I almost forgot to mention this! I received my JET placement info. I'm going to Bungoono-shi, which is in Oita-ken, on Kyushu! Oita is known for its mountainous terrain and hotsprings (onsen). There is also a park famous for its wild roaming monkeys, which should be interesting . Plus, it looks like I am pretty close to a major JR line, so I should be able to explore pretty well.
It was pretty close to my first choice of Fukuoka, at least I should be only a couple of hours from there. Also Oita-shi has an airport, and Beppu has plenty of ferry services, so that should help other domestic travel.
Unfortunately, I have yet to hear directly from the local board of education, who will be my actual employers in Japan. Until then, the details will be pretty sketchy. But at least it appears that I got a cool placement.