Generally, it seems like if you request a place with a lot of open spots (Hokkaido, Hyogo, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukushima, Aomori, Gunma, Ishikawa, Kobe-shi, and Shizuoka are the top ten) you'll be a lot more likely to get it (I know that seems really obvious, but that's based on people I know, not just common logic, I promise XD). I think Osaka and Kyoto are the two most requested prefectures in the whole program, so the chances of getting them are pretty low, but you never know! Personally, my advice would be to choose to pick your second and third choices strategically so that you can get most of what you want even if you don't get exactly what I hoped for. I put Chiba as my first choice, since I know people there and would be close to Tokyo, but then Gunma as my second, and it's worked out really well being in Gunma, since it's still only 2 hours out of Tokyo. ^^

As for consulate, sorry, I saw on your userinfo that it says you're located in the US. So I meant what consulate within the US (I went out of New York) or, if I assumed incorrectly, what country? Sorry if I made a stupid mistake. ^^;;