I plan on staying a Week inside the country. Excluding the flying time. The biggest problem I have is that my friend who is also a American is probably going to not want to take a train up to Tokyo to meet me because he plans on going to Osaka around February. So, he's offered to show me around and definitely help with the language barrier (I'm going to try to self study some conversational Japanese) but I'm mostly off on my own from the airport in Tokyo to Osaka. Yet, I still want to see some sights in other parts of the country, which is why I'm considering a Japan rail pass. Yet, my biggest problem is making the layover. I want a cheap flight but since this is my first time traveling internationally, I have this fear I will definitely get delayed along the line at PEK and miss my flight. So, I could travel with Air Canada and take a layover at YYZ, which might be better but it it 150$ more expensive. So, is it do-able? Can I make my connecting flight with a 1hr layover in PEK or am I more than likely going to get lost because no one speaks English and miss my flight?