Here is my itinerary:
Day 1-4 Tokyo
Day 5 TRAVEL Tokyo to Takayama
Day 6 Takayama
Day 7 TRAVEL Takayama to Shirakawa-go
Day 8 TRAVEL Shirakawa-go to Kanazawa
Day 9 Kanazawa
Day 10 TRAVEL Kanazawa to Mount Koya
Day 11 TRAVEL Mount Koya to Kyoto
Day 12 & 13 Kyoto
Day 14 TRAVEL Kyoto to Hiroshima with a stop in Himeji
Day 15 TRAVEL Hiroshima to Tokyo
Here is some preliminary calculations that I have done:
I calculated that the trip above (excluding the bus to and from Shirakawa-go and the funicular to/from Koyasan) will cost ¥54,630. The JR Ordinary pass will cost ¥45,100 plus an additional ¥850 to cover the Nankai line from Kanazawa to Koyasan = ¥45,950. So it looks like it is well worth the pass, but a few questions:
- I am not sure if I am missing any other routes that are not covered by the JR pass?
- The additional seat fee that I am seeing on Hyperdia has an additional cost - do I have to pay that I have to pay on top of the JR Pass?
For example, this route has a reserved seat fee of ¥2,620. Do I still pay that if I get the Ordinary JR Pass for ¥45,100 or is the seat fee included? http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=KANAZAWA&arv_node=GOKURAKUBASHI&via_node01=&via_node02=&via_node03=&year=2014&month=01&day=23&hour=10&minute=40&search_type=0&search_way=&transtime=undefined&sort=0&max_route=1&airplane=off&ship=off&bus=off&lmlimit=null&search_target=route&facility=reserved&sum_target=7
- Last question - my trip is 15 days, but I wouldn't start use on the pass until day 4. I just want to confirm that the pass is not "activated" until the first use, vs. upon entering the country?
Thank you so much!