Rail Pass or individual tickets 14 days

Getting conflicting information about getting a rail pass for these dates for two adults and one child. Im being told that travel period is in the peak travel season. With the pass, seats can be reserved only after validating the pass in Japan, so there is a possibility that all seats of bullet train or express train are sold out. Normal tickets will be open for sale 1 month prior to the date. Also, the pass cannot be used for NOZOMI (the fastest Shinkansen between Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka). You will have to take Hikari or Kodama with more stops. In addition, the pass can be used for the trains operated by Japan Railway Company, so it cannot be used for other local trains and subways which operated by other private companies. In Tokyo and Kyoto, we often use subways and trains of private companies. Is this accurate? We are arriving and departing from Haneda and thought we could use the pass to get into and out of tokyo and to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Hakone etc.

We can't advise whether a pass would be cost-effective or not without you posting your itinerary (including number of days in each location). You can use this calculator to do it yourself: http://www.aoimirai.net/japan/jrpass_calculator.html

To answer your specific questions:

1. You can't reserve most shinkansen from outside of Japan anyway, so this is a moot point. It's highly unlikely every single seat will be sold out, and if you can't get seats, you can arrive early to the station to line up for the unreserved cars. When will you be travelling?

2. The Nozomi is the most frequent service, but the Hikari, Sakura and Kodama trains run frequently enough that it won't be a problem. Try to avoid the Kodama as it takes much longer than the other services.

3. The JR Pass is designed for long-distance travel, not local use, so it's not really a problem if you can't use it much inside the cities. As long as it's cost-effective for your long-distance travel, buy it. You can use an IC card (reloadable public transport card) or regional pass for other travel. No one pass covers everything, anyway!

Thanks for your response. We (2 adults and a child) are there from March 22 to April 5 planning on going from tokyo to osaka to kyoto to hiroshima to Kanazawa to Shirakawago & Gokayama, stay in Takayama to Magome & Tsumago, stay in Matsumoto to Hakone then Tokyo

We arrive and depart from Haneda and plan to take the train from tokyo to Haneda we are there for exactly two weeks...arrive in tokyo but want to go straight to osaka to see the sumo tournament so we dont miss it.

The rail pass makes sense right? We will be able to get seats? Are the agents just saying it to book with them directly?

Yes, get the 14 day pass. Also get an IC card for non-JR travel (the cost of which is minimal). When you exchange your pass, give a list of trains you'll be wanting to catch. It won't sell out. Just reserve it so you are guaranteed seats.
Also, the nozomi isn't that much faster than Hikari. Get the Hikari, not Kodoma

I travelled during that period this year. Never had a problem getting a reservation on any train.

Make sure you take all the train information with you to the ticket agent: train name, departure/arrival time, departure/arrival station.

Your itinerary sounds very busy for two weeks. Are you sure you're not rushing?

Thank you so much - yes we are probably rushing...I hadnt originally planned on Osaka but really wanted to see the Sumo tournament or at least go to a stable, but was told that because the tournament was happening when we were in Tokyo all of the stables would be empty so thats why we were leaving straight for Osaka - My biggest question is over this part of the itinerary -- is it too redundant, too much of the same type of thing? Do we not need two days in Takayama, Kanazawa and Matsumoto? SHould we skip a portion and just add more days on to Kyoto?

Move to Kanazawa, stay in Kanazawa
Kanazawa, stay in Kanazawa
Tour to Shirakawago & Gokayama, stay in Takayama
Free day in Takayama, stay in Takayama
Private tour to Magome & Tsumago, stay in Matsumoto
Free day in Matsumoto, stay in Matsumoto