Wonderful report!
I love JP for one thing... After taking my family for vacations in JP earlier this year, all my friends believe I am a billionaire as all of them think JP is veryyy expensive... IMHO JP is more affordable than France or Germany...
Bretteee
You can do it on your own - just buy a Lonely Planet guide - the only place we were on a day tour was Kyoto as the temples are located not that close from each other.