Japan Holiday

[Josh33]

Ok me and my brother are going backpacking in japan, other than 3 nights upon arrival in the shinigawa prince in tokyo we have no itinerary.

Arriving on about the 15/06/08 gonna stay for the full 3 months allowable, got around 10k to spend after the flights etc, been learning as much japanese as I can and brought phase and guide books.

Should all be sweet the only worry I have is the JR tickets... Not sure the best combonation of ticket/s will suit. Keeping in mind

1week-$330

2weeks-$530

3weeks-$670

Wanting to see/do as much as possible, like go from tokyo to kyshu then up to hokkaido before going home. And there will be times when we will be on busses etc not JR cos its gonna cost too much to have a pass for the whole 3 months. I just dont wanna activate a ticket and find out im in an awsome place with a weeks worth of sightseeing etc and be kicking myself

[adam87]

JR does buses and overnight buses as well. alot of japanese prefer to use companies other than JR lines such as hankyu because its cheaper, but JR has shinkansen which is great for travellers

[siksII]

Most JR highway busses (long distances) arent covered by the JR pass, so only bank on them being valid for trains.

I recommend getting bilingual maps, they are few and far between. Try Kinokuniya.

The ones i recommend in particular are:

Japan - A Bilingual Guide

Tokyo - City Atlas

Published by http://www.kodansha-intl.com/

10 grand should be enough, when I looked last most decent looking backpacker hostels werent much less $$ than a cheap motel so might want to look into that.