Travelling to and from Osaka and Tokyo

Hey all I was wondering if its possible to travel to and fro Osaka and Tokyo without getting the JR pass. I will be spending the majority of my holiday in Tokyo and am not sure if I need to spend AUD$600 on a JR pass.
To make more sense of it, my "incomplete" itinerary is listed below:

17th Feb - Arrive Osaka
18th Feb - Osaka to Tokyo
27th Feb - Tokyo to Osaka
3rd Mar - Osaka to Melbourne

So basically, can I get a one way ticket to Tokyo from Osaka (or even a return ticket)? And how much will it cost? Where can I purchase the ticket from? How long will the trip take?

If anyone could provide an answer to these questions, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Dan.

Your options for travel between Osaka and Tokyo:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4006.html

I did a similar trip in feb this year and didn�ft get a JR pass because it wasn�ft worth the money.

It�fs about 13 500 yen for a Nozomi train from Osaka to Kyoto. Nozomi are the fastest trains and it will take about 2 hours and 45 mins.

For the way back there is a special called �gHikari Hayatoku Kippu�h where if you buy your ticket 7 days or more in advance it is 12 000 yen for the trip on a Hikari train (second fastest train). The Hikari trains take just under 3 hours.

You can buy your tickets at any JR station from the booking office. So if you book both tickets at the same time then you can get the special 7 days in advance one. From these prices then I don�ft think the JR pass is worth it, although given the Aussie dollar at the moment things may change!

One piece of advice: if you are catching the train back to Osaka on the day you fly out make sure you get to Osaka with hours to spare because on the day I caught the train back to Osaka to fly out it was really windy so the trains couldn�ft travel at the high speeds that they usually do and it took almost 5 hours to get from Tokyo to Osaka! I�fm sure this isn�ft a normal occurrence but you wouldn�ft want to miss your flight!

Thanks Erin for the reply. It was really informative. But im still a bit confused as to what I should do with my Itinerary and the JR Pass. I worked out that for me and my girlfriend to get the Pass it will cost around AUD$1050.
Anyways my brief Itinerary is outlined below:

17th Feb - Arrive in Osaka
18th Feb - Leave for Tokyo
28th Feb - Leave for Kyoto
1st Mar - Leave for Osaka
3rd Mar - Leave for Melbourne

As you can see, the majority of my trip is in Tokyo, but then I will be travelling around Kyoto and Osaka for sightseeing. In regards to my Itinerary, is it best for me to get a 14 day JR pass? Or should I get a JR West pass for those days im in Osaka and Kyoto??! I'm so confused :(

Please any help would be much appreciated!!

Also, any hints and tips for the best places to see in Osaka and Kyoto would be a bonus :)
I have a fair idea of where I'm going to go.

You almost certainly wouldn't get full value out of a 14-day pass with that itinerary. Most local travel around Kyoto and Osaka will be on non-JR lines, where the pass wouldn't be valid. You would be taking JR between Kyoto and Osaka, but a normal ticket without the pass is a mere 540 yen (~7.40 AUD).

If the only long-distance train travel you're making is one round trip between Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo, then it would only make sense if you could do that on a 7-day pass.

Regarding the JR West pass, it doesn't look like that fits your itinerary either. However, the Surotto Kansai pass might be worth a look:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357_005.html

If the only long distance trips you are doing are Osaka to Tokyo and back then I definitely wouldn�ft get the 14 day pass. In Kyoto you will have to catch the bus to most of the tourist places and you can�ft use the JR pass. You should get an all day bus pass for 500 yen from the little bus office outside Kyoto station. In Tokyo you will probably use the subway more than the JR line.

You should have a look on the JR website and see how much different trips will cost, this will give you a better idea whether the JR pass will be worth it. You just click on �ehyperdia�f which lets you search your origin and destination and it gives you the times and cost.

I used the JR west pass for Osaka and Kyoto and to go to a couple of towns close by. The JR west pass is good because it includes the express train to the airport which is quite expensive on its own, and it also includes other towns like Himeji and Nara. Himeji has a great castle that is well worth the hour train ride. So if you�fre thinking of going to some places around Osaka then I think it would be worth it.

I would go with buying individual tickets for the shinkansen trips to Tokyo and back, as well as for in Tokyo and a JR west pass for Kyoto and Osaka.

In terms of places to visit I don�ft think I have anything original to add but the places I liked the most were Kinkakuji, Kyomizudera and the street leading up to it (it has cute little touristy shops), Fushimi Inari shrine (5kms of red torri) and, as I said, Himeji castle. Todai-ji in Nara is good too, it�fs a huge wooden building that houses a massive bronze Budda.