7 or 14 day pass, or individual tickets?

Hi there,

Your itinerary seems great! I think a JR Pass is a good idea considering the number of long-distance shinkansen journeys you'll be making - there's no point buying multiple regional passes as you'll be making your way around to several regions of Japan meaning it will cost you more to buy separate regional passes rather than one national JR Pass.

Yes, your daughter won't be able to purchase or use a JR Pass. If your daughter is travelling with you, then when you make seat reservations with your JR Pass you can also book her individual tickets and reserve the seats so that you're next to each other. It may be more economical to fly the long distances, but you'll have to verify that yourself by comparing the train prices with airline tickets.

Kind regards,

Alexis

Thanks so much, Alexis. I will buy a JR Pass for myself, and figure out the rest as we go In regard to the 7 or 14 day pass, what are your thoughts?

I do have a few further questions that I hope you can answer/weigh in on: am I allowed to bring any luggage on the train? are there any special days/festivals in Japan April 1-16 in the areas I'm visiting that I should know about? can I wait until the last minute to book hotels or should I be doing that now?

Thanks again!