Questions about the Japan Rail Pass

We are going to Japan for 21 days and want to purchase the Japan Rail Pass. Our travel program is: Tokyo (4 days), Matsumoto (2 days), Kamikochi (2 days), Kyoto (3 days), Fujiyoshida (3 days), Minamiizu (3 days) and Tokyo (2 days). I can't quite tell from Hyperdia which trains are and are not included in the Japan Rail Pass. Do you think it would be cost wise to purchase the 21-day pass?
And can we reserve seats for alle our train transfers at the airport, where we exchange the voucher for the pass? I made a Hyperdia printout of every transfer, but I have no idea if they can use it at the JPR ticket office.

Hallo Suzunne,
on the HyperDia site has:
FROM:
TO:
DATE:
TIAME:
TYPE:
but before you click SEARCH, in the upper right corner of SERCH you have MORE OPTIONS !!!! you will be clicking on all the other options you have to search, with, without JR pass, with Nozomi train, boat, plane and everything else ....
Yes, you can reserve all seats when you change at the airport, if you have a lot of time, then the reservation you can make in any JR bureau

you will see that a 21 day pass will not compensate.
:)

Hi Susanne,

The Japan Rail Pass covers all JR Group limited express trains, express trains, rapid and local ones. Shinkansen bullet trains are also covered, except NOZOMI and MIZUHO. Source: https://www.jrailpass.com/faq/japan-rail-pass-trains-included

About seat reservations, you can make reservations at any JR Ticket Office spread through all Japanese train stations. Alternatively, you can go to a Travel Service Center or a Travel Agency ticket sales office: https://www.jrailpass.com/faq/seat-reservation

You are not actually travelling very far and only a couple of shinkansen trips - you would struggle to make a seven day pass pay, let alone the 21-day pass. Work out the cost of your trips (hyperdia is a useful tool) and you might get into the 30k-40k range, less than the 60k the21-day pass costs.

Let me answer your second question regarding seat reservation.

- Yes, regardless of if you buy the JR pass (which will not pay off for your trip) or if you buy individual tickets, you can make all reservations for JR (!!!) trains at the airport.
However, the JR office at the airport often is quite busy with people wanting to exchange their JR pass voucher. So if you see a long line, it might be much easier to do all your reservations later at the first major JR station you pass. That could be Tokyo Station, or many other JR stations in Tokyo as well. The smaller ones only have automatic machines to buy tickets, which are actually okay. I guess there are YouTube videos out there that will explain how to use them. (You can set them to English). But if you want a Station with a counter where to make reservation look for the ones with �gmidori guchi �g. Eg Tokyo, Shinjuku, Shinagawa, Ueno...

Note that there is no train to/from Kamikochi. So you will be going by bus. As far as I know you cannot reserve for that bus. But others on this forum know better.

And last but not least, JR , is very relaxed about you changing reservations. If you want to change it, you can just do at a window. If you miss your train, you can still take the next one in the unreserved area (or get a new reservation). Note that while most trains do have some cars that are unreserved there are some trains, like Shinkansen to the north that are reserved seats only.

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Thank you all very much for your replies!! It leads me to a new question ;-)
Can I buy all the necessary tickets for my trip at once at a JR ticket office in Tokyo? (Except for the bus to Kamikochi for instance.) Or do I have to buy each ticket after arriving at each transfer station?
Thank you in advance for you reply!

The website of the above links (www.jrailpass.com/) is not a JR website.

Here is a link to the JR website for JAPAN RAIL PASS.
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp.html

"Midori no Madoguchi" is a traditional name in Japanese for JR Ticket Office(s),
which is used by JR passenger railway companies
(other than JR-Central, who discontinued this name).

We are going to Japan for 21 days

When will you travel?

HyperDia takes future train timetables for only up to three months.
There is a disclaimer by HyperDia for the possibility of wrong train time data,
around the bottom of each page for search results (#).

I can't quite tell from Hyperdia which trains are and are not included in the Japan Rail Pass.

HyperDia is never designed to check whether a rail pass pays off for specific trips.
You do not necessarily pay the amount of railway fees shown by a route-finding tool
(such as HyperDia or Jorudan).

HyperDia basically indicates
JR trains by a green pictogram of a train
and non-JR trains by a purple pictogram of a train; however,
HyperDia regards JR - non-JR through trains as JR trains,
even when the train is on a non-JR track.
It seems you cannot make HyperDia distinguish such a case from JR-only cases.

For your Minamiizu trip,
Limited Express Odoriko and Super View Odoriko trains are such through trains;
Ito -- Izukyu-Shimoda is a non-JR Izu Kyuko section.
Japan Rail Pass does not cover the Izu Kyuko Line,
which is covered by JR East Pass (Nagano, Niigata area).

