Transportation in Nagoya, Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka (from a gaijin experience)

some tips:
1st - if u go to japan purely for travelling purpose, make sure u get a JR pass! u can then take shinkansen unlimited time (but surely u wont want to spend all yr time in shinkansen) =p i remember u cant get on the fastest nozomi, but hidari will only be a little slower - eg. from nagoya to tokyo - 15-20min slower. and remember to get a reserved seat(window and left side) if u r going from nagoya to tokyo - else u will miss mt fujiiiiii.... otherwise, if u are on free seating, make sure u get a window seat on the left side! (wait for the next one if u cant =p)

travelling in nagoya and tokyo - mainly by subway. in tokyo, JR is the cheapest (i think toei is most expesive but it is possible to avoid it!). JR can bring u to most of the attractions (except ginza - u need to walk a bit) and roponggi (based on my memory =p). i think there is no need to get a day pass in Tokyo since JR is so cheap and getting a day pass that covered metro, toei and JR is quite costy. if u really want to get one - get the metro pass (i thk it's 900 yen per day and 600 yen if u buy outside tokyo, but i tried to buy in nagoya travel agency and no one sells it).

as for nagoya - get day pass - especially if it's a weekend/8th day of the month it's 600yen for subway and bus, else i thk it's 710 for subway and 850yen for both. it connects to most of the attractions - some eg. nagoya castle - u need to take a bus from the station. but places like atsuta shrine, osu kannon, nagoya port, shopping distrinct like sakae can be reached via subway.

in kyoto, get a buss day pass - 500yen. remember to grab a detail bus map - the bus connects to almost all attractions! super convenient! else u could easily catch a cab waiting outside kyoto station. very easy to get around.

to get to nara - u ca go from osaka or kyoto - one good way is to go from nagoya to kyoto, then take a local jr train to nara and then from nara to osaka (it is also possible to take a kintetsu - the station is closer to nara main attraction nara park). from nara kintetsu station, u can walk to nara park (around 10-15 min); from nara jr station, u can walk (but we took a bus - around 200yen and it took us to todaiji temple in nara park). remember to grab a detail map from the info counter and the friendly lady can speak good ego!

in osaka - i only been to saka, shin osaka and namba =p but subway connects most of the places so it is easy to get around too (but namba was written in hiragana instead of kanji so i had to remember it =p)