[Rob Dyer]

Hello @jay_frank ,

I don’t think 2-3 weeks in Kyoto would be ‘overkill’ as such, it would just be a missed opportunity to explore nearby areas or more of Japan more widely.

I have a post on my blog that I suggest you take a look at. It’s called (rather ironically) How To Spend A Week In Kansai (and Not Visit Kyoto)!:
https://www.therealjapan.com/a-week-in-kansai/

As for travelling between cities, largely depends on how far and how often you plan to switch destinations.

You can cover a lot of Kansai on day trips, so could easily use a city like Kyoto (or Osaka as somewhere a bit more central to the region) as a base for, say, a week. Then your luggage can saty in your hotel while your wife and you are out day tripping.

Also, many hotels will willingly hold on to luggage if you want to spend a few days away and return. Alternatively, there are plenty of luggage lockers at main train stations if you can get by with ‘overnight’ bags for a couple of days. There are also luggage forwarding services you cand use to make travelling far easier. Hotels will hapilly arrange this for you.

Broadly speaking, and based on more then 20 years of travelling throughout Japan, I can say with confidence they are polite and often extremely helpful.

Just make an effort to blend in rather than stand out like that loud foreigner and you’ll be fine! See also this post: Top 7 Etiquette Tips For Travel in Japan https://www.therealjapan.com/top-7-etiquette-tips-for-travel-in-japan/

Hope that helps!