Hey Andrew,

The rainy season is usually like the first or second week of June until mid-July. Occasionally, some years it is not so bad but usually it really is the season for rain. Cross your fingers!
Welcome to the sauna when the Sun peaks out in July!

Don't know about flights. Should be some cheap ones from LA.

Never stayed at a hostel. I can ask around.
Stayed once here, in Ikebukuro(near Shinjuku), during a show:
www.kimi-ryokan.jp/index.html

enjOy

are you nuts? ;-)

AVOID JAPAN IN SUMMER AT ALL COST.

delay your plans until October.

or visit Bangkok instead - Tokyo will be as hot as, or even hotter than, Bangkok. difference? i feel that i can wear anything in Bangkok, dressed for humid heat, i.e. shorts (except in temples), t-shirts, sandals. in Tokyo however, it's a relatively dressy cosmopolitan environment and i'd feel i am out of place being way dressed down.

mid-to-late June and early July are normally rainy. but this does not mean it won't rain before or after that. Japan is a place rain can happen anytime, so be ready for that and keep your eyes on weather forecast.

airfare to Japan in summer (and x-mas/new year's in winter) is much higher than spring or fall. my airfare was close to $800 (including $350 fuel and other fees) last November. with the high cost of fuel, it could drive it even higher. i'd say somewhere around $1200(?).

depending on how long you want to stay, there are guest houses and apartments as options now. please note that their prices is on "per person" basis, not "per room" basis.

i hope this helps.

I agree that mid-summer can be rough with the humidity and heat. But a good thing about August is there are lots of matsuri (local festivals) around that time. Where you can see some of the world's best fireworks display in the world (most 4th of July fireworks in the US is a joke compared to what they are able to do). Plus get some beer, good food, games and have a really good time. Plus a lot of otehr events going on.

September/Oct is great, but that's also typhoon season so it can be hitnmiss. Only people happy in Japan during typhoons are surfers :)