Japan Rail Pass - start and end date

We're going to Japan for 12 nights - 6 in Tokyo then 4 in Kyoto then 2 back in Tokyo. So, we have a return trip to Kyoto travelling on days 7 and 11. I don't really want the expense of a 14 day rail pass.

Can we choose the start date of a 7 day pass as day 5 of our trip or does it have to start on the day we arrive? Thanks

Fiona,

You specify the start date when you exchange the voucher for the actual pass in Japan.
As you realize, the pass won't save you much while you are just travelling around in central Tokyo, so you will want to use it for your long-distance journeys to/from Kyoto.

How about staying a few days less in Tokyo and staying longer in the Kansai, using your 7 day pass to go from Kyoto to Nara and to Osaka? The Kansai has much more to offer about both the traditional Japan and the modern Japan than Tokyo.

Fiona,
You actually do not necessary need to activate or use it on the day you arrived. Just specify your first start date that you wish to use to the officer when exchanging for the pass.

If I exchange the voucher at 15.00 on Wednesday, will it expire at 14.59 the following Wednesday, or 23.59 the following Tuesday?

Thanks in advance

The JR passes use the calendar days system. A day start just after midnight and end just before midnight. If you start your pass in the afternoon of a day this is day one of the pass and you wasted over 2/3 of a day. It doesn't matter if, like me once, you take a train at 5 pm for a 6 hrs train ride as you get your money worth. But if you were to take the train for only 1 hour that day 1 you might as well buy .a ticket for that short trip and start your pass the day after. Basically 1 day on a 7 days pass is worth just a bit over 4000 yen so you need to find out how much the trips planned each day are worth by checking www.hyperdia.com
Note that you can start a long trip at 11 pm. ON THE LAST DAY and stay on the train until, let's say, 7 am the morning after without paying extra, as long as you don't try to get out of a station then back in during that night trip.