Hi,
My boyfriend and I are planning to travel to Japan from the 27th od December to the 3rd of January. We'll buy the Japan Rail pass because it'll save money for the travelling we are planning to do. Since during New Year the trains seem to be very busy, we would like to make seat reservations for some of the trips, specially Tokyo-Kyoto. I have read that this is not possible trough the english website till you have activated your pass in Japan, but we arrive the 27th and are planning to go to Kyoto the 28th, so we can book just one day in advance and I'm afraid we won't have any seats available by then. However, I read that is possible to make reservations in advance using the Japanese website (eki-net), and then claim the money back once you activate the rail pass in Japan. Is this truth? Is it actually possible to claim the money back in Japan? If so, where should we do that? Is it in the same place where we activate the rail-pass? Can we do it at Narita Airport? We have a Japanese friend and if this was possible he could help us with the reservations in eki-net.
Thanks!
Eva