16 days and Mt Fuji

apologies, above should read activating JR Rail pass on Day 8 (not 7) so that the ticket is still valid on Day 14 (Bullet return from Kyoto to Tokyo).

John

Hi John,

Using a 7 day pass on day 8-14 will certainly give you great savings. As the difference between a 7 and 14 day pass is ¥16800, you'll need to spend at least this during your first stint in Japan to make upgrading to a 14 day pass worthwhile.

Lets take a look at your costs for day 1-7:

1. Narita airport terminal 1 > Tokyo: ¥2740, (62mins, 79km)
2. Tokyo > Kamakura: ¥1700, (48mins, 51km)
3. Kamakura > Tokyo: ¥890, (58mins, 53km)
4. Tokyo > Nagano: ¥7770, (105mins, 222km)
5. Nagano > Tokyo: ¥7770, (106mins, 222km)
6. Tokyo > Otsuki: ¥2660, (86mins, 87km)
7. Otsuki > Tokyo: ¥1450, (100mins, 87km)

TOTAL: ¥24980 for 7 legs

I have assumed you'll be going to Jikokudani via Nagano, and will be going to Kamakura (hope I got that right!). I also assumed you'll be getting to the 5th station via Kawaguchiko, the last stop for which on JR is Otsuki. I didn't include any Tokyo bound travel as this was not specified, however you could also add another ¥1000-2000 onto the total ticket costs if you think you will use JR lines in Tokyo (map of JR lines in Tokyo for reference).

As you can see the per ticket JR costs are much more than the upgrade cost to a 14 day rail pass. As such I recommend you go for the 14 day pass provided the itinerary above is fixed. In addition to the savings you'll make during your period away from Tokyo, you'll also make a further ¥8180 savings with a 14 day pass while you are travelling around the Tokyo area.

For accommodation, I'm afraid I've never been up to station 7 (I know, shame on me!), so perhaps one of our readers can help out?

Hope this helps!