I started my day with $10 breakfast buffet at the hotel. It's very average, not much to praise and not much to complain either, just sufficient. I left the hotel without one thing.... Asking them for a map!! Coz I thought my map in the travel book might be sufficient, and I was WRONG. Every hotels I stayed got very details map to giveaway for FREE, so, do ask one. As I walked out the hotel, there's field where a lot of kids playing baseball.
As a Japanese comic books fan, I've always known that Baseball is hugeeee in Japan. To see this, it just made me realized, I'm in Japan!
I left Juso catching the local train (which not included in JR Pass) back to Osaka Station. When you buy the ticket it's quite challenging. At most JR stations the ticket machine got English, but this local station got only Japanese. Be fear not, the quickest way is to ask at the Counter (they don't sell ticket there) whether how much it's going to cost to the station that you want, then go the machine, put the money in accordingly and press the touch screen for that amount, Bingo! You can also see the fare from the map chart above the ticket machine it'll tell you how much exactly to the stations that you want, however, some station don't have that map in English... So, ask the counter seems to be the quickest choice sometimes.
Osaka in the sun light is very different. More people, a lot more...
Osaka station is huggggeeeeee. There are so many Entrances/Exits. If you're there for the first time, try to calm yourself a bit. :) Firstly as I checked out from my hotel already, I'll need to put my luggage in the locker so I can travel lite. The lockers make things very convenient for travelers. Most of the big stations will have lockers in many places.
It operates by 100 Yen Coin only, so, make sure you have your change before you put your things in. There are 3 sizes for lockers, 300 Yen for Small one, 400 Yen for Medium one (I can put my luggage in, and 600 Yen for the big one. I'm not sure whether there's time limit on the locker coz I've never used it for more than 24 hours. :P
After put my things in the locker then off I went to Osaka Castle. Catching the train from Osaka station go to the Osaka Circle section, and again, the best way is to ask the staffs at the entrance. And since you have to show them your JR Pass to get in anyway, why not ask. hehehe.
At Osaka Castle station, you have to walk around 10-15 minutes to the castle. Osaka Castle is the symbol of Osaka, however, the original castle was destroyed during wars and was restored in Maeji period. My friend recommended me not to go inside as it'll be all brand new. And as I will go to Himeji Castle which will be a lot more interesting, so, I stayed outside the castle. But if you guys have times, go inside wouldn't hurt. :)
After finished with the castle, I came back to Osaka station to find some lunch. I heard that in Osaka is very well known for their Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza) and Takoyaki (Octopus Ball), so, I picked this restaurant near by the station. 
It's got no English name, I don't know what it's called... but it's fantastic!!
I ordered the Combination Okonomiyaki, and it's by far is the BEST Okonomiyaki I had in my ENTIRE LIFE!!! I wanted to cry coz it's sooooo Oishi!!! Osaka's got their trademark in Okonomiyaki by putting in the SOBA (thin egg noodle) in it.
After lunch then it's time for Shinkansen! (The bullet train). Again, back at Osaka Station to catch a train to Shin Osaka, where Shinkansen is waiting for me. However, there's one big problem.... I forgot where my locker is.... The damn station is so big and got so many exits, these got me walking around the station for 20 minutes!!! So, you guys, please take pictures around the area that you left you things in the locker to make your life easier.
Now I'm heading to Fukuoka, will continue soon. 
I've arrived at Kansai Airport quite late at night. But there's still train service to go to Osaka, Shin-Osaka and Kyoto. If you bought a JR Pass, there's ticket office that opened til 9.00 pm so you can exchange your ticket to the JR Pass.
After I've got the JR Pass then, off I went to the train. For those who're new to Japan, the mobile phones need to be in SILENT MODE. Talking on the phone on the train is considered inappropriate. And you will see a lot of people on the train do the Texting hehehe.
There're LED screens on every car telling you where is the next stop so, you can prepare to get off the train correctly. You can also check at the ticket counter what time the train will arrive at the destination, the train in Japan is quite on time, most of the time.
Getting off at Osaka station, I was shocked to see how many people at the station and the size of it. It's a little overwhelmed for me. But as my stomach is so empty, I think it might be a good idea to find something to eat before I check in to the hotel. Not far from the station (5 minutes walk) There's this little street that got many restaurants.
By the time I got there it's around 23:00, which most good restaurants were closed. So, I was left with not many choices but I picked, "Eat-Man". Which opened 24 hours. The restaurant looked cozy, however, Japan's got one of the highest rates of smoker population in the world allow people to smoke in the restaurant. Those smoke ruined my mood for food a bit. Here he came the waiter who hardly speak English. Most of the order is "Point and Choose". And I got my food like below.
