For the first week I rented a car from Osaka and drove around the Osaka area for three days, including a day in Nara, the old capital city, then north to the Japanese Alps to Matsumoto. Traffic conditions in Japan are congested - everywhere, all the time. At least that's what it felt like. In reality, it was not so bad once I was a little north from the coast, away from the major cities. Driving through the Japanese Alps was quite scenic.
Japan is full of history.
The temples and statues are incredible. Nara has some really exciting historical places. The next two weeks I was in Kyoto for a conference. I still had time to see quite a bit of Kyoto, the capital city after Nara. The Emperors palace is impressive.