My JPN Itinerary from Osaka to Tokyo

Hi all
My travel dates are 09-19 Jan 2009. Here is my plan

Day 1 - arrival, Osaka KIX
Sumiyoshi-Taisha Shrine,Osaka Castle,Dotombori Gokuraku Shoten-gai
Day 2 - Universal Studios,Kaiyukan Aquarium,Tempozan Harbor Village
Day 3 - Tennoji,Visit various Shrine,Rinku Premium Outlets,Namba Shooping
Day 4 - Kyoto trip
Day 5 - Kyoto Trip
Day 6 - Mount Fuji
Day 7 - Mount Fuji to Tokyo
Day 8 - Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market,Sumida River Cruise
Day 9 - Tokyo Disney Sea
Day 10 - Tokyo Zozoji Temple, Tokyo Tower,Roppongi - Odaiba
Day 11 - Departure to SIN
Here are some questions ihave:
1. What hotel in Osaka/Tokyo do you recommend? In Osaka, is it better to stay at namba area or at other area? In Tokyo, which areas is advisable for me to stay?

2. I'm in dilemma whether to continue my hotel in osaka and travel to kyoto.I read about temple stay at kyoto. Which is better choice?

3. Is it advisable to go Gotemba factory outlet if i had gone to Rinku oulet. Which outlet is better to visit

4.How do I get from kyoto to mount fuji.i read that at there is a highway bus to kawaguchiko from night. Or is there a better way to get to mount fuji. In fuji there is Kawaguchiko, fuji five lakes and hakone. Which area is more worth staying for a night?

5.I read about the JR railway Pass and is it advisable for me to buy for my itinerary?

6. Please advise me on my travel itinerary and is there any other place that i should visit in osaka,kyoto,fuji and tokyo that i have left out.

Thanks for the help all!

Day 2 - Universal Studios,Kaiyukan Aquarium,Tempozan Harbor Village
--- are u sure about this? are not going to take any rides in USJ?

Yup.I'm going at the morning till 6pm.Should have enough time for the rides.After OSJ, then i will go to Kaiyukan Aquarium till 8pm before ending my day with a ride Giant Ferris Wheel.

Given my itinerary, is it's too rush for me or i should separate to 2 day?

Kindly advise me on my other planning.Thanks with all the Help.

Hi Alan, I personally think Ideru is right. We just got back from Japan, with our kids, 9 & 14yrs. All four of us had more fun at USJ than DisneyLand & Sea. We didnt find the Osaka Aquarium interesting enough, compared to Sentosa's Underwater World, HK OceanPark or Aust SeaWorld.

Hi..Riza,Thanks for the feedbacks on OSJ. Other than OSJ, it there any more interesting places i should visit in Osaka & Tokyo that i have left out.

Have you visited Mount Fuji and stay in a ryokan? If yes, how's your stay and what is the ryokan name.

I found it hard to travel around with my luggages tag along.Is there any ways to travel around freely or locker provided at major attraction to keep my
luggages.

How your's stay at Osaka & Tokyo? Where did you stay & is it easy to travel around from your hotel?

Please advise me & Thanks for the help.

we stayed at hakone area, ryokan is called yugiriso. the 4 of us had such a great time at the ryokan, especially the meals... they are all served in our room. yugiriso has a private bath for family use so it is fun for us. the ryokan is so conveniently located. its just a 2min walk from the bus terminal. we took shinkansen from osaka to odawara, change to local bus no. 3 all the way to hakone. in all, the travel time approx. 5hrs, with brief stop for lunch. we didnt go up mt fuji since the road is closed in winter. however, we did our own sightseeing, which included cruising lake ashi on a pirate ship, taking the tozan ropeway to owakudani, went to gora and got lost, climbed into a local tram, got lost again, and finally ended up at the open air museum. it was really a whole of fun for us since we are no the "guided-tour" kind.

no worries though, as long as you purchase the "hakone free pass" you can get on most buses, trains or trams easily. the fares are all inclusive. the locals are also very helpful but knowing a little japanese would really help since most do not speak english.

hi again alan, for all our long distance travels, we used the local delivery service (takkyubin), yamato black cat. apparently they are quite famous since most ryokan and hotels would have details and slips n help you arrange for the takkyubin.

price is also reasonable, less 2000yen per luggage. we sent our luggage from osaka to hakone, from hakone to mt naeba, from mt naeba to tokyo.