When to use the JR Pass?

Hi Anne,

Welcome to the forum! The key to using the JR Pass is to cover your longer distance travel with it. In your case this would be Yamanashi - Kyoto - Osaka - Tokyo. Given that this is a 4 night period, I would start using the JR Pass when you travel to Yamanashi. This way if would be valid for the entire trip and you can also use it for travel back to Narita Airport.

Hope this helps!
Daniel

Hi Daniel, thank you for your prompt n helpful reply. What pass do we need to get from Narita to Tokyo? And return too. Also how much is the 7 day pass in USD? Thank you.

Anne

For your arrival consider a 1,500yen Narita Express ticket.

The price in USD depends on the current exchange rate and can change (a little) by the day.
Actual prices can be found here:
http://www.jrpass.com/buy_the_japan_rail_pass_online