Reserving seats

Apologies if this is old hat, but I did search the forum first. Since I'll have the JR pass, I reckon I'll probably reserve seating on all the JR journeys I plan on taking (day trips from Kyoto, etc).

1. Can I reserve all tickets I need for the first 2 weeks as soon as I land in Kansai airport?

2. If I can reserve them there and then, will I actually get the tickets at the same time I reserve them, or is it like the JR pass exchange order and I'll have to make a special journey to a station in order to pick them up the day before I travel (I can't find it now, but one of the JR sites states that if you don't pick up your tickets by 9pm on the day before, they'll be cancelled)

mgal,

1. Can I reserve all tickets I need for the first 2 weeks as soon as I land in Kansai airport?

Yes.

2. If I can reserve them there and then, will I actually get the tickets at the same time I reserve them?

Yes.

Would suggest u list down the various train journeys with date of travel, to/from stations, departure time, name of train and hand to the JR staff at the ticketing office. We find this very helpful as there maybe language problem. U can collect the tickets altogether.

Thanks, that's good to know

Personally I think that booking all the trips on arrival it is a dreadful idea as it is so inflexible! unless you travel at the height of the holiday season it is so much more pleasant to be flexible with your travel plans. Except for the arrival and departure places and dates there is not a single town anywhere in Japan or in the world that is a "must see at any cost". I make a list of places I would like to see but often change my itinerary at the last minute and substitute on town to another depending on the weather, on hotels availability, on the unexpected charm of a town that make me want to stay one day or 2 more etc. In most cases reserving a seat the night before is enough and I have reserved a seat as close as 30 minutes before departure, .even on the Osaka-Tokyo route.

Hmm, that's interesting. My main concern, say I wanted to go to Kobe on the Thursday, was with having to get from wherever I am on Wednesday to the main station to reserve and pick up tickets. I don't plan on travelling during the tourist season (at this point, I'm leaning towards mid-September) so you're saying reservations are probably unnecessary (although with the JR pass, they are free, so I could get to the main station 30mins or so before my train leaves and just reserve it then).