JRPass

HI Amanda,

Yes, you will have no problem using the JR Pass for travel between these cities.

Hope this helps!

Hi there!

Here's a good post on using the JR Pass with the Holiday Rapid Kawaguchiko that may shed more light on using the JR Pass to get to Kawaguchiko. Please note that most other trains up to Kawaguchiko are run by the Fujikyu company and will require changing at JR Otsuki for a non-JR train for the rest of the journey.

Unfortunately you are unable to book JR tickets before you arrive in Japan for free, however some local travel agents can to it for a fee. In general if you don't intend to use sleeper trains, turning up and reserving a seat on the next train that day is no problem unless you are travelling in a really big group. I should think you'll have no problems getting up to Aomori especially as there are many valid shinkansen that travel that route.

Hope this helps!