Rail travel

Hi. I'm in my 60s and end March 2008 am holidaying for the 1st time in Japan with a friend. Our itinerary is Osaka Kansai airport - Kyoto (3 day stay) - Fukui (5 day stay) - Tokyo (3 day stay) - back to Osaka Kansai. It seems that our best plan is to buy a Japan Rail Pass. We're told that we can't use all trains with these, so how do we recognise which trains we can use?

http://www.japanrail.com/JR_japanrailpass.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361.html
http://www.japanrailpass.net/

the japan rail pass allows your to use all JR trains. this includes the shinkansen or bullet train. The problem is there are also private lines and the subway lines.

i think the rail pass would still be good for you. it is much much cheaper than normal fares. oaka, kyoto and tokyo are definitely on the shinkansen route. i don't think fukui is but you can still use your pass for the JR line to Fukui (to be honest i haven't been to fukui).

within each city other lines maybe more convenient (such as the subways) which aren't included in the JR pass.

Often you would still be able to find a JR line to the same place but it may take a little longer to get there.

Between Tokyo,Kyoto and Osaka there are three types of Shinkansen trains (very fast trains). the Kodoma stops everywhere so it is the slowest of the 3. The Nozomi has few stops but you can't use it with the JR pass. This leaves the Hikari. So when you want to travel fast check the station boards for the Hikari schedule (on the platforms the boards alternate between Japanese and English). When you reserve a seat in advance (anywhere between a couple of days and 15 minutes before departure) ask for x seats on Hikari to....(you can write it on a piece of paper though the staff knows at least all the basic words used for train travel.
in Tokyo and Osaka you can use their respective JR loop line. they are lines that circle the downtown areas of these 2 towns and serve the major touristy areas. You may have to use subways or other trains but not that much. Use JR to go, for example, from Tokyo to Nikko and/or Kamakura and from Kyoto to Osaka, Nara, Kobe etc. (these 4 towns are close to one another).Of course you can and should use your JR pass to go from KIX airport to Kyoto (the most practical Kansai town for you to stay in, especially before going to Tokyo).

A look at one of the japan-guide.com pages posted by other posters shows that you can easily go to Fukui from Kyoto and from Fukui to Tokyo (via Nagoya) by using JR. Any special reason for going to Fukui for 5 days instead of visiting Osaka, Nara and places around Tokyo?

Thanks for all the very helpful advice. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon!
Red Frog, in answer to your question the Fukui trip is our main purpose. Before I moved to Spain I used to go with my friend to Taiko drumming workshops in Scotland. We're booked on a 5 day Taiko workshop in Fukui, and are tacking 5 days sight-seeing on each end.

I understand now. this should make for an unusual and exciting vacation. There are indeed other railway companies than JR and in some cases the stations are close to one another which can be confusing if you are coming via an underground shopping mall along with several thousands other people. Just be sure to go to a JR station. Your JR pass is good on all JR trains, slow and fast, EXCEPT the Nozomi shinkansen. JR is especially convenient because they have signs in Roman alphabet and also P.A. announcements in English. On the platforms they have bilingual signs showing the name of the station where you are presently plus the name of the previous station and the name of the next one. very convenient. I was in the Kansai 2 months ago and because we didn't travel far and only twice a day we did what the local do: buy tickets in an agency selling discounted tickets for several train companies. We would go for example from X..to Y..with JR then come back from Y.to X.. with Hankyu or Hanshin, not so much to save the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee but more for the fun of it.
The JR station in Kansai airport is very easy to find. let me know if you need more info (you can find maps of the airport by Googling it)