Shinkansen (Bullet Train) and JR pass

• They HAVE TO be purchased outside of Japan. Buy them before you leave your country. In Indonesia you can buy it on any travel agent specialized in Japan, HIS (http://his-travel.co.id/jrpass) or Japan Railway ( http://railpass-japan.com/)
• After you buy it, you will not get the real ticket. Its a voucher that you need to change into the real ticket in Japan. You can exchange your 'voucher' ticket at Narita airport, and some big train stations (Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Tokyo, etc)
• The expiration date of the ticket depends on when you activate it. You dont have to activate it asap. Plan accordingly. If you have 7 days ticket, then the deadline to use it is the 7th day after you activate the ticket. Say if you come on January 1 but you activate it on January 20, then the ticket will be valid for 7 days after 20th January.

JR Pass types

There are several type of JR pass based on the area and the train seat.

• JR pass based on area divided into:

1.  JR pass ( include all JR trains, shinkansen, bus and ferry in ALL parts of Japan) 
2. JR Kyushu pass ( include all JR trains, shinkansen, bus, and maybe ferry too only in Kyushu area)
3.  JR North Kyushu pass ( include all JR trains, shinkansen, bus, and maybe ferry too only in north Kyushu area)
4.  JR Hokkaido pass (include all JR trains, shinkansen, bus, and maybe ferry too only in Hokkaido area)
5. JR West Kansai pass (include all JR trains, shinkansen, bus, and maybe ferry too only in west   Kansai area)

So if you are going to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima, its way better to get JR pass. But if you are going to specific place only, its better to use specific JR pass. Its very cheap to get JR pass if you plan to go to more than 2 cities, but if for instance you only want to spend your travel in one area such as only in Tokyo or Kyoto, you might not need JR pass at all.

• JR pass based on the train seat:

1.  JR pass ordinary class: basically you can only get into Kodama, Hikari and Sakura shinkansen. 
2. JR pass green class: you can  sit in the green car train.

• So what is the difference between green car seat and ordinary seat?

Ordinary seat from japantalk.com

Green cars are in 2x2 configurations and have wider seats. They're also more likely to have electrical outlets and heated seats.

Green car seat from japantalk.com

Lol for all that matter to me is the speed and the destination I dont care if I go to the ordinary pass. Afterall, they are in the very same train.

Below is the explanation from JR website:

 JR Pass is valid on the route from Tokyo to Hiroshima and Kyoto, using the Tokaido Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen lines. The key point is that the JR Pass is not valid on certain classes of Bullet train. There are several types of bullet train that run on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu shinkansen lines:
Kodama (Normal, stops at all stations)Hikari & Sakura (Express, stops at main stations only)Nozomi & Mizuho (Super Express, stops at very large cities only)
The JR Pass is valid on the Kodama, Hikari and Sakura types of Shinkansen, but is not valid on the Nozomi and Mizuho classes. In practice, the Hikari and Sakura bullets reach the same top speed as the Nozomi and Mizuho trains and use the same type of actual train, but stop at more stops on each route. For example, for the trip down from Tokyo to Kyoto, the Hikari service runs 15mins slower than the equivalent Nozomi service, and so for holiday travel is more than acceptable. 

2/19/2016
Depok, Indonesia