Correct, just buy the IC card at the station when you first use the local train/subway(*).

For the Shinkansen, unless you're traveling during a peak travel period like Golden Week and even then, there's no need to purchase tickets in advance. There's enough frequency that it's best to purchase just before departure unless you have very firm plans. Give yourself maybe a little time prior if you want to walk around the station and pick up a meal or two for the trip.

(*) there's a small deposit when issuing the IC card. When/where you get a refund of the card may influence which IC card to get. Or keep it as souvenir or for reuse on a future trip.

got it! You answered my other question on whether there was food available on the bullet train or whether we could bring food on. I have a decent size frame so I may spring for the Green section so as to get a little more room. Good call on not buying so far in advance!

There is a snack trolley on Tokyo-Kyoto currently, but the selections are limited. It's nice for a hot coffee or tea or such imo, but the options at the station are much more. You can also bring (or buy at konbini at the station) and drink your own alcoholic drinks.

Within Tokyo, the JR Pass is valid only on the four or five commuter lines that run through the city and out to the suburbs. It is not valid on the subways, which are often a more efficient way to reach many destinations.

I can't think of any way in which you would use these commuter trains enough in the course of normal sightseeing to justify the cost of a 7-day JR Pass. Instead, invest in a Suica smart card, which is good not only on JR trains but also on any other form of public transit that you are likely to use. When your card starts running out of value (the remaining value is printed on the back of the card after you put it through the automated turnstile), you can add more money at machines in train and metro stations. If you have used an Oyster card in London, it's a similar concept.

Wow. I think this thread will be a long reading list for me tonight. Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I'm planning to visit Japan with my family on early October. Hopefully this thread will help me. :)

Are you dead set on the Nozomi? If not, the JR pass will pay for itself if you take the Hikari to Kyoto and use the Yamanote line (and/or any of the other JR lines) around Tokyo a few times only. Depends on where you are staying and where you are planning to go really. That is even more true if you decide to take any last-minute day-trips using JR lines. Then you can use the IC card to go where the JR pass is not useful or convenient.

Depending on your planned usage pattern you can also get the Tokyo Subway Pass.

There is also a discount round trip ticket between Tokyo and Kyoto for tourists only. Not a pass, so only good for the shinkansen.
https://www.japanican.com/en/tour/detail/PAS1J02031MKC/

According to Hyperdia, the difference between the elapsed time for travel by the Nozomi and the Hikari between Tokyo and Kyoto is about thirty minutes.
The other advantage of the Nozomi is for people traveling west beyond Kyoto. You can go all the way from Tokyo to Fukuoka/Hakata on the Nozomi without changing trains, but taking the Hikari requires a change or two.

The JR Pass does facilitate impulsive trips out of Tokyo. If you decide one morning that you feel like going to Kamakura or Nikko (two popular tourist destinations) or even Nagano or Sendai, you can.

The Tokaido Shinkansen Tokyo - Kyoto Nozomi (fastest) might also have a little more availability and frequency especially with unreserved seat. Tokyo 2020 is likely to bring a good bit of tourists coming in who will purchase JR passes. Hotel rates are currently high in Tokyo so people might be commuting in from cities further away (don't forget Japanese people might do the same). Could get to be a standing room only situation with Shinkansen valid with the National JR Pass and quite a long line to pick up a JR Pass. The discount ticket from JR Tokai might be the way to go since you have firm plans in Tokyo and it allows Nozomi.

Some of the venues are not within Tokyo (Miyagi and Sapporo!) and others are not on JR or Toei/Metro lines.
https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/tokyo...lympics/venues scroll to stations

There's also regional passes from Tokyo including some from non-JR lines which might be more convenient depending on where you might start in Tokyo. Some JR East Regional passes do allow for the fastest Shinkansen and allows usage for 5 non-consecutive days, 14 day validity, if you want to head for cooler weather and/or some of the Northern venues.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_n/index.html
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass_t/

Regional Passes don't cover the "direct" route between Tokyo and Osaka though the Hokuriku Arch Pass via Kanazawa would get you between those cities more slowly (or quickly if you're planning to go to stations on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line). Leaving this here for others who might do this route.
Hokuriku Arch Pass

it also facilitates impulsive trips into Tokyo. Last time I was in Japan (May/June 2017) I was in Kyoto having met up with another frequent flyer. The next days weather was going to be wet and miserable but nice in Tokyo. Both of us had JR Passes so a day trip to Tokyo was organised. A nice trip, lunch and walk around in the sunshine made for a great day.

Totally impulsive and a great way to get even more value from these amazing passes.

That, too. Many years ago, I led a student group on a trip that was centered on Kyoto, but we were going to end up spending a few days in Tokyo before flying home. I had given the students a free day in Kyoto, so I hopped onto the next Shinkansen to Tokyo and bought kabuki tickets for everyone, because I had heard that the play that was on while we were scheduled to be in Tokyo was selling out fast.

I've been to Tokyo numerous times, but I will be making a quick visit with someone who has never been to Japan (and will probably not return). Where is the best place to go in Tokyo for a quick and easy feel of old Edo? I went to Kawagoe on my last trip, but that is a bit out of the way for this visit. I would imagine there must be something in Asakusa, but my only memory of that neighborhood is the Hozomon Gate and Senso-ji. I was mainly just looking for something like an alley with authentic-looking wooden buildings, similar to what you would find in Gion or Kawagoe. I do not really want to go too far out of the way, but anything within a quick walk of a JR Yamanote station or near Hozomon would be fine.

In all my nearly annual trips to Tokyo, I usually stick to the modern and more lively parts of town, and I do not recall anything historically interesting beyond the shrines. I am fully aware that almost all of it has been lost to development and the endless fires since the Edo period, but I was hoping there was at least one faithful recreation.

Not really in walking distance but a short cab ride, you might like the Shitamachi Museum in Ueno.

https://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-c...tamachi-museum

Have you been to the Fukagawa Edo Museum?
I do like the Shitamachi Museum, but, for me, the Fukagawa Museum is in another league, and particularly so if you luck out with an English speaking volunteer guide there.
A friend of my daughter’s will be in Tokyo at the same time as us next Spring and I overheard LapKid discuss the place (extremely interactive) and how excited she was to introduce the museum to her.
There are a couple of restaurants just in front that serve traditional Asari clam dishes and the gorgeous Kiyosumi gardens are around the corner.
For me, it’s peak Edo.

https://tokyocheapo.com/entertainmen...eys-old-tokyo/