Shinkansen

Hi rabin, unfortunatelynozumi shinkasens are not included in jr pass.

Thank you,

You can use hyperdia for searching your train trips, but always remember to uncheck nozumi shinkasen to make sure the trip is included in your jr pass

Hi there,

Yes as dabiz82 you can't ride the Nozomi train, but you can use all other trains on the Shinkansen, including the Hikari and Sakura shinkansen.

When you travel between Kyoto and Himeji, I would recommand using the Super Hakuto limited express train, this train is a very nice direct express train that is covered by the JR Pass. There only a limited amount of trains a day, here are the departure times:

Kyoto - Himeji
07:06
08:52
10:51
12:51
14:51
16:56
19:36

Of course you can take the Shinkansen or a local train too, in case you can't make it for one of the above.

Hope this helps :)
-Daniel