Buying individual train tickets in Japan

I will be making doing the following rail travel in Japan: Tokyo to Kanazawa, Kanazawa to Kobe, Kobe to Kuzuha (Keihan line) and Kuzuha to Narita airport. I will be doing this over 10 days so buying individual tickets will be less than a 14 day pass. Part of the travel will be over Obon. Will there be any problem getting seat reservations at this time? Should I buy all the tickets in Tokyo at one time or at each stop just prior to boarding? Many thanks.

The difference in cost between a 14-day Japan Rail Pass and regular tickets is relatively small. Only a few thousand yen in favor of regular tickets. If you value the convenience of a rail pass, I would go for the rail pass.

One small disadvantage of the rail pass: In order to access Kanazawa from Tokyo, you would have to take the more time intensive way via the Tokaido Shinkansen, as explained here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4208.html

Part of the travel will be over Obon. Will there be any problem getting seat reservations at this time?

Yes, depending on the day, route and direction of travel, you may encounter difficulties. If you have fixed your schedule, then I would try to make all reservations as soon as possible.

Mcsl,

As Uji also says, I would strongly recommend reserving seats as soon as you can after arriving in Japan, as most trains will be very busy over the Obon period.

If you can read Japanese, you can check for seat vacancies using the JR Cyberstation site below. If not, and you know your schedule details, post the times of the trains you plan to catch here, and I or someone can check whether there are still seats available.
http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/vacancy/Vacancy.html

Thanks so much Dave.We speak and read some Japanese but not enough to tackle a train schedule. Using Hyperdia, I've calculated that a 14 day pass will be 5730 yen more than the total of individual tickets.The convenience of the pass is worth the difference, plus there will likely be other chances to use the pass on local JR trains. So we will get the pass. The train itinerary is as follows:
Aug 15 arrive Tokyo
Aug 19 Tokyo to Kanazawa (departure between 10am and
1pm)
Aug 21 Kanazawa to Kobe (around 10 AM)
Aug 22 Kobe to Kuzuha station
(mid afternoon)
Aug 26 Kuzuha station to Narita airport (about 8 AM - flight departs at 4 PM.)
I assume we must wait until we arrive in Tokyo to book seats. Thanks so much for your help!