First Time in Japan

The short version: for most first-time Japan trips, no.

Now there are a lot of websites that are going to try and tell you differently. Pretty much all of those will be an affiliate of JR Pass, or a third party vendor, (of which I am) which earns them a reasonable amount of commission if you click on their link and purchase the pass after reading. You may find affiliate links in my articles (including this one) but I will always do my best to give you my honest take, and will always try to provide both the pros and cons for a product. However, I would always advise you to do more research than just taking one website’s view. (Including my own.)