I'm planning on going to Japan
 

I'm planning on going to Japan. Either as a forgeign exchange student or a vacation.
But if I go via vacation, where should I stay? Tokyo? Akihabara?
What hotel? Where should I eat or shop? I'm clueless. O.o

Ok, first, decide if its a vacation or as an exchange student. If its the later, how?

For a vacation, you need to first decide on your budget, how long you would like to go for and what are your interest. I take that this is the first trip you've ever "attempt" to plan? Your questions are a bit too generic.. so help us to help you, give us more info

Well I plan to stay for a week. My mom is the one with the budget.
I know I want to eat as much traditional Japanese food as I can. I plan on doing some shopping. Like clothes and cds and such that can't be purchased in the U.S.
And yes this is the first trip. ^.^ I mean I've planned trips to other states, but as far as going out of country I've not done that yet. SO I am a little confused. :o

I highly recommend Osaka if you are only interested in food and shopping. A lot of people consider Tokyo = Japan, that is not the case, sure it offers different kind of scene (like Daiba, Akiba and Yokohama etc), but outside of it, almost anything you can find in Tokyo is available in Osaka as well, except that Osaka offer you with more choices for food, it also offer you some very nice neighboring cities that can give you a glimpse of true Japanese tradition.

Depending on what your budget is, I will suggest that hotel can run you somewhere between USD$60-120 for a night, while food can be reasonably cheap.

MMM can probably suggest an Akiba like area in Osaka, I actually don't know Kansai enough to suggest where it is like Akiba there.

That would be Den Den Town, or Nipponbashi, Osaka.

im also planning on a visit myself...when would be the best time to go? it would be anytime next year that i would be able to go. right now i have 5k saved up, so next year it would be a little more than that, is that enough to stay for a week in tokyo? i plan on shopping a lot (looking for ato matsumoto shoes and boots) and i would REALLY like to go to a variety show but i dont know how, PLUS whenever they show the audience all i see is women so is it even possible for a male to go lol

Thank you godwine!
So have you ever been to Japan? or do you live there?

I like Den Den Town better than Akiba actually. I tend to find more older stuff there. Especially LPs/Records.

Yup, I visit there quite often, I have an uncle there, in fact I am planning a trip there for my honeymoon in October/November for a month or so

Wow congradulations! I hope you have a wonderful time! ^.^