You ever get to Nori’s place, think it was called The Loop. Amazing soundsystem, tiny place and in the morning those nutters would go play baseball across the street.
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Precious Hall is a great club. The location has changed about 3 times, but I have always felt comfortable. I’m from Sapporo, so I went there almost every week from my teens to early twenties. I’m glad someone recommends it.
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If you have time and want to get well off the beaten path, go to Yakushima. It’s the place Princess Mononoke was based on. It’s high up there with the most beautiful places in the world and has possibly the friendliest and most open Japanese people you will ever meet. Hiking, beachside onsens, river paddling, beaches and amazing food straight from the ocean.
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Other things I’ve personally really liked in Japan
Tokyo:
-the knife district, so worth going even if you don’t like cooking a lot.
-the markets/shopping area under Ginza station. There is a huge record shop nearby too.
-obv shelter bar. Even better if Chee Shimizu is playing.
-day or weekend trip from Tokyo to Izu Hanto (peninsula). Stay by the white sand beach in Shirahama, it’s beautiful. Expect little to no english. If you go by rental car drive down the east coast at the base of the cliffs with the ocean lapping next to the road, then drive back up the west coast perched on the cliffs with fuji in full view across the short stretch of ocean - its amazing. You can stop in at the tiny fishing villages dug into the cliff, but they never see western tourists so you may feel very conspicious. You may also get to eat delicious cheap lobster by the beach. Otherwise you can go to Izu 3hrs by train from Tokyo.
Kansai:
-kyoto for obvious reasons. Also the okonomyaki in kyoto is my favourite and there may still be a long standing kaiten sushi restaurant in the train station that serves flat rate cheap/good sushi.
-(maybe north of kansai) walk on the old edo period road that travels between tokyo and kyoto. You could just do a short stretch like tsumago to magome and stay in a ryokan. Tsumago is beautiful and looks like Japan from hundreds of years ago. Don’t expect much english to be spoken though. Otherwise you could walk the whole thing in 9 or 10 days through the forest.
Hiroshima is a vibe
Kagoshima is covered in black ash and you can eat pork raised on sweet potato alone (not a very varied diet).
Yakushima I covered above.
A japanese friend told me that people become more open and hospitable the further south you go in japan. So far that advice has really played true, though I’ve met some lovely people north as well.
Look up trip reports of train otaku to find historic train/train journeys. They’re huge fun.
There are dozens of onsen towns I could go into, but they’re easy to find. The best ones have a mix of free indoor and outdoor baths in traditional settings and it’s a great place to meet locals and learn the language without the normal societal barriers.
Also it goes without saying that food is a big part of japanese culture. Find what’s in season or what’s being celebrated when you go and search it out. If it’s apple season find a shop that only specialises in apples and buy a $15 apple, buy some beef from a small butcher in kansai and cook it up where you’re staying, eat at a seaside restaurant.
Sorry for the novel.
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Loving all this info. Unfortunately life has got in the way and our trip is postponed until 2025 
which is a bit of a blow but we want to do it justice and see as much as possible.
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Sorry to hear that dude. Hopefully you’ve got some great tips from this thread, and some time to plan a brilliant itinerary.
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