Originally Posted by
joejones
In case you didn't know, Shinkansen tickets to Tokyo are generally valid as far as any JR station within the 23 wards (i.e. the entire central area of the city). So when you arrive in Tokyo, you can transfer to a local JR train (e.g. the Yamanote loop line) for just about any central destination at no extra charge. This doesn't apply to the subway or private operators, though.
Yes, but I think you have to plan for it. If you just get off at a station other than the one you booked, I think you will have problems. I did at least, but frankly we had no idea what we were doing at first. The folks at the station were very nice and helped us get it right.