If taking Nozomi to Kyoto, I'm not sure whether the JR pass will be worth it. I suppose it simplifies things... and if they take trains to Takayama, then I guess it's more likely to give a payback. But if they just travel NRT-Kyoto-Nara-Tokyo-NRT, then individual tickets may be less costly than the pass.

Would need to cost it out to be sure...