Whoops! I am heading up to Nagoya with some friends for the opening weekend of the World Expo and don't have a hotel booked yet! I highly recommend the Nozomi train, but I don't believe that the Nozomi is included in the Japan Rail Pass. The two other main shinkansens (blanking on their names!) are included and the time difference is only minutes from Nagoya to Kyoto.
HAVE FUN!