JR Rail Pass

Hi
Have used JR East pass (Nagano/Niigata, Tohoku), also Hokuriku arch pass before to travel around Japan from Tokyo station, it covered most of the journey except very few parts need to pay. But have not use JR rail pass before.

Question:

If plan to travel from Tokyo & Kyoto/Nara, guess best to get JR rail pass.
Confuse is 3 of the days will travel more around Nagano/Niigata area. Example:

A) Travel from Tokyo to Takada Castle Park in Takada Station, Niigata
B) Travel from Tokyo to Ikaho Onsen or Minakami Onsen
C) Travel to Takasaki

Does JR rail pass covered all the above train? or where can I find the details of train line/station name so can check what stations or lines are covered? Or is it so long it's JR trains it's covered?

Thanks!

Essentially if it is a JR line it is covered. If not it isn�ft. There are a few exceptions to that (eg JR train runs over tracks of other companies where you might need to pay a surcharge. Or a JR Line only being accessible though a private line.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html

Hi thanks for reply.

Last time when search route in hyperdia it shows what time train arrive (eg. 10:15, 16:40, 20:38) but now it show how many mins later instead make it more difficult to plan as need to add up the time to see exactly what time arrive or to depart to connect to another train or catch another bus, n exactly what time will reach destination.

time is so important when plan trip in Japan as a few min lost may result in miss connecting train or bus

Is there another apps or website can search route like hyperdia but show exact TIME instead?

Thanks!

If unsure of a station name. Just google the town and look at the maps. Google maps even shows the JR symbol at JR stations.

>>Is there another apps or website can search route like Hyperdia but show exact TIME instead?

Yes. The most "Hyperdia like" one would be Ekispert.
https://roote.ekispert.net/en/
It's one drawback though is that you cannot exclude Nozomi and Mizuho trains. You can still use Hyperdia for routes and fares, but not schedules. It has a few quirks though and in a few cases there are actually alternative and better routes for local travel.
There is also Navitime
https://japantravel.navitime.com/en/area/jp/route/
where you can exclude Nozomi/Mizuho trains, as well as JR's own Odekake
https://www.jr-odekake.net
although it is all in Japanese (you can use alphabet input though) and of course only covers JR trains.
Plus a few other Hyperdia alternatives as well. For the rail pass, all JR routes are covered, but not the bullet trains I just mentioned; and the caveat already mentioned about running over some non-JR tracks.

If I want to know the closest station, I just look at where it is on google maps. You can also use its street view function to see where to turn right or left while walking down the street, etc.