JR pass and West pass?

I have a JR Pass voucher for when I reach Japan. While in Japan, is there a limit to the number of times I buy a JR West pass?

How long a process is it to buy a pass? Will JR staff at large airports like Kansai speak fluent English? Does the west pass have to be used on the day of purchase?

Sorry for all those questions, Ive seen some contradictory info on some of the pages about passes, and wanted to know what the truth was,

While in Japan, is there a limit to the number of times I buy a JR West pass?

Yes. One pass per person:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_03.html

How long a process is it to buy a pass?

I have never bought a JR West Pass, but I estimate it to take about the same time as to exchange the voucher for a Japan Rail Pass, which is about 2-3 minutes plus eventual waiting time.

Will JR staff at large airports like Kansai speak fluent English?

Not necessarily. But the process does not usually require any advanced vocabulary.

Does the west pass have to be used on the day of purchase?

No.

I can buy one West pass in Japan...is that in addittion to my JR Pass?

I wondered also, are there almost always seats free on the Haruka, or should I book in advance?

Chris you wrote: I can buy one West pass in Japan...is that in addition to my JR Pass? theorically the answer is yes but:
first of all there are 2 JR West passes: one for 4 days(20 000 Yen) and one for 8 days (30 000 yen). As the JR site clearly explains in several languages, these passes can only be used between Osaka and Hakata (Fukuoka). They cannot be used to go from Osaka to Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama etc. Also it doesn't seem to make sense to buy these passes along with a JR pass as a 7 days JR pass plus a 4 days JR West pass would cost 48 300 for 11 days versus 45 100 for a 14 days JR pass. a 7 days JR pass plus a 8 days JR West pass would cost 58 300 for 15 days versus 57 700 for a 21 days JR pass.
this would only make sense if you stayed in a town for at least one week after using any one of the JR passes
but then you might as well buy several JR passes outside Japan and use them one after the other, preferably, I think, with a break of a few days between each pass (one has to do the maths to be sure)
The only good reason to buy a JR West pass is if one only travel west of Osaka (this is what I did on one of my trip).
regardless of everything noted above you can get your actual JR pass or Jr West pass right upon arrival and have it start at once or several days or even weeks later. And yes(it could be another person who asked that question) if you start your pass the day you land you can take the Haruka a few minutes later. I did it a couple of times.

Chris,
If you do not want to use of your JR Rail Pass for the arrival travel KIX - Kyoto ( because you will stay in Kyoto for some days ) I recommend the JR West Kansai Area Pass one day for Yen 2000. For nationwide travel after your stay in Kyoto then the JR Rail Pass. You can buy the JR West Kansai Area Pass as a visiting foreigner at KIX airport JR window and you can use for the JR Haruka train. The regular fare for the JR Haruka is Yen 3500.

On my previous post I was referring of course to the JR West Sanyo pass.. I guess i should have been a bit more explicit.

I am planning to stay in Osaka for 10 days and visit 4 or 5 cities witin Kansai Area.So am I allowed to buy all the passes ?(one by one)

Yes you can buy the passes. The question is, is it advantageous or economical to get these passes in your case?

last time I was in the Kansai (a couple of months ago) everyday I took the train once in late morning to go from the town where my hotel was to another town then once in the late afternoon to back. in that case a Kansai pass or other pass wouldn't have made sense. individual tickets were cheaper. passes are only worth if one travel a lot.