Hi all, I'm new here
I'm planning a trip to Japan with a few friends in Feb next year, and am looking at the rail passes. We're planning to go for 16 nights and were going to get a 14 day rail pass for the latter part of the trip, but from what some people have told me we might not actually be travelling enough to get our money's worth. My main question is - to what extent can you use the JR pass around Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and how much would individual train tickets within those cities cost otherwise?
I've looked up the prices of the Shinkansen for our longer journeys, just want to get a basic idea of how much the smaller ones around each city might cost. I've also heard that it's more convenient (or even necessary) to use non JR trains to get around Tokyo - is it the same in Kyoto and Osaka, or do they generally have more JR coverage?
And one final question - I don't have much faith in my ability to pack (or buy) lightly since it'll be winter and all, and my suitcase is quite large. I've seen some people say you really need to send your luggage with a service as there's no room on the train; I've seen others say that there is a bit of room and usually it's fine. Which do you think is the better option? Are the delivery services reasonably reliable in terms of timing and not losing stuff? Is lugging around suitcases through train stations incredibly difficult and not to be attempted?