I hope to take a trip sometime this summer, but I'm still in the planning stages. Until then I want to sketch out an idea of where to stay. The Japanese person I do know won't be prepared to house me at that time, so I need some ideas. I've got 2 ideas for now.

The first idea is if someone here has a place to stay in/near Osaka then that'd be priority, as my friend is from Osaka. If money is required that can be discussed, but I need some more specifics on that. The other idea is just basic and involves me staying at whatever place I can rent out.

I was thinking the trip would be in-between school breaks, and I believe I will go to school in the summer. So that would leave 2 or 3 weeks in early August. What are my options as far as public renting is concerned? I will also discuss this with my friend as well, as they might know some information. For now I thought I'd ask and see what pops up. Thanks.

For an incredible learning experience and obviously save considerable money on accommodation you should take a look at couchsurfing.org

If you want to rent a place you could try something like sakura-house.com though I heard several complains from my friend that stayed there at Tokyo a couple of months ago, on the other hand he is a rather large guy with little experience traveling so maybe he was expecting something between a hostel and a hotel room. He had to share the room with another 3 people so maybe that was the problem for him.

Another thing you can try is at Japan, get in a capsule hotel for a few days and during that time tour the city hostels and ask the landlords about letting you stay for whatever time you need and try to work out a discount deal or something. This worked out for my friend in Kyoto, he stayed at a fine double room, traditional style with tatami and everything for 400 dollars the whole month, of course he had to ask like in 5 or 6 different places until we found someone willing to do it considering our limited budget.

As for me, I stayed at my girlfriend's so if you have one, that works too.

I did make an account on CouchSurfing yesterday, as per your recommendation. I'll see if anything pops up, but if the person I know can get settled before I visit, then I can just stay at their house. Of course if anybody here has more ideas i'm willing to listen.

I stayed here: http://masaosaka.blogspot.com/2009/01/my...osaka.html when I was in oosaka about 2 years ago. Masa is a great guy, he showed me around town and took me around kansai too. I was also able to haggle the rent down too. Anyway, its just an option for you It is within easy walking distance of shinoosaka station so it's easy to travel to kyoto. The downside is that it is across the yodo river from places like Umeda and Namba so you have to take the subway a few stops (3? to Umeda and 6ish to Namba). The subway line is only a few blocks away though. Anyway, good luck and have fun! Feel free to message me if you want more details...if I can remember them

If you get really desperate, I hear you can pop into a love hotel and you can stay over night as long as you don't leave the room (more spacious than a capsule hotel).

Otherwise, rent an apartment from one of the dealers on Gaijinpot (apartment section) - Leopalace is a big name. (rent is about 75,000 yen+ for a one room or 40,000 yen+ for a gaijinhouse - based on looking.)

You might also want to check over at Gaijinpot.com as there are a quite a few more people there who live in Japan and this topic has problem been covered ALOT over there.