Rail pass vs individual tickets

Hi, am planning to visit Japan for the first time and just wanted some advice on whether I should buy a rail pass. I will be in Japan for about 2 weeks, and this is my planned itinerary:

1) Fly into Tokyo spend about 4 days in Tokyo
2) Train from Tokyo to Kyoto, spend another 4 days in Kyoto
3) Train from Kyoto to Osaka for another 4 days
4) Fly back home (Aus) from Osaka

I kind of thought that a rail pass will be more expensive for me, since I only have one big journey (ie. Tokyo to Kyoto) and do not need to return. So I am thinking of just buying individual tickets from Tokyo to Kyoto, and then Kyoto to Osaka. Within each city, I would just buy the metro tickets, such as the 2 day pass in Tokyo. However, as I am not familiar with Japan, I was wondering whether metro tickets will still give me coverage to the main tourist attractions? Please advise about whether or not I should get a rail pass, or whether it wouuld be sufficient to buy separate tickets for the long trips, and rely on metro tickets to get around in each city. Much appreciated!!

Individual tickets will be the better option as you are only making 1 long trip as you said.

You will be able to reach all the main tourist attractions in Tokyo with the metro and/or JR Yamanote line. It depends how you organise your days as to whether the metro pass will pay off.

You should also check out the Suica and N'Ex package at the bottom of this page:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_002.html

Thanks very much for the prompt response and confirming my initial feeling.
What if I was to do a day trip from tokyo to mt fuji, would this make the railpass (say a 7 day one) more cost effective than single tickets?

Most of the trip to Mt Fuji is on non-JR lines so it is still better to buy individual tickets.

Depending on where you want to go to see Mt Fuji (e.g. Hakone or Fuji Five Lakes) there are various passes you can get.

There is more info here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2172.html

Again,thanks. It turns out that we may be staying with a friend in Yokohama instead of Tokyo, so we will be doing several day trips from Yokohama into Tokyo. Question 1: how much will it cost for a return trip from Yokohama to Tokyo? Question 2: will such a return trip be covered by a rail pass? And question 3: does this then make a 7 day railpass more cost effective than getting single tickets? ( assuming we make about 4 return trips to and from Yokohama/ Tokyo). Many thanks

You should look at http://www.hyperdia.com to figure out times and costs of your planned train journeys.