[jeffchien]

I wonder if they have stats that indicates repeat travelers (who are more likely to stop by those small villages) are less likely to purchase JR Pass, even when it was cheaper. Anecdotally, my friends and I stopped bothering, especially after most of us started flying to HND to save time, or switched to riding airport buses or the Keisei Skyliner, thus don't benefit from using JRP on the Narita Express. These remote villages may also be more accessible on non-JR modes; for the first destination mentioned (Ama Hut in Shima, Mie), Kintetsu seems to be faster than JR.

Also, Asian tourists like the Korean and Chinese influencers named in the article can fly directly KIX, NGO, FUK, CTS, etc. or ferry from Busan, so JRP might be an even worse deal for repeats from those countries.