So the tentantive plan is...

Taiwan, Okinawa, Taiwan, short break or kansai or hokkaido. then hiroshima, kyushu, nikko with bretton. then shikoku, and another possible short break before ryan and mj show up. and i'll be doing kansai, hamamatsu, and wherever else they and travis want to go for a week or so before coming back to tokyo and hopping on a train home.

As soon as I learn exactly when everyone is coming, i'll start booking hostels and plain tickets.