Thanks. What website would you reccomend for train timetables? Is it worth it to reserve a seat of any of the legs of my trip?

Two nights in Osaka, with one being spent in the city and the other in Himeji/Okayama. To reach both Himeji and Okayama, I take the Sanyo shinkansen.

Any thoughts on only doing one of them and doing Kobe (Kobe shinkansen or Sanyo)?

"Aye, there's the rub." Too many choices, not enough time.

Nara is a full day. It was the ancient capitol before Kyoto became capitol in the late 8th century and was pretty much centered on the spiritual aspects of the country. Many of the treasures and sites are very old. The main sites are in a large park-like area that is cool and pretty quiet and has tame deer running around begging for handouts. The temples and shrines tend to be pretty impressive and there is little of the "martial history" of Japan there. I think of it as a nice, laid back, almost relaxing day trip.

Himeji Castle is, as noted in the post above, the finest original castle built during the "warring states era" remaining in the country. It was started by a local warlord but expanded and completed into a critical defensive stronghold by Hideyoshi Toyotomi before he became the supreme regent (taiko.) A real tour of the castle and grounds takes about a half day if you climb up into the donjon and go through the various outbuildings. There is also a nice garden off to the left of the main entrance path. The walk from the station takes about 15 minutes and passes a couple of decent lunch places. I liked the little tonkatsu place on the right about half-way between the station and the castle.

If you want to make a long day, I agree with the above poster that you could combine a quick visit to Okayama in the morning with a back-track and afternoon visit to Himeji on the way back to Osaka. I think Korakuen garden would be nicer in the morning than in the heat of the afternoon. You could stop at one of the little noodle shops just outside the side (Okayama Castle-side) exit from the garden for lunch or just grab something at the station before heading to Himeji in the afternoon and then back to Osaka in the evening. Okayama Castle is pretty and nice to view from the outside but has been reconstructed and is really nothing special.

Or - just go to Nara for a cooler walking day among the really old stuff. If I had to choose just one, I'd probably go with Himeji but Nara is nice too and closer to Osaka.

JR

Hyperdia. http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

I am not a fan of Kobe. Great place to live or work but little for the short-term tourist.

Thanks again. On Saturday we'll take the shinkansen up to Tokyo, then to Narita. Any reccomendations on hotels there?

I'm thinking we will either spend most on Saturday in Kyoto and take a later train to Narita. Or, maybe leave a little time to see Narita. My mom (who I'm travelling with) said the ANA Hotel was fine, but she never left the hotel as she was just staying for a lay over.

Narita has a large and famous temple with beautiful wooded grounds. If I have time, I like to spend the night in Narita and walk off my jet lag in a relaxing atmosphere before heading into the sensory overload of Tokyo.

While Osaka Castle has a lot of history, it is a concrete structure with an elevator today. Namba is interesting by day or by night and I like the restaurant supply street a lot just to the east of the Nankai Stn.

If you want to see Kobe after the trip out west, just get off the Shinkansen at JR Shin-Kobe Stn and take the subway south one stop to Sanomiya. From here there are three lines to get back to Osaka Umeda area, Hankyu, JR and Hanshin. But I agree with abmj-jr.

Both Kobe and Yokohama fit the description that one of my friends gave for a certain U.S. city: "It's a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there." In other words, they have pleasant residential areas but little else to interest the first-time visitor.

The main attractions of Kobe are a Chinatown that consists of two blocks of restaurants and the old foreigners' section, which is a neighborhood of Victorian houses.

The Shinkansen actually runs through the hills north of the main part of the city, and at one point, you can see the long, narrow city and a section of the Inland Sea laid out below you.

My guide book recommends Kurashiki over Okayama, although you get to Kurashiki by changing to the local Sanyo train in Okayama.
Any comment?

Kurashiki certainly is highly recommended. Korakuen in Okayama, along with Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Kairakuen in Mito are the three key gardens in Japan. It is worth a visit.

Kenrokuen should be visited in winter for snow scenes, Kairakuen in early spring for ume hanami and Korakuen in the early summer.

Kurashiki has been commercialized somewhat recently. The main station feels a bit like the entrance to Disneyland with loud music playing over outside speakers and overpriced shops lining the entry. I enjoyed walking along the canal and seeing some of the old buildings but it really didn't offer more than a half-day visit. As an aside, and I think I was just unlucky, I had the single worst bowl of ramen I have even gotten in Japan in a shopping alley near the station. I just wandered in to a tiny 10 seat ramen-ya, saw a little old lady behind the counter and sat down. I should have noticed that there were no locals in the place.

Don't get me wrong. Kurashiki is certainly worth a visit. I just don't think it is a full day stop. If you combined it with a visit to Okayama and Korakuen, it would make for a nice full day.

Seems so dogmatic...