Should I hire a car for my trip?

I am planning my second trip to Japan. The first time I did the classic Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto-Hiroshima so I could train everywhere and it was easy and reliable.

This time I want to get more out of the cities and visit more remote areas, the route I’m roughly planning is Tokyo-Matsumoto-Kanazawa-Fukui-Kyoto-Kobe-Himeji-Hiroshima-Hagi-Matsue-Tottori-Osaka-Nara-Mie-Tokyo.

I think it would be awesome to stop in small towns along the way, take my time, and find some hidden gems by doing a road trip this time.

Has anyone else done this? Was it worth it? Has anyone done this route via trains only and it was fine?

What do you recommend? Thank you!