We're heading to Japan to explore the Tohoku/northern Honshu and Tokyo
for a few weeks in May. This is the layout after perusing a few books.

The day-trips from the multiple-night locations are pretty variable. 
Usually we tend to avoid single-night stays in favor of 2-3 night hangs
in various areas.  this time we're at least starting with the intent to
cover more ground.  We'll see if it works.

May 15 - Arrive Tokyo
May 16 - Be lazy in Shinjuku
May 17 - Omiya / Aizu-Wakamatsu
May 18 - Sendai; day trips to Matsushima/Yamagata
May 19 - Sendai
May 20 - Hiraizumi
May 21 - Morioka; day trips Tazawako, Kakunodate
May 22 - Morioka; day trip to Tono
May 23 - Towada-ko or Hirosaki or Aomori
May 24 - Somewhere on the way back to Tokyo, maybe the west coast?
May 25-30 - Tokyo

And yes, we want to spend that much time in Tokyo. 

For the northern jaunt, any ideas, additions, caveats, recommendations? 
At this point, no ryokan are booked, though we're hoping for mid-priced
along the route, with the occasional business hotel in a scramble.  In
Tokyo that last week it's a ryokan.

We speak scant Japanese, which generally produces few problems, but we
understand in northern areas things can get more "rustic" that we might
expect.

-- 
First they gerrymander us into one-party fiefs. Then they tell us they only
care about the swing districts. Then they complain about voter apathy.
 -- Gail Collins