Heading to Japan, I now need an itinerary?

Hey guys,

Wow its been awhile since I've posted here! Well anyway I'm finally going to be heading to Japan Early next year. I was thinking February or March, but I'm leaning more toward March. I plan on staying for at least a month (I'd be happy with a solid month stay). Now let me get something straight, my budget is REALLY low. The more money I spend, the less longer I can stay, so I am on like, the lowest possible budget.

My uncle has a friend in the city of Otsu, just outside of Kyoto. I've recently come in to contact with him, and he offered to put me up if I came by to his area. In addition he also said he would put out some feelers in the Tokyo area to see if he could find someone that may be able to put me up (he said don't get my hopes up though lol).

He said once I have a set in stone Itinerary, we then can work something out. Thats something I've never really thought of, I've always seen these awesome pictures of Japan, the people, the food, the culture in general, and I love it, but I've never really considered WHERE those things are in Japan, WHERE I'll be going in Japan. Obviously (I would think) the more I travel around the country, the more money I spend. I definitely want to go to Tokyo, and he also suggested Hiroshima. Other then that though, I was thinking maybe I should stay in the Kyoto area (around where he is) so I don't spend to much money staying over night at hotels and the such. Even though traveling around the country would be awesome, I gotta think about money as well. :P I looked at the regional Itinerary generator that this site has, only prob is it only gives 12 day Itinerary. :P

What do you guys suggest I do? Do you guys have any suggested Itinerarys that I should follow if, say, I stayed 30 days? (Lets estimate March 15th - April 15th, or around there)

Thanks for reading my post, and the help guys! :)

What is your budget?

I would probably base myself in Otsu (its really close to Kyoto so its a good base), and then make trips out from there. Transport will be your biggest cost, but you can save money using rail passes, night buses, and package plans.

Also consider that a shorter more indepth stay is often preferable to a longer low budget stay.

I agree with yllwsmrf. Probably you can base yourself in Otsu (apparently) for a week or so to explore Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima, and maybe another week in Tokyo area (either find an inexpensive hostel or see if your relative can find someone - but don't be a pain on a relative's friend's friend, I hope :)), and travel around from there.