Hiya,
Alexis here. I’ll answer your questions individually by number to make things easier:
1) Yes, you’ll take the exchange order mailed to you to the ticket desk to activate it.
2) Yes, at the same desk you can begin making reservations for the newly-exchanged JR Pass, or make separate purchases if you need to. The JR Staff are very helpful! Note that Hakone is not connected directly via Shinkansen, and that to travel to Hakone by train you’ll need to purchase a separate (reasonably cheap, don’t worry!) ticket at Odawara Station as the trains there are privately owned and not operated by the JR group. Odawara is on the Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Kyoto, so my suggestion would be to reserve tickets for Tokyo-Odawara and then Odawara-Kyoto for when you leave Hakone. Otherwise, travel between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto via Shinkansen is fully covered by the pass.
3) The size of your luggage matters here: if the sum of the dimensions exceed 250cm then you’ll need to make reservations with seats that have extra luggage space. Our blog post offers more in-depth info on this. If it is within the threshold, there are overhead storage areas that your luggage can fit into.
4) Yes, for any seat you reserve with the pass you won’t have to pay any additional fares.
5) It depends what you mean - if you are referring to local metro train lines for inner-city travel, the JR Pass offers some benefits but they are limited. With the JR Pass you are able to use the Yamanote line in Tokyo and the Loop line in Osaka, but to use the other, privately owned metro lines you’ll need to use something like a Suica Card, which is a prepaid travel card. In general, the JR Pass is designed as a pass for inter-city rather than intra-city travel.
6) For this, you’ll have to do some research before you travel to Japan if you have an itinerary set already. If not, a quick google search will also work! I recommend using our interactive map that allows you to type any station in to see if it is on the JR Network. Bear in mind, that before every journey you’ll need to have made reservations, so you’ll have some time in advance to prepare.
7) The JR Pass only includes local buses - a list of these can be found here. There are bus networks in Hakone I believe, but again they are privately owned and so will not be available with the JR Pass. If you plan on extensively sightseeing around Hakone, you may be interested in a Hakone FreePass. They are not offered on our site as they are not issued by the JR Company, but it includes the return trip between Odawara and Hakone, as well as local buses and ferries.
Hope this helps!
Alexis
