[Nightops]

I've been visiting the site for a few weeks now and trying to piece together a basic day planner for my trip to Japan from 28 March to 11 April. I've already seen a lot of posts for trips in this timeframe and have pulled a good bit of info from them. I've still have a few questions that I'm looking for help with.

1. I'm flying in to Osaka and looking to spend most of my time in the Kansai area. I'm thinking about taking day trips to Himeji, Koyasan, Nara, and Igu Ueno and spending a day at each place. Is there more to see in these places then what one day will allow? I was planning to take the day trips from Kyoto but looking at their location on a map, I might be better off staying in Osaka for each of these day trips before moving to Kyoto. Any suggetions on which city would be easier to travel from?

2. There is a lot of stuff about the JR pass, but should I be looking for the JR west Kansai area pass for the 4 days I make these day trips or is there a 7 day rail pass that I could/should get if I stay in Osaka for 6 days (including day trips) and then on the 7th, go to Kyoto for 3-4 days.

3. Do I have to buy these JR passes before going to Japan (by internet would be my only option) and then exchange them at a station once I arrive? I saw something on the 14day pass about it not being sold in country? I havent had a lot of time to look at all the stuff for the above mentioned JR west Kansai pass mentioned above.

4. I'm going to try to get to Tokyo and spend 4 days there with at least one of those days going to Kamakura. Is there any other places outside of Tokyo that I should look into visiting? For the first trip, I'd rather spend time on culture and history then on nightlife so I should be ok with 2 or 3 days for just Tokyo.

Any and all help is really appriciated because my free time to plan is really really limited.