[anrakushi]

remember this is not being alone in your city or your country, it is a totally different place.

i went to china for my first experience and i was with friends who showed me around, i was 19 at the time. no i spent the majority of my time with chinese (chinese born, not australian born) and had been studying some chinese also. i felt so out of place and uncomfortable that i thought i would never travel again. i have however gone back to china 2 times since then and also studied and worked in Japan. so obviously i changed my mind.

i did a course on culture shock at university while studying in Japan under a professor who is regularly hired by Sony and other big corporations to train their staff to be ready for what awaits them with culture shock. i can tell you from everything he taught me, you are bound to find difficulties, especially if you are not being kept busy. having a bit of a hectic schedule can be a good thing because it keeps your mind from wandering off.

i highly recommend you have some contact in the area to help you out, find places to go etc. You will miss out on so much if you don't. even just a company that can tell you where all the good spots are. this is a pretty decent challenge you are setting yourself for your first travel alone and no mater how prepared you think you are, the answer is you are not prepared.

there are many penpal sites around and many Japanese who frequent them that would love the opportunity to speak english with a native. if you start now you can probably build up a nice friendship with some people who live near where you want to stay and they can help you out when you are there when you need it. i really recommend you at least try that, it will make a big difference.

i have never been to kantou region so im not sure on the transport system but if as you say you are not planing on moving around too much then i think your US$10 a day is plenty. however if you plan to travel a bit, even if it is just a few stations to here, a few stations to there and back again, it quickly will go to US$10

i take it the place you are staying is providing furniture and cooking utensils, is that right? because if you are going to be eating out for every meal and not wanting to eat every meal at places like sukiya and ramenya then it would be best to budget a little more. there are so many wonderful things you can eat in Japan so i would suggest budgeting a bit more just to cover that. lets not forget if you find you have not spent as much as you budgeted you can always go on a spending spree in the last few days.. haha if you are able to cook for yourself then i was able to do so and eat well on about ¥7000-¥10000 a week depending on how much beef i ate.. haha.

i really do hope you have a great time and i'm sure it will be a wonderful learning experience for you.

as for a phone, are you on a plan based phone at the moment? have you checked to see if your phone has global roaming and more importantly roaming support in Japan? it might be an expensive way of doing things but it looks like you don't have many other options.