Best use of 7-day JRP Kobe-Tokyo in 10 days

Info:
My plan is as follows:
1. Will arrive Kobe on Oct. 6, 2019 late evening, and leave Narita on Oct. 16, 2019 in the afternoon.
2. Go to Tokyo (from Kobe) via Osaka and Kyoto, and visit points of interest in those four cities. All trips
will be on trains, if possible. I love travelling on trains.
3. Purchase 7 day Japan Rail Pass.

Questions:
1. What is the best date to activate my 7 day JRP?
2. Do you have suggestions on itinerary of my 10 day Japan visit, other than Osaka and Kyoto?
3. What individual train tickets should I purchase to cover my itinerary (see info #2), or your suggested itinerary?

Thank you,
B. Sudewo

A JRP does make sense for this itinerary. It will cost you more to buy the pass than to buy separate tickets. Check using this rail pass calculator: https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/

Any Japan Rail Pass is too expensive
for just traveling from Kobe via Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo to Narita Airport [NRT].

Unless you add a long Shinkansen ride or many short trips,
even a 7-day JRP wound not pay off.

Do you have suggestions on itinerary of my 10 day Japan visit, other than Osaka and Kyoto?

How are your interests and preferences?

I love travelling on trains.

If you want to maximize the value of JRP 7 days, you need to travel not directly from Kansai to Tokyo but travel the other way. At the same time you may want to see the varieties that Japan will offer. So my suggestion is as follows.

Go west by Shinkansen. It can be as far as Kagoshima (Kagoshima-chuo station). Honestly as a resident of Kagoshima prefecture, it is not so attractive, but at least you can see Mt Sakurajima which is an active volcano near the city of half million population.

Oct. 6 Stay in Kobe.
Oct. 7 Kyoto Stay in Kyoto
Oct. 8 Kyoto Stay in Kyoto
Oct. 9 Go to Nara and stay near Shin-Osaka.
Oct. 10 First day of JRP. Shin-Osaka to Kagoshima (about 4 hours). Sightsee Kagoshima. You can also go to Ibusuki which has sand bath.
Oct. 11. Kagoshima to Hiroshima (7:06 9:53). Sight see Hiroshima (maybe Miyajima). Stay in Hiroshima.
Oct. 12. Shinkansen to Himeji. See Himeji castle. Evening Shinkansen Hikari to Nagoya (about 90 min). Stay in Nagoya (near the station. This day is Saturday when the rate of hotels tend to be high, but since Nagoya is not a tourist destination you can save some money).
Oct 13. "Hida" express train to Takayama in the morning (2-2.5 hrs). Sightsee Takayama and stay there.
Oct 14. Bus to Shirakawago and then bus to Kanazawa (JRP does not include these buses so you need to pay separately). Stay in Kanazawa.
Oct 15. Shinkansen to Tokyo (2.5 hrs). If you want to see Tokyo, take early morning Shinkansen. If you want to see Kanazawa, take evening Shinkansen. Stay in Tokyo.
Oct 16. Tokyo to Narita airport by Narita Express which is covered by the JRP. End of the JRP. Fly home.

frog1954, your suggested itinerary is extremely rushed. No point in travelling all the way to Kagoshima and back just to make a JRP pay off - it's too far to travel without seeing anything in between! OP has 10 days, not a month!

This will be my first trip to Japan.

To omotenashi:
My interests in this trip are :
1. Natural sceneries such as woods/forests, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, beaches.
2. Culinary, Japanese especially, such as Kobe beef, ramen/udon, sashimi, fish-based foods.
3. One or two famous temples or shrines.
4. In big cities entertainment areas, places of traditional handicraft to buy gifts, food centers.

Any recommended places to visit, based on my interests above, reachable from Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo using JRP and individual tickets?

To frog1954:
Thanks for your suggested itinerary, but it seems to me that it is too often changing hotels. I only plan to stay in Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.
1. Any hotels suggested nearby JR stations in those cities with decent room rate?
2. On dates 6-9 Oct., what individual train/bus ticket to purchase, and what places I can go to with the tickets?
3. On Oct. 10 on, when I will be using my JRP, is it reasonable to visit places you recommended from either of four cities I plan to stay?

Thanks to /(guest), omotenashi and frog1954 for your responses. They help in shaping up my trip plan.

OP, I very clearly stated that a JRP would NOT pay off. You will pay MORE if you purchase one. Buy tickets separately instead. It will save you money, and you will be able to take the fastest and most frequent shinkansen (Nozomi).

Re: itinerary, this forum is not here to plan your trip for you. If you come up with an itinerary, you can check it here. If you want someone to plan it for you, pay a travel agent to do so.

@/( guest)
this forum is not here to plan your trip for you.... If you want someone to plan it for you, pay a travel agent to do so.

frog1954 just did it willingly, and many have done so. If you have nothing to say, say nothing.

"Any recommended places to visit, based on my interests above, reachable from Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo using JRP and individual tickets?"

This website you are on has extensive guides for those areas, including side-trip ideas. There is honestly too much to list in a response so I would suggest you spend some time under the "Destinations" section on this site to make a list of what interests you.

I would suggest treating Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto as one destination. They are all 20-40 minutes away on train so it is easy to stay in one location and visit any of the others. It would likely be a waste of time to switch hotels from Kobe to Osaka to visit Osaka for example.

For the 7D JR Pass to payoff, you need to make a round trip between Kobe and Tokyo within 7 days. Your trip is basically an one-way trip, and Osaka/Kyoto arenft detours. For a 10 day trip, you may want to consider Kobe-Hiroshima-Kyoto-Tokyo, then a JRP may be worth considering if you reach Tokyo within 7 days.

I thought the OP has already understood the basics: JRP 7 day will not pay off for the travel from Kobe to Tokyo (Osaka and Kyoto in between). And I thought the OP likes to travel by train, so I posted a possible itinerary. Itfs just my pleasure as shinji kindly followed :), and if you donft like it, please just ignore. Of course you can write your opinion, I donft want to stop it. I think 3 hours Shinkansen travel a day is not painful for train lovers (rather, I think three times of crowded and delayed city bus travel in Kyoto is much more painful), but itfs just my opinion.

To the OP:

If you like to restrict your accommodations to Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, practically you should give away Kagoshima, Takayama, and Shirakawago: These places are too far for the round trip travel from the above four cities. As O92 suggested Hiroshima would be a good candidate for a day trip. Other than that, you can travel from Tokyo to several places by Shinkansen. The candidates are Karuizawa (nice highland resort, 60 min Shinkansen ride from Tokyo), Nagano (Zenkoji temple), Niigata, and Sendai. You can even do the Alpine route.
https://www.alpen-route.com/en/

1. Any hotels suggested nearby JR stations in those cities with decent room rate?

It depends on your actual budget. Personally I would choose some hotels with good reviews in Rakuten travel with the price range from 6000 yen to 10000 yen for solo and 10000 to 20000 for two. It is not the crowded season so I think you can find some. In general Japan is more expensive than other Asian countries though cheaper than the top cities in the world such as New York, Paris and London.

2. On dates 6-9 Oct., what individual train/bus ticket to purchase, and what places I can go to with the tickets?

Decide where to go first. But in general IC card will be your best bet.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
Since you will be in Kansai area, Icoca is the answer.

3. On Oct. 10 on, when I will be using my JRP, is it reasonable to visit places you recommended from either of four cities I plan to stay?

Oh, I have answered already. Please see the above part of this post.