We are traveling with 3 families, total of 12. We will be flying into Narita and staying in Tokyo for 3 days then Kyoto for 3 days. Would the JR pass cover our transportations around Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Mt Fuji, Hiroshima? Please advise which transportations do we need to purchase (saving time & money).
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Yes, the JR Pass could cover all your travels except for the Mt Fuji area. If going to the Hakone area, then a Hakone Free Pass can help.
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/
The Hakone Loop Course is a common way to see the area.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5210.html
You can see previews of some of the best places to see in Japan on:
https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos
You can use the JR Pass to partially get around Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, but probably not to all the places you want to go to. In Tokyo you can use it on the Yamanote Line which goes to several popular tourist areas, as well as other JR lines within the city. For Osaka, you can use it on the Osaka Loop Line, and in Kyoto you can take JR from Kyoto Stn to Arashiyama, as well as down the Nara line to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine, Uji, and of course Nara.
You can also use the pass in Hiroshima City for the Loop Bus.
Aside from that, you can get local passes - there is a good 2-3 day Tokyo subway pass that is not hard to save money on:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/index.html#anc03
Kyoto also has a 500 yen bus day pass - but in rush hour may take too long for you.
Taxis are the quickest and most convenient way to get around, but they can get very expensive quickly. However, there are 12 of you, and you can fit a maximum of 4 people into one taxi - when you're short on time or just tired, taking 3 taxis to someplace more isolated is still a viable option. More expensive, but quite time saving and can mean the difference of seeing some good place or not.
From Narita Airport you can activate your JR pass and take the Narita Express into Tokyo in less than an hour. For KIX, if you still have the pass, you can take the Haruka train from Kyoto to KIX.
I think I am following you now.
Sounds like I will be able to make my 7-days JR pass worth my money.
Also, I'll need to purchase the 3-days Tokyo subway passes.
And just need to grab a taxi here and there?
If we arrive NRT 2pm Fri, and leaving KIX by 7am the following Friday....my 7-days is still good right?
Where should I purchase these JR passes?
I would like to save time and not mess with trying to buy them at the station. How soon could they ship these passss to the US?
You'll need to make other arrangements for one airport. The cheapest and easiest way would be to use the 1000 yen bus from Narita into Tokyo.
http://accessnarita.jp/en/home/
Or, you can pay for the Narita Express (¥3000), or use the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno:
http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/skyliner/us/special/index.html
The list of offices to exchange your voucher for the pass is here:
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html
In Tokyo you can use the JR Pass or subways to go virtually anywhere - the routes blanket the city. But not so for Kyoto - the subway is limited and doesn't go to many places, plus it's comparatively pricey. That's where the taxis can be the most helpful.
I also highly recommend you take at least half a day and see Nara - it has some of Japan's best sights, particularly in the Nara Park area.
Since you are already seeing Tokyo, you can largely skip Osaka during the day. After the temples of Kyoto close down around 5 PM, you can zip over to Osaka for the evening. At night the city comes alive and has some great places to see, such as Dotonbori, plus the night views from the Umeda Sky Bldg and Abeno Harukas Bldg are wonderful.
On another evening, you could also go and see Kobe.
You can buy the JR Pass through this site if you wish, though you need an address and not a P.O. box to sign for delivery.
Looks like the best transportation for our group would taking the airport limousine bus from NRT to our Hilton Tokyo Bay? Because if we take the express, it only take us to the Maihama station, and after that- we still have to take a shuttle to our hotel. The bus will take is straight to hotel. And it looks like the time frames would be the same, except, there's not a lot of pick ups from the airport limousine bus.
As far as the other ways into Tokyo, I am not sure what you are referring to - the 1000 yen bus goes to Tokyo Station and Ginza. The Keisei goes to Nippori and Ueno, and the Narita Express goes to several places, including Tokyo Stn., Shinagawa, Shinjuku and Shibuya, as well as others.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/
Your hotel, I believe, is near the Disney Parks, which are actually in Chiba and just outside of Tokyo. So if that's your place, the limousine bus might indeed be the best for you.