1. They will only issued 1 yr student visa at the beginning. As long as you have more than 6 months period before your passport expire when you enter Japan with your student visa, there should be no problem.

2. No need to re-apply or transfer the student visa to the new passport. Just present the old passport with your student visa on it together with your new passport when you leave or re-enter Japan.

But for your case, you can renew your passport before Sept 2014 then renew your student visa before it expired in Sept 2014 with your new passport.

It's summer bargain in Japan now!
All shopping malls n shops r having discount.
Some places even started to price down from end of last month!

any shop at ikebukuro, shinjuku, harajuku, shibuya...
normally ard 2 weeks to 1 month

For those who care n cherish ur health & lives, pls throw away ur tv, pc, ipad, tablet, smartphone, microwave, air-cond n etc that will produced radioactive isotopes. Don't drive car, motorbike, take train or take plane. Walk or bicycle or swim to avoid polluting the air n radioactive. Move to a super isolated mountain or island for purer air n water. Don't eat fast food, canned food n those with artificial favor. Eat only natural veggies n fruits from the deep forest to avoid absorbing toxic substances. U should hv a perfectly healthy life!