Thanks for the detailed explanation. I guess I will skip the Seishun ticket because I would much rather just relax without worrying about switching trains and would much rather take the bus since you said it's faster. The shinkansen isn't desireable because of the price and I'd like to budget my money. I'm not sure if I could sleep on the bus but as long as it has a toilet then I'm good. Are you allowed to drink alcohol on the bus? Well, it's not like they'll check my bag anyway. Perhaps if I do then I'll have an easier time of falling asleep on the bus.
Going from Tokyo to Nagoya and seeing Nagoya and then going from Nagoya to Osaka by bus seems like a nice plan. From Osaka I may just take the train around the various area in the Kansai region like Nara, Kyoto and Kobe. So for my first trip to Japan, would it be a good plan to start in Tokyo, travel to Nagoya, Osaka, Nara, Kobe and Kyoto? Any other cities I should check out perhaps? Mt. Fuji worth it or overrated? Yokohama? All this speak about Nagoya makes me wonder if there's much to do or see there. Please give some advice.
This site has the bus guide from Tokyo to Fukuoka for only 4,800 yen. Just looking at the map and the vast distance between these two cities strikes me as being unbelievable. It seems like it would literally take an entire day to reach there by bus and it seems like a grueling journey. How the hell do they make money for that particular trip?
Check Tokyo <-> Fukuoka on this site:
EASY BOOKING WITH 123 bus Japan / English service available.
Anyway, thanks for the insights Samurai and Nyororin. Please keep the advice coming. This is helping me greatly.