Hah! It certainly does seem to be a divided camp. And, having just come from Tokyo, I can definitely see how it would make sense to diversify things a bit and maybe stay someplace quieter instead of another big city. But we just weren't sure about the Ryokan scene, if we would enjoy that experience or not, and Osaka seemed to be more centrally located for day trips. So we decided to play it safe in that regard.

And thank you for your advice on trains...making reservations on arrival makes a LOT of sense. For the big legs I can do some Hyperdia printouts before I even leave the US.