generally follows the ancient Tokaido Road (southwest-northeast) along the southern shoreline.
There is a lot of history there.

I’ve lived in Japan for the last ten years. Still a fascinating and mysterious country, which keeps life here interesting. It’s also super safe and clean and we enjoy a much higher quality of life here than in the states for less money.
You’re welcome to come and visit us in Okayama. I’ve got two sons, 7 and 13.

Dan, the cost of living is lower than in the US?

This is a tough time to go at the moment. They are very concerned about visitors from hot spots. I was just connecting through the airport last month. They had us get off the plane in small groups based on where we were heading. Obviously the most concern was for those people entering the country. I was screened before being allowed to enter the airport. This was not the case when I was there in February.

It will be a long time before the restrictions are lifted.