Sounds like there are going to be a few of us in Japan on this deal; maybe we can arrange a mini-gathering. My friend and I are planning to spend all our time except the first night in Kyoto.
We booked one night at a hotel near the train station and 5 nights at Comfort Inn in Kyoto. The hotels are all in the $100 range, so the trip should be quite inexpensive. We may take some day trips or spend a night at a ryokan if we can find one that's reasonably priced. Also might spend a night at a temple.
We got 7 day rail passes that are good for the bullet train ride between Kyoto and Tokyo. You buy a voucher in the states and turn it in for the pass when you get to Japan. Cost was $281 US per person.
We found
http://www.jtbusa.com to be a good source of information. My friend did all our bookings through one of the travel agencies in Japantown in San Francisco.
letiole: Are you flying on NW out of SFO on 1/1? If so, look for me, I'll be on that flight. We're returning on 1/7. I posted my itinerary in "FlyerTalk Itineraries."
[This message has been edited by dgolds (edited 12-17-1999).]