Moving around Osaka, how and with what?

Hi !

We are going to visit Osaka in March. We will stay almost two weeks and we have lots of guestions.

1) We want to visit to Kyoto, but we are not sure what kinda tickets we should buy. (Maybe one or two days)
2) Where we can buy the tickets? Can we buy any single tickets or do we need to buy one-day pass?
3) Where we can buy these tickets or passes?
4) Is it possible or cheaper to buy them outside Japan, if so, how?
5) Are buses and subways combined under the same ticket?
6) If we want to go to visit other more distant cities in Japan, do we need to buy Japan rail pass or can we buy single tickets?

Thank you for all the help you can provide to us.

Best regards
Jarkko

If you're only visiting Kyoto from Osaka, I would stick with an IC card, which is a reloadable travel card that can be used on most public transport in Japan. In the Kansai area, the local IC card is the ICOCA. It works on all trains, subways and the Kyoto buses, and is also valid for travel between Kyoto and Osaka when using the local trains (i.e. not the shinkansen).

Regarding the JR Pass, you won't be able to work out if it will be a cost effective purchase without knowing your itinerary. When you decided on your long-distance trips, use Hyperdia (hyperdia.com/en) to calculate the train fares and compare the total cost to the cost of a JR Pass. The JR Pass is not always cost-effective, and a different pass may be of better value (this website has a comprehensive list available; when you decide on the other cities you want to visit, search for "rail passes" and see if there's one that suits your choices).