Few questions

Hello,

1) I understand we need to order the passes by mail. But the passes won't get sent to us, instead we get a ticket to exchange for the passes upon entering Japan, when we get our tourist stamp. Is that correct? Is there a place in the Narita (Tokyo) airport to exchange it for the passes so we can take the JR train to Tokyo center right away?

Yes, exactly. You receive a physical paper voucher in the post to exchange in Japan upon arrival.
You can exchange it immediately at Narita Airport (Terminal 1 or Terminal 2&3 at the JR East Travel Service Center) and activate it right away to board the Narita Express (N'EX) into Tokyo.

2) When using the fare calculator I set up our travet to Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kyoto-Tokyo but it says it's more expensive to buy the pass then the individual tickets. But when I check the shinkasen Tokyo - Osaka it alone is 107 euros for one person one way. And the pass for 7 days is 310 €. So it seems to me it would be far more expensive to take individual fares. especially as we can use the passes to ride the local line right? Am I missing something?

Given your itinerary (Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kyoto-Tokyo), buying individual tickets would be the more economical option. The only high-cost segment is the long-distance bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka, as travel between Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara is local and costs only a few hundred yen per trip.

3) Also another question popped into mind. Do we need to have the tickets to reserve seats on shinkasen, how doers seat reservation work if we dont get the passes until we land in Japan? I would like to reserve the train 25.12.2026. going Narita - Tokyo; Tokyo- Osaka as soon as possible so we know as soon as we land we are ready to go to Osaka...

-Narita to Tokyo (Narita Express): No advance booking needed. Buy your ticket and select a seat directly at the Narita Airport station once you land.

-Tokyo to Osaka (Shinkansen): You can book tickets online here.

I hope this helps!

Kind Regards,

Mariko