A few questions....

Hi there,

You can find out ticket fares and time tables via www.hyperdia.com, it's a very hand tool.

As for the JR Pass, for a one way trip Osaka - Tokyo it does would be more economic to buy a normal ticket. The JR Pass would be a good option if you made a return Osaka - Tokyo (Kyoto is directly on the route).

The JR Pass is only for visitors entering Japan under a tourist visa, people in Japan under any other kind of visa (including military) unfortunately can't use it.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Hi,
A couple of regional passes, such as the Kansai Area Pass and Kanto Area Pass might save you some money - although like the full JR Pass, for the former, only foreign tourists can get it. If you visit Himeji, which has Japan's finest castle, you can save quite a bit.

The Kanto Area Pass is about the only one where foreigners living in Japan can actually buy it. You can use it to go to many popular places like Nikko, or Karuizawa to escape the horrendously humid and muggy Japanese summers. Your military friends would need to have their passports on them to buy the pass - read all the conditions on their page carefully. You could actually save quite a lot buying one.

BTW you should bring enough sunblock with you. In Japan it is very pricey.

Best of luck.

Thank you so much! I appreciate your input. Both Daniel-san and Toraneko.

Thank you for the information on sunblock as well.

Have a great day.