Day trips from Osaka to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nara and Kyoto using JR Pass?

Hi there,

1.) Yes you can use the Shinkansen for free with the JR-Pass and the best thing, you can make seat reservations for free too! To make seat reservations go to any manned JR ticket counter or ticket office, show your JR Pass and tell the staff where you would like to go.

2.) Yes this line is covered by the JR-Pass and brings you directly from Kyoto to Nara (reservations are not possible for this train).

3.) Yes both the Thunderbird and Special Rapid express are covered too! You can make seat reservations with the JR-Pass for the Thunderbird for free, I would recommend doing so as non-reserved seats on this train are very limited.

In general the JR-Pass covers all lines in Japan, including Shinkansen (the only Shinkansen trains you can't use are the Nozomi and Mizuho but you can take the Hikari instead that will get you everywhere too).

Hope this helps,
Daniel