JR Pass: Tokyo - Kyoto and overall travel-related questions

Hi there,

It's hard to say for sure now without knowing your final itinerary, the effectiveness of the JR Pass will depend on how much you travel with it. Adding a side visit to Shirakawa-go can make quite a difference. The same goes when deciding how many days you may want to get a JR Pass. I don't think that a 21 day JR Pass would be cost efficient but you could look at a 7-day or 14-day JR Pass, depending on how much travel you would fit it.

Let me answer your other questions first and hopefully, that will help you find a rail pass as well.

Visiting Fuji: Hakone is well worth visiting, most people come to Hakone for a full day and do travel the Hakone Circle. Shizuoka is also a nice visit but quieter, the Shizuoka area is most famous for Japanese Green Tea and there are several beautiful parts to see Fuji from. You do need a plan for Shizuoka, as the city itself is nice but does not offer much in terms of tourism.

Shirakawa-go, this is a beautiful old village but getting there does involve a fair bit of travel. A popular route is doing Kanazawa - Shirakawa-go - Takayama and make a stop to see each city as well.

Travel around Kyoto and Kansai: travel within the Kansai area where cities like Kyoto, Osaka and Nara are located can be considered local. Most cities are only 30minutes apart by train and doing day trips works fine. Since you have a fair amount of days in Kyoto, I would also recommend a visit to Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Hope this helps,
Daniel