Hi everyone! I will be traveling to Japan with my family this April. We are a family of 5 adults with 1 child. We will be staying in Tokyo for 6 days and Osaka for 8 days. In Tokyo, I am thinking of doing side trips to Nikko and/or Yokohama. For Mt. Fuji, we will be joining a tour so I don't think we are going to take the train/s. The train station near our location is along the JR Yamanote line, so I think we will be using the JR in Tokyo area. For Kansai Region, we will be staying in Osaka for 8 days and we will be doing day trips to Kyoto (for 2 days), Nara, Kobe, etc. The station near our location is a subway and we'll only be needing the JR Pass to go to Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, etc.
My question is, will it be worth it to purchase a JR Pass (7 days or 14 days)? I've been reading a lot and some are saying that the JR Pass is only worth it if you are doing day trips and going to far places every day like (Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Osaka-Kyoto). What do you suggest? Should we get a JR Pass or should we buy reloadable cards instead?
And can we purchase shinkansen tickets directly without buying a JR Pass?
Thanks!