Nozomi

I understand that I have to pay the basic fare and the limited express charge on a Nozomi train even if I have a JR pass. Could someone explain what it means? I only know that I have to pay a basic fare plus a reserved seat charge.

The JR pass isn't good for the Nozomi train, and what it is basically saying is that if you want to ride the Nozomi then you have to pay for a regular ticket.

A shinkansen ticket breaks down into 2 parts. The regular fare which is the cost to get from point A to point B regardless of the train you use. It could be a regular commuter train, a limited express, shinkansen, etc. The limited express fee is the additional fee that you pay to ride on the shinkansen for that trip.

Normally a JR pass covers both fees, but the Nozomi is special and the JR pass doesn't cover any of the fees.

When I first went to Japan, the restriction of the JR Rail Pass on the Nozomi meant little: there were plenty of Hikari's and the time difference was of no importance. About two years ago, JR cut the number of Hikari's drastically in favour of more Nozomi's. Now that I have started to travel more and more in the countryside and, on the way back, want to get all the way up to Northern Tohoku, I don't want to wait in a station close to an hour to get on a Hikari while Nozomi after Nozomi stop by.
I wish that JR rethinks the Nozomi restriction that seems to be based on the situation before they cut down on the Hikari's.

Still, the JR Rail Pass is a great deal, of course, and the above is just a nitpick and I do realize that most tourists only travel directly between Tokyo and Kyoto and for them it doesn't matter at all as they can decide themselves what time to show up at the station. :-)

About two years ago, JR cut the number of Hikari's drastically in favour of more Nozomi's. Now that I have started to travel more and more in the countryside and, on the way back, want to get all the way up to Northern Tohoku, I don't want to wait in a station close to an hour to get on a Hikari while Nozomi after Nozomi stop by.

1) The Nozomi doesn't run on the JR East lines in Northern Tohoku, it only runs on JR Central and JR West.

2) There is still a Hikari departing Tokyo approx every 30 mins.

1) The Nozomi doesn't run on the JR East lines in Northern Tohoku, it only runs on JR Central and JR West.

I think he's referring to that he is in Western/Central Japan, needs to connect to Tokyo using the Hikari Shinkansen then onto the Tohoku Shinkansen.