Maybe I'm a little late here, but I'd like to put in a word for the Villa Fontaine chain. The Villa Fontaine Ueno has double rooms for 9500, and the Osaka Shinsaibashi branch is as low as 8200 for double occupancy. Both have free, basic buffet breakfast every morning. Clean, friendly (although not too much English spoken at the smaller branches), and cheap!

The Uneo hotel is about 5 minutes walk from one train station and 15 minutes walk from Ueno station and the Okachimachi district. The Osaka branch is a couple blocks away from a subway stop and right on the Shinsaibashi Arcade.

I see some of the bigger Villa Fontaine branches on the hotels map but not Ueno. I stayed at VF Shiodome last time and it was a much nicer hotel, but the Ueno branch is a fantastic value, one I may have to return to if the Yen stays at its current exchange rate vs CDN....