Of all the food, I do like the Yakitori very much. Over all they are ok for 24 hours restaurant.
Stomach was full and it's time to sleep. I checked in to the hotel that I booked, Plaza Hotel Osaka, close to Jyo So Station. However, as it was late and dark, I choose to call a taxi to get me there. Luckily I have printed out everything, including the map. So, again, just point at the map and they took me to the hotel.
I was warned by many friends that hotels in Japan will have a small room, and they're right. But I don't really care much, coz I would spent a lot of time outside anyway. The room was very clean, the bath towel was bright and white and with only AUD $72 a night, I'm very happy for that. :)
To go travel in Japan, there are many things that you need to prepare. Each person would be different in preparation, "Some one" can really manage the Micro Planning of their trips, so they do everything by second. :P But my is pretty simple (I guess).
1. Air Ticket
There are many airlines offering the flights to Japan. Jetstar seems to be very cheap. I've got my Sydney-Osaka Return about $500 inc tax!! Jetstar also fly to Nagoya. If you want to stop over in Thailand, Thai Airways got the deal where buy ticket to go to Japan but can stop over in Thailand for free. Plan your trip and thinking about how many days you can afford to stay in Japan.
2. Guide Book
Firstly buy a guide book, "Lonely planet" or the one I bought "Eyewitness Travel". Read them roughly and mark the places where you want to visit and then Start Mapping them to the routes.
3. Pin down the cities you want to visit
Put down the date and city you want to be on that date so you can plan your accommodation.
4. Book your accommodation
As you already know what city you want to be on that day, so now you can book your accommodation accordingly. I booked my at http://b2b.hotelclub.net/. They 7have variety kind of hotels and ryokans rated from very cheap AUD $67 for a hotel in Tokyo til 5 stars hotel. However, some area like Buppu or Miyajima Island might be hard to find from this website, I'll tell you later from my blog.
Tip: Try to find the hotel that's close to the JR Train station. As you are not going to be familiar with the area yet, it'll be a safer choice. If you can, email the hotel for direction from the Train Station. ASK THEM WHAT EXIT from the station, coz some station like Osaka, got million exits. You can also check the map by area from here: http://diddlefinger.com/ It'll show up the map of the area in English and Japanese.
5. Get your JR Pass
Depends on how many places and how far you want to go, but from my trip, as I need to travel a lot across the country, JR Pass is the life saver.
You can only buy the Japan Rail Pass outside Japan! So, make sure you buy it before you leave your country. You buy the ticket as it showed from the picture above, then at any main stations in Japan you can exchange this ticket with the JR Pass. It comes with 7 Days, 14 Days and 21 Days. Also comes with the Green type which allow you to sit on a more luxury seats on the green car, but it heaps more expensive. More details here: http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html
Tip: After you buy the ticket from the agent, please ask for the Railway Timetable, so you can plan your trip easier.
However, if you only stay in on are like, Tokyo and the area close by within Central Honshu you might be only need the JR East Pass which can be purchased in Japan. For West area, there's also JR West Rail pass.
6. Prepare your luggage
Please observer the seasonality of Japan before you go and have the appropriate clothes accordingly. Bath towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, Razor, Shampoo, soap or even comb are NOT necessary, as they come standard with every hotels and Ryokan (traditional hotel). So, save you space in your bag. :)
If you do travel around and change places a lot like me, I would recommend you to bring enough cloth for each day, as you might not have time to do the laundry. And Bring your COMFY SHOES. I've warned you.
7. CASH
Bring enough Cash!!! It's hard to find ATM that you can withdraw your money internationally. So, at least AUD $1000 for 10 days if you medium spender (not including the Accommodation cost).
I'll be back with Osaka part 1 soon.
Cheers,
Gun
I went to Japan from 13/06/2008 - 24/06/2008 due to a very very cheap air ticket from Jetstar ($480 Syd-Osaka returned with Tax and fuel surcharge included).
I planed a very very ambitious schedule to cover as many areas in Japan as possible. Started off in Osaka then straight to Fukuoka, Beppu, Mount Aso, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Himeji Castle, Kyoto, Tokyo and Nikko. Many good friends of mine were not positive with this hectic schedule but I tried it anyway. :)
I'll blog my whole trip day by day and will give you guys tips that I learned from my experience.
Hope these can help you.
Cheers,
Gun