which rail passes?

i am going to japan next week, and i will be visiting mostly, kansai region (osaka, kyoto, kobe, nara) and kanto region (tokyo, shinkuko, my fuji etc). wanna know which sort of rail passes are highly recommended for our travel? it seems like JR passes are very expensive!

Hi Carrie, I used Kansai thru pass during my visit to kansai region last year.
http://www.surutto.com/conts/ticket/3dayeng/

if i get the kansai pass to travel within kansai region, how do i or wht passes do i purchase if i need 2 take a shinkasen train to toyko and travel around tokyo? or maybe buying JR passes is the easiest way out? but it is quite expensive

a 7 days pass cost the same as the return trip for/to Tokyo-Kyoto and you can use it to visit Osaka and Nara from Kyoto and also in Tokyo and around depending how you schedule your trip.
look in this site under transportation for all the various types of passes