Which is the best JRpass to purchase?

A couple of girlfriends & myself will be flying into Narita for a two week stay in Japan. We wish to visit Tokyo, Mt Fuji, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka & Hiroshima. We don't have an Itinerary, as we will most likely revolve this around our JR pass. I am finding all of the information on JR passes to be very confusing.

From which airport do you leave Japan?

Assuming, you leave from Tokyo, note that the round trip Tokyo - Hiroshima by shinkansen (bullet train) with stops in Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka along the way costs about 40,000 Yen. This compares to 28,300 Yen for a 1-week pass and 45,100 Yen for a 2-week pass.

Make an itinerary!! even if you are fluent in japanese, you'll likely have difficulty getting around japan. be prepared as much as possible. :)

u need to get urs pass outside of japan, u dont get it here in japan,this is how it work, u purchased the exchange orders outside of japan, then you have to turn in your exchange order w/ urs passport to receive urs JR pass at any applicable jr station that has a JR pass exchange office
and how long u will be staying in japan?
there 7 days(28,300yen),14 days(45,100yen) and 21 days(57,700yen), and the only train u cant take is NOZOMI,NOZOMI is just a new type of bullet train, which is more faster and nicer, thats it, nth much different between others bullet train

for more information
http://www.japanrailpass.net
:)
or u can ask me, im still in japan rite now, just traveling here, moving up to Sapporo tomorrow, already been to Kyushu(8 cities),all over Tokyo,

Thanks Uji, I will be leaving Japan from Narita also. We will most probably stay in Tokyo the first few nights, then do our trip all the way through to Hiroshima (stops along the way inc. Kyoto, Osaka etc), then stay a few nights in Tokyo before we leave. So I'd like know the cheapest pass to get which will allow me there, obviously Shinkansen is the way to go, but we'd also like to do a little travel in Tokyo also, since we are staying there for a little longer than the oher towns. Do you think I will need 2 types of passes maybe, one for Shinkansen and one for small travel?

Thanks CM, We have a rough idea of what we would like to do, although, I think it will be easier once we have these JRpasses sorted out, then we can revolve our travel around that. The trains travel everywhere we want to go anyway.

Thanks Billy, I realize that we will have to purchase the JRpass before we leave for Japan. My trouble is that I'm not sure which one to purchase, we are travelling for 2 weeks and that is just the beginning of my 3 month holiday of UK & Europe, so I'm looking at making it as cheap as possible. I'd like to get around as fast as I can and also as cheap as I can. I think we may have to purchase 2 passes, one for Nozomi and one for travel in the cities. What do you think? Can you travel to Hiroshima from Tokyo any other way other than Nozomi, which may include my city travel also?

Let me give you my two cents worth.

First you cannot ride Nozomi with JR Pass.

Second I think it is economical for you to get one JR Pass if you can finish your trip of Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Kobe in a week.
In this case you should think over when you decides the first effecive day of JR Pass.

I think when you travel around Tokyo including Nikko or Kamakura,you can use other convenient transportations by paying small mounts of fee.

If you want to stay at those southern places such as Hiroshima for more than 8 days, say 10days or so. you should buy two JR Passes, with which you ride Hicari Shinkansen.

If the non-Tokyo part of your trip takes longer than 7 days, go for a 14-day Japan Rail Pass.

If the non-Tokyo part of your trip takes 7 days or less and you will be staying only in central Tokyo, go for a 7-day Japan Rail Pass and use either single tickets, prepaid cards of day passes for transportation inside Tokyo. You will probably spend around 400 to 1500 Yen per day on transportation in central Tokyo. There are more details about day passes towards the bottom of the following page:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2017.html

If the non-Tokyo part of your trip takes 7 days or less and you will also be making some larger side trips from Tokyo, for example to Nikko or Hakone, go for a 14-day Japan Rail Pass, especially if your total stay is 14 days or less, i.e. you can also use the pass on both airport trips.

