I'm heading to Japan soon and would like some advice on how to best make use of my rail pass. I will likely be using it to go from Osaka to Tokyo and Kyoto and that's all I've got planned so far. I hear I can also use it to go to Hiroshima? What other places should I put on my list to visit, to make maximum use of the rail pass?
Also, how many of these destinations are far away from each other? AKA. is it the kind thing where I could stay in Tokyo and then take a train to Hiroshima for a day trip, then come back to Tokyo to sleep? And the same for all the other cities? Or are they far enough away and offer enough accommodation and experience that it would be worth staying in these places? Unfortunately I'm not really educated on how much distance these are apart.
As a side note, where is a good place to take out local currency from an international ATM?
And second unrelated question, why are all the hostels always booked out? I've never experienced this before but all the top hostels on hostelworld are booked and rarely have more than one day at a time available. Is right now peak season or something?