[trunker]

pillows!

bring your own pillow incase the family uses japanese pillows.

they suck royally. damn little bean bags.

(you can also buy them here tho)

45 minutes outside tokyo are the suburbs. so lower rise buildings, more space, that kind of thing. but definately not country side so not to worry. but 45 minutes is a short commute, you might not even feel like you've left the city.

hakone is up in the hills and is very nice for onsen, its an hour out of tokyo, and you can see mt fuji on your way. you can do a bit of hiking there too, nice an naturey and stuff.

tokyo has just about anything you want so it might be more helpful to list what you are looking for as opposed to what youre not.