Big in Japan

-- The Kyoto ryokan (which is like a traditional b and b) we stayed at is called the Three Sisters Inn Annex I havethe business card that I saved somewhere. The only bad thing is that there is an 11:30 curfew.

-- All the buses and subways (there are only two subway lines in Kyoto, which we only used once--you will use the bus almost all of the time) close at 11, and taxis are VERY expensive in Japan (I believe it'll end up costing you about the equivalent of $150 if you take a taxi from Narita Airport to Tokyo), so we didn't mind this. The lady who runs the place is incredibly nice and helpful. She gives you a very helpful map on sights in Kyoto. And actually this inn is right next to some very cool temples, Heian Jingu and Nanzen-ji
(you might recognize Heian Jingu's garden and Nanzen-ji's gate from Lost in Translation). Plus you sleep on real futons (floor mattresses) on real tatami (straw-mat floors) and that's cool b/c it all feels very authentic.

-- B/c you have to take the bus everywhere, allow yourself extra time between places, since it will take longer than a subway would. But the buses are really easy to use (if I remember correctly, you get on the back and take this piece of paper that has a number on it. when you leave, go through the front and drop your paper in the coin-box-fare thing and it'll tell you how much you owe and then you drop in your fare). Kyoto is beautiful and set in the mountains.

-- About the Japan Rail Pass: You need to buy the exchange order here. (I think I bought ours at the Japan Airlines office in midtown.) This website lists where you can buy them and the price in yen. (I don't think the U.S. dollar is doing so great there
right now, but I don't think it's doing great anywhere.) I believe you can buy them only in seven-day spans (like a 7-day, 14-day, etc.). So you HAVE to buy it here (I think you need to bring the passports of those who want them with you to the office, but you both don't have to be there). Then when you get to Tokyo (or Kyoto, if you're going there first), you need to go to certain JR stations to exchange the order for an actual pass (you can exchange it at the airport or at several main-hub stations along the Yamanote line, which is a frequently used JR line that basically runs in a circle and hits all the major neighborhoods in Tokyo). (Oh, there are several subway/commuter lines throughout Japan. In Tokyo, you will probably
use both the JR lines and the regular subway lines. The JR pass will only get you on the JR lines, so you need to pay a separate fare if you have to transfer to the regular subway line. So hopefully, your hotel is near a JR station.) When you get the pass and want to use it at a JR station, you have to just show it to the guy sitting at a booth near all the turnstiles and he will let you in. There are three kinds of bullet trains (called shinkansen): Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama. The fastest is the Nozomi, but you can't take this one with the pass, only the other two. Still, the second fastest, I think that's the Hikari, is only like 30 minutes slower or something. We still got to Kyoto super fast. Sit on the right side and you will see Mt. Fuji on the way.

-- You won't use the pass for anything but the bullet train when in Kyoto (the buses and subways there don't take the pass), so depending on how long you stay in Kyoto, you might not want to exchange the order for a pass until you are going to take the bullet train and you probably only want to get the 7-day one (if you are staying in Kyoto for longer than that, it's probably better to buy regular tickets). A one-way bullet train ticket from Tokyo-Kyoto costs 13,220 yen. So round-trip that would be 26,440. A 7-day pass is 28,300, so that's a difference of 1,860. A typical fare on the JR Yamanote line is I think 240 or so yen (maybe a littlre more or a little less, depending on how far you're going). So if you head back to Tokyo after Kyoto, then the pass is probably good b/c you can use it until it expires (and if you take at least 8 rides, it will be cost-effective) or, if you are going straight to Narita from Kyoto, then the pass will be good b/c you can use it for the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo and then for the Narita Express train from Tokyo to Narita. But I would not recommend it, if you are going to spend a full 7 days in Kyoto.