yes, u need international driving license no matter which country u go. and no latest driving license is worthless if its not international driving license. and japan takes their rules and law very seriously.

did anyone reply u yet? my piece of advise is check JAL and ANA, they r often a lot cheaper if u factor in the baggage cost by airasia or any other airline tht doesnt include free baggage check-in.

it is highly advisable to book both air tickets and airbnb latest by november this year. however, do keep in mind tht not all airbnb will accept booking right now as they know they can still increase the price during tht season. if u r traveling alone, may i suggest just book backpackers hostel? they r safe, clean, n cheaper for one person.

for tokyo and kyoto area, feel free to pm me if u need help planning. i will include all the bus station, train stop n so on for u just in case as some people r not used to the system there.

also do check the cherry blossom forecast b4 u book air ticket so u can know which region u should go first. sakura only fully bloom for a week so u wont wanna miss tht.

as for sapporo, u can just forget it i guess. the best time would b around feb where all the ice events r held during tht time.

its the most fun season IMHO

here's a mini two days itinerary/guide for Kyoto that i planned for my baby sis for her current trip, she's now in kyoto and will be meeting me in tokyo on thursday.

this itinerary only tell u where to go as well as how to reach there (the train stop and bus stop). the time will not be shown as different people have different timing. all the places are planned according to how near they are to each other, this will make your travel easier so you don't ended up going to the other end of Kyoto and come back to the other end again.

this two days itinerary also cover most of the Kyoto attractions already, if you want to enjoy each attraction longer, you can always split them up into maybe 3 days or 4 days. my personal suggestion is 3 days is enough for Kyoto as its pretty boring at night.

Day 1
-->Reach Kansai Airport
-->Take Haruka Express to Kyoto

-->Arashiyama (At Kyoto station, take JR Sagano/JR San-in Line To Arashiyama, stop at Saga Arashiyama Station)
-all the attractions in Arashiyama are within walking distance, so just slowly take your time to walk around
-Bamboo Grove
-Monkey Park Iwatayama
-Tenryuji Temple
-Jojakkoji Temple
-Gio Temple
-Adashino Nenbutsuji

-->Fushimi Inari Taisha (From Arashiyama, take JR San-in Line back to Kyoto Station, then switch to JR Nara Line to Fushimi Inari *stop at Inari station*)

-->Dinner at Gion (From Fushimi Inari station, take Keihan Line to Gion-Shijo Station)
-walk around and find any restaurant you like for dinner
-walk around the town until you tired then head back to your hotel/hostel and call it a day

Day 2
-->Kiyomizu-dera (Take whichever bus/train from the place you stay to there)
-suggest going around 8am to avoid crowd

-->Heian Shrine (From Kiyomizu-dera, walk to Shimizumichi Bus Stop. Take 市営１００京都駅前行 bus to Okazaki Koen, and walk to Heian Shrine)

-->Ginkakuji (Walk back to Okazaki Koen, and take the same 市営１００京都駅前行 bus to Ginkakujimae Station)

-->Kamigamo-Jinja (Walk to Ginkakujimichi Bus Stop, take 市営２０３乙錦林車庫前行 bus to Horikawaimadegawa Bus Stop. At the same bus stop, take 市営９西賀茂車庫前行 bus to Kamigamo Misonohashi Bus Stop and walk to Kamigamo-Jinja)

-->Kinkakuji (Walk to Kamigamo Jinjamae Bus Stop, take 加茂線 出町柳駅前行 bus to 北大路堀川, and switch to 市営１２立命館大学前行 bus to Kinkakujimae Bus Stop, then walk to Kinkakuji)
-there are quite a few different ways and buses to reach Kinkakuji from Kamigamo-Jinja, so just use google map to check whichever is faster during that time

-->Geisha Street (Walk to Kinkakujimae Bus Stop, take 市営５９山越中町行 bus to Shijokawaramachi)
-there are quite a few different buses to Geisha Street as well, so just google map whichever is faster
-walk around, have dinner, then head to Kyoto Station and head back to Osaka

update from my baby sis, everything is going smoothly for her and the bus and everything is also the same as those i wrote in the itinerary

oh, where u going in 2018?

nice, haha i miss arashiyama too. pretty weird experience for me tho, i got drunk in tokyo then somehow i ended up in shinjuku and bought a night bus ticket to kyoto...so just went home pack bag and off to kyoto just lik tht witout any plannings lol.

there's a super nice tofu restaurant in arashiyama, its called Shoraian. their tofu is superb, the restaurant is located by the river and u hv to walk into the woods a bit. i still rmb was raining tht time n when i came out there's a snake at the entrance of the restaurant lol