If you have to change trains, check each segment. All train stations, even the smallest, have the name of the station written in English on signs. If you invite Japanese contacts for dinner, beware that unless they have lived in the US they may not understand it if you also invite their wives. They may even say they are coming with their wife and then show up alone. To avoid surprises, try extra hard to make sure you are understood and recognize that there is a major cultural difference here.
Hotels can be very expensive.
Try to carry as little luggage as possible. You must leave by 10 AM and baggage is discouraged. These hotels are clean, large, often luxurious, well run, and often used by married couples with children in tiny apartments. They are not flop-houses, as the name might suggest. They are often found near train stations, and are characterized by the use of pink, and often by flamboyant design - a Statue of Liberty or Venus at the top, Greek style architecture, etc.