in addition to what Uji san wrote:
The JR Japan Rail Pass will make your travel Tokyo - Kyoto - Hiroshima - Tokyo cheaper than by buying tickets in Japan. The JR Pass makes no sense for travelling within Tokyo city, Kyoto or Hiroshima alone. With the JR Pass you can ride all JR trains from the local commuter to the Shinkansen. ( One type of Shinkansen, called Nozomi, is not included. This is of no importance for you as on the same line there runs the Hikari Shinkansen type ) An itinerary for 2 weeks in Japan with a 7-day Japan Rail Pass can look like this:
day 01 arrival Narita, to Tokyo by private Keisei line or directly to the hotel by limousine bus ( Yen 1000 to 3000 )
day 02 Tokyo sightseeing, local transport by subway and commuter trains
day 03 Tokyo sightseeing
day 04 day excursion to Nikko by private line from Tokyo-Asakusa station Yen 5600
day 05 day excurstion to Hakone area by private line from Tokyo-Shinjuku Yen 5500
(cheaper on weekdays )
day 06 first day for the 7 day JR Rail Pass Tokyo - Himeji, visit castle, overnight
day 07 Himeji - Hiroshima, visit Hiroshima, overnight
day 08 visit of Miyajima by local JR train and JR ferry, overnight Hiroshima
day 09 Hiroshima - Kyoto
day 10 Kyoto sightseeing, within Kyoto by Kyoto City Bus one day ticket Yen 500
day 11 Kyoto sightseeing
day 12 last day of 7 day JR Rail Pass, Kyoto - Tokyo
day 13 Tokyo
day 14 Tokyo - Narita airport same as day 1
I highly recommend you pre-plan as much as possible and pre-book accomodation

Thanks Peter! The Itinerary is awesome! I will show the girls. Although, I'm really not understanding this JRpass business at all. Just a stupid question: The Nozomi and Hikari lines travel to the same towns??? So if I purchased a JRpass, I can still travel to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka etc, although on the Hikari Shinkansen line? I must be stupid! But am I right? I guess what has thrown me out is that it says strictly no to Nozomi, but when I look at the Nozomi line, it goes everywhere I want to go. Will the JRpass allow me to use the commuter trains and subways? Sorry, I just don't get it!

Thanks Chung! So??? The Hikari Shinkansen seems like it is the best for me to travel, although why will I need two passes if my travels that way will be longer than 8 days? How does it work?

Thanks Uji! I think I will most probably purchase the 14 day pass, if this Hikari Shinkansen takes me where I go. You and some others have suggested that I use day passes for smaller journeys around the cities, is the JRpass not inclusive of this? And can I purchase day passes in Japan, unlike the JRpass which I must purchase before I leave?

Do not worry too much. It is rather easy:
In 1964 the first shinkansen line was built between Shin Osaka and Tokyo for the Olympics . Extra tracks only for the shinkansen trains. Their name were Kodama and Hikari. In the 1980s when the high Yen exchange rate was very bad for tourism, the government introduced the JR Rails Pass for all JR trains. In the 1990s a once more faster shinkansen train was introduced: name Nozomi, again between Shin Osaka and Tokyo, at that time at an extra and higher fare and useable only with a specific reservation. Till today not included in the JR Pass. So today between Tokyo - ShinOsaka ( and further on to Hiroshima and Hakata ) three different types of trains run on the same track. Kodama ( stops at al stations ) Hikari ( stops at main stations ) and the Nozomi ( same as Hikari but 30 min faster for the distance Tokyo Osaka what is more than 500 km ). Within the cities you can use the JR pass only on JR trains what are very rare there. Within the cities private subway, bus and train companies are running.

Hi Hayley
you can buy a 7 day or 14 day JR Pass according to your travel schedule in Japan. But in either case you should use it in consecutive 7days or 14days once you start to use it.
That's why i suggested to you that if you can return within 7days to Tokyo from the southern parts such as Hiroshima, Kyoto. Nagoya, a 7 day JR Pass is possible.
Therefore, you should wisely decide the initially acivating date of your JR Pass, considering your itinerary.

I think Peter's draft time schedule can help you.

I hope this helps you.

Do the trains run 24hours?
How often do they run?

Do the trains run 24hours?

No. On most train lines, trains run between around 5am and 1am. There are also a few night trains:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2356.html

How often do they run?

It depends on the line and time of the day! Every 2 minutes on some busy urban lines. Every 5 hours on some minor countryside line.

Here is a website to look up schedules:
http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/

Awesome! Thanks Uji! I think 5am to 1am will work out fine for me! Is that standard everywhere?

These are my main trips:
Tokyo-Kyoto
Kyoto-Hiroshima
Hiroshima-Osaka
Osaka-Tokyo

How often should I expect trains to run through the Sanyo and Takaido lines? I assume thats what I will be using?

Tokyo-Kyoto
Kyoto-Hiroshima
Hiroshima-Osaka
Osaka-Tokyo

Shinkansen (bullet trains) run between 6am and midnight

How often should I expect trains to run through the Sanyo and Takaido lines?

Trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen and Sanyo Shinkansen lines operate approximately as follows (more trains during peak hours/seasons). If you use the Japan Rail Pass, note that you cannot use nozomi trains:

Tokaido Shinkansen:
nozomi: 3 per hour
hikari: 2 per hour
kodama: 2 per hour

Sanyo Shinkansen:
nozomi: 2 per hour
hikari: 1 per hour
kodama: 1 per hour

More about shinkansen:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html

And timetables:
http://jr-central.co.jp/eng.nsf/english/timetable