(#) From HyperDia website:
"The train and flight schedules are available from June 1, 2019 to August 31, 2019.
*When specifying the date out of the available period, timetables we deem regular trains and flights are shown as search results.
Please note that search results may differ from actual timetables."

Can I buy all the necessary tickets for my trip at once at a JR ticket office in Tokyo?
(Except for the bus to Kamikochi for instance.)

You can buy all the JR regular tickets (for your listed trips) at once.

When you plan to use a JR pass
for your JR Shinkansen or conventional Limited Express train ride
with your seat reserved,
you need that JR pass to get your seat reservation ticket.
(Here "JR pass" refers to not only Japan Rail Pass
but also other passes issued by one or plural JR railway companies.)

Applying for your seat ticket before acquiring your JR pass
may lead to a result
that you pay the Shinkansen or Limited Express surcharge
(which could be covered by the pass)
and get a regular reserved-seat ticket.

Please make sure to say at the JR ticket window
that you hope to use a specific JR pass.

Do you think it would be cost wise to purchase the 21-day pass?

That is mere waste of time and money, I think.
For your planned trips,
a 21-day Japan Rail Pass is definitely too expensive.

You have a non-JR train or bus ride (which is not covered by JRP)
at least for the following sections.
: Matsumoto -- Hirayu Onsen -- Kamikochi (by bus).
: Kamikochi -- Hirayu Onsen -- Takayama (by bus).
: Otsuki -- Shimoyoshida or nearby station
(by Fuji Kyuko).
: Ito -- Izukyu-Shimoda or nearby station
(by Izukyu [Izu Kyuko]).

Kyoto (3 days), Fujiyoshida (3 days), Minamiizu (3 days) and Tokyo (2 days)

Fujiyoshida City is at the north foot of Mount Fuji.
Minamiizu Town faces the Pacific Ocean.
These two destinations of yours are far apart from each other.

It sounds better, both time wise and cost wise,
to visit Fujiyoshida and Matsumoto in this order
and go directly from Kyoto to Minamiizu (#).
In this case,
making a combination of
a JR East Pass (Nagano, Niigata area),
JR regular tickets
and Fuji Kyuko regular tickets,
you can put down your railway cost for major legs
to around 42000 yen (+/- about 1000 yen).
The Izu Kyuko Line is covered by this JR East pass.

This JR East Pass
is valid for the selected 5 days within the 14 days from the day of issuance.
You plan to stay for 13 nights outside Kanto Region.
So,
to make this JR East Pass cover your interregional train rides around Kanto,
you have to wait for your timing of purchasing this pass
until the day when you first travel to another region.

This JR East Pass can be used
for Tokyo -- Shinjuku -- Otsuki,
for Otsuki -- Kofu -- Matsumoto,
for Atami -- Ito -- Izukyu-Shimoda,
and for Izukyu-Shimoda -- Ito -- Atami (by non-Shinkansen lines),
on 4 different days during the 14-day period.

- Japan Guide: JR East Nagano Niigata Area Pass
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_nagano_niigata.html
- East Japan Railway Company [JR-East]: JR EAST PASS (Nagano, Niigata area)
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_n/
- JR-EAST Train Reservation
https://www.eki-net.com/pc/jreast-shinkansen-reservation/English/wb/co...
: This seat reservation system may work for your train rides mainly on Day 2 and later days.
: You have to pick up the tickets
by 21:00 (Japan Standard Time) of the day before the boarding date.
: Your credit card of a designated brand is required.

The following JR regular tickets for your trips
can be purchased together at once at a JR ticket window.
: One-way basic-fare ticket for Takayama -- Nagoya -- Kyoto.
: Reserved-seat Limited Express ticket for Takayama -- Nagoya.
: Reserved-seat Shinkansen ticket for Nagoya -- Kyoto.
: One-way basic-fare ticket for Kyoto -- Atami.
: Reserved-seat Shinkansen ticket for Kyoto -- Atami.

(#) To travel by railway in your (now-planned) order of the places
from Kyoto City via Fujiyoshida City and Minamiizu Town to Tokyo,
you take a very roundabout route.
: From Kyoto
via Atami, Shin-Yokohama or Yokohama and Hachioji to Otsuki,
round trip to Shimoyoshida (or nearby station),
from Otsuki back to Atami,
round trip via Ito to Izukyu-Shimoda (or nearby station),
from Atami back for Shin-Yokohama or Yokohama,
then to Tokyo.

Thank you all so much for your elaborate replies!!