Thanks for the sharing. Can share the itinerary of the 10-day sojourn, including transportation means?
My itinerary as seen below in rough manner:
Day 1 - Kansai Airport to Hiroshima. Explore and spend a night in Hiroshima.
Day 2 - Mazda Factory visit in the morning and move to Miyajima Island after the visit. Stayed in Mayijima Island.
Day 3 - Miyajima to Osaka. Visit Osaka Tenmangu Temple and the nearby Tenjinbashi.
Day 4 - Visit Nissin Ramen Factory in the morning, Uemeda area in the afternoon and night time. Must stay in Uemeda Sky Building for sunset..MUST!!! I'm still "kek xim-ing" for traded this with a nice and relaxing dinner at Osaka Station.
Day 5 - Visit Nara
Day 6 - Osaka to Kyoto. Visit Kiyomizu-Dera Temple and the surrounding area.
Day 7 - Visit Fushimi Inari temple in the morning and Suntory beer factory in the afternoon. After get drunk, went to Nishiki market for a feast, continue to nearby shopping mall after dinner.
Day 8 - Visit Arashiyama area in the morning and Ginkaku-ji Temple in the afternoon, followed by Gion area in the night time.
Day 9 - Visit Kinkaku-ji Temple in the morning, follow by Kitano Temangu Temple. It is holding the yearly flea market during my visit. After lunch, went to Kyoto station area for a shopping spree.
Day 10 - KNX to KUL
The public transport is very convenient, yet confusing (IMHO, to certain extend). I bought a 7 days JR pass, it has covered the Shinkansen which travel thru most part of Japan. However, you can skip it if you planning to stay in one or two cities. I bought it for the trip to Hiroshima. The JR pass also covered certain local train and buses (as long as they are run by JR).
In Hiroshima, the train is running by private company, so I bought day pass instead. A day pass will cost you 500yen but it gives you unlimited ride for the rest of the day.
In Osaka, the main train line, Osaka loop line is covered by JR pass. The chances are you can travel around with JR pass.
In Kyoto, the main public transportation system is bus, it is run by private company. Similar to Hiroshima, you can buy day pass at 500yen for a day of free bus ride.
The aforementioned complex part is the exchange stations like Kyoto Station, Osaka station, Umeda Station and such. They can be ridiculously big with more than 60 platforms and 30 exits. You need to know which platform will brings you to your destination and which exit to go. I spent hell lot of time to figure this out, especially majority of the locals doesn't speak good English ( I feel very warm that they will do every little things and any little things to help you when you asked them for direction, but too bad, most of the time is in Japanese, so I ended up to ask another person and repeat the process until I find someone can speak English or I figured out what they trying to convey, whichever comes first).
If you need the itinerary in detail, I can privately email to you. Hope this helps.