Trystan,
I'm afraid I'm not yet much of an expert on Japan: I've just lived here six months and haven't had time to visit too many places yet to recommend many. The best places to visit depend a bit on whether he likes things like temples/museums or more things like scenery. And also on where he will be based.
One thing that I do know is that if he is thinking to travel around by train he should investigate buying some sort of rail pass before he gets here as there are several different passes offering discounted travel for all over japan or different regions that can only be bought outside of Japan.
I've also heard that Hokkaido is nice and it should have nice weather by then (currently it's under rather a lot of snow).
I'm living in the Kanto region (about an hour from Tokyo) and places around here that people always visit are Nikko and Kamakura (both reachable as day trips from Tokyo). They both have lots of temples (so probably it's best to go to one OR the other).
And I guess Osaka and Kyoto are also on every tourists agenda (those I have been to, but about ten years ago).
Tokyo as well is interesting (as long as you like big cities). If he's also into computers he'd probably enjoy a visit to Akihabara there (known as electronic town).
Scenery-wise I don't know too much.....there are lots of mountains that are climbable...
Hmm....before I suggest enough places for a months visit...I would agree with Jonathan that either the rough guide or lonely planet would be good places to start.
April should be good weather time in Japan and I think cherry blossom viewing time (one of the favourite pastimes of the japanese).
Links-wise I can't think of any particular sites at the moment. I guess for travel the railways are a good place to begin, they are split up into regional sites though they are all run by JR (japan railways). The one around here (which I guess covers Tokyo) is JR East
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/One thing on a practical note that I just remembered is that it can be difficult outside of big cities to find cash machines that accept foreign cards, and that the cash machines in Japan have opening hours (usually from around 9am till 5-8pm). The post office is often the best place to try for foreign card-ATM's.
I'm also not sure that smaller places accept foreign credit cards although I haven't really tested this out too much....but the supermarket here in Tsukuba only accepts their own credit cards).
And he should make sure that he only packs socks with no holes in.....many restaurants and etc require you to take your shoes off to eat. I have to wear slippers all day at work...although I work in a lab. at a science institute
Anyway thats about my total knowledge of Japan, I think I've come to the same conclusion as Jonathon....that almost anywhere he decides to visit here could be interesting as it is very different (and fascinating) culturally, so he should be able to have a great time here. My parents came out here at Christmas and liked it so much that they've already booked to return in August.
Probably some other rootschatters may have also visited and can make some other recommendations?
Maybe we should start a travel section of the site as there seem to be a lot of rootschatters that have travelled (or live) in many places?
Best Wishes from Tsukuba Science city,
Emily
