What is the best way to travel around japan?

Question:

Planning a trip we are wanting to go from tokyo - takayama - kanazawa - kyoto and back tokyo.
So 1. is it best to take the shinkansen to nagoya and change to the limited express train or take a highway bus?...im thinkin highway bus as it saves us having to change.
2. what is the EASIEST way to get from takayama to kanazawa? basically don't want to be stuffing around changing from train to train. ive heard you have to change trains 3 times... so is there another highway bus we can take?
3. how can we get from kanazawa to kyoto?!?! i can't find much but from the little that i can find its sounds best to again go via bus.
please help im giving myself a headache from stressing about this!

Answer:

Trains are the easiest and most convenient way to travel around Japan. Plus it will give you a great chance to see the country with your own eyes.