10 day trip for 7 day pass?

Hi there,

Yes, you can do so. There is no need to activate the pass right away on arrival.

As alternative on this route, you may also want to have a look at the Hokuriku Arch Pass.

Kind regards,
Daniel

Thanks for the response on activation, and also for suggesting the alternative pass. For JR pass activation, I assume I have to inform the JR pass exchange office attendant at Narita airport that the activation date should be 3 days after my arrival date? On the Hokuriku pass, it looks like I cannot use it to go to Gifu or go from Gifu to Kyoto. Moreover, this pass would add a lot of time to my travel from Kyoto back to Narita airport - for this route the Shinkansen trains via Shinagawa seem to be the fastest but are not covered by the Hokuriku pass? Please correct me if I am wrong with anything I wrote above :-)