Hello, we are a family of four adults arriving in Kansai Airport and leaving out of Narita. Arriving KIX on Dec.1, but separately at 10.25 am and 6.30pm
Dec.1 Overnight in Osaka
Dec.2 Checking in ryokan(3 nights) in Otsu and visit Kyoto for the day
Dec.3 Visiting Hemeji and on to Hiroshima and Miyajima(if time permits)
night to Kobe or Osaka and back to Otsu
Dec.4 Visit Fushimi Inari then on to Nara, night in Kyoto and Otsu
Dec.5 Visit Kyoto in the morning and then shinkensen to Tokyo(Shinjuku)
Dec.6 Trip to Hakone for hot springs, possibly stay overnight for onsen
If not Hakone, then Nikko or Karuzawa or Mt.Fuji (no overnight)
Dec.7 AfternoonTokyo and Yokohama after Hakone
Dec.8 Tokyo and Yokohama
Dec.9 Tokyo then to Narita for a 9.30pm flight out(will take the 1000 yen
bus from Tokyo station or Ginza if JRPass expires)
Do you think we should get the 7 day JRPass and when should we start using it? Thank you in advance for your professional opinion.
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If you go to HIroshima/Miyajima, and then up to Tokyo on a 7 day Pass, you can definitely make it pay off.
That said, you are piling on too much in places. On Dec 3rd there is *no way* you are going to be able to fit in Himeji and Hiroshima and Miyajima in one day - especially in December when the daylight hours are very short. All are well worth seeing though, so you can reorganize things to fit it all in. You could for instance go to Himeji on Dec 5th and then go to Tokyo.
On Dec 2nd, after seeing Kyoto for the day, you could go to Osaka for the evening. It's only a half hour there, and at night it has some great places like Dotonbori, plus the Abeno Harukas Bldg and Umeda Sky Bldg have tremendous observation decks.
On Dec 4th, you could fit in more if you like. Fushimi Inari is open 24/7, so you could see it in the early morning and avoid all the crowds. You could also see Tokufuji Temple which is also very good, but it'd mean going back one station to Tokufuji Stn (it opens at 8:30 AM or 9 AM) before proceeding south again to Nara.
For Hakone, you can use the JR Pass to Odawara Stn, but after that JR won't take you anywhere. Look into getting a Hakone Free Pass once you arrive.
http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/freepass/hakone/
Regarding when to activate your pass, if you are arriving at KIX early enough to activate your pass there and catch a Haruka train into Osaka, then do it and use your pass Dec 1-7. If not, then activate it the next morning and use it Dec 2-8.
Good luck.
You did not give your arrival time, but to activate your pass, you've got to be at the ticket office by 11PM. If you can take the Haruka train to Osaka or Kyoto, that would be ideal. Otsu is only ten minutes by train from Kyoto Stn.
You can go to Arashiyama from Kyoto Stn. and to go to Dotonbori, while you can't go all the way there on JR, you can go to Tennoji, then pay for the subway to Namba. A quicker way from Osaka Stn is instead of taking the JR Loop Line to Tennoji, you can take the subway from Osaka Stn to Namba. The cost is not much. But the Abeno Harukas Bldg is right next to Tennoji Stn.
Most stations have lockers so storing your bags is no problem, and the fastest way to/from Himeji is by bullet train from Shin-Osaka Stn.
I've seen a few trains from Himeji to Tokyo without a transfer, but very few. Most likely you'll need to transfer at Shin-Osaka or maybe Shin-Kobe. Please use Hyperdia.
The Tokyo Wide Pass wouldn't pay off for seeing Tokyo and Yokohama. One way is less than 500 yen on a cheap train, with little time difference.
Hyperdia.com is really quite easy to use. Just put in the station names, date/time and that's it. For bullet train schedules though click on "More Options" and deselect Nozomi/Mizuho since you can't ride those trains with the pass.