[kurthr]

Unless you use Chuo and Yamanote to get around in Tokyo or need to take Narita Express or Monorail to the airport. Or you want to get from central Osaka to Namba by Kansai or out to Nara, or all the way to Kyoto, or take a ferry to an island.

There's lots of things that the JR Pass works for that aren't Shinkansen and they used to add up even if it was just $10/day, and you didn't have to worry about it. Just the Narita Express was $30-40 one way.

With the new pricing... not so much. Just get SUICA unless you're going all the way from Sapporo to Fukuoka and back.