I have not read the whole blog, but at least one critical part of it is already out of date.
The bit about the Japan Rail Pass, in particular the statement "and which you must purchase before you get here".
This is no longer the case. In the run-up to the Olympics, Japan made serious improvements in relation to the JRP:
1) You no longer need to purchase it abroad. You can purchase it in Japan on presentation of your passport with your visitor visa label. Yes, you will pay a small (10%) premium for buying in-country, but the point is the "abroad only" requirement is no longer there.
2) The whole "queue and stamp" palaver to get seats is no longer a thing. The whole "queue and show" palaver to get through the gates is no longer a thing. You now get a ticket which you can use at the machines to get your reservations. You now get a ticket which you can use at the automated gates. If you have never been to Japan before, I can't tell you how FRIGGIN AWESOME an improvement this is over the historical way of doing things !
I actually like the "queue and stamp" and "queue and show"!
First, because queues were usually short. For showing the JR pass, usually no queue at all, sometimes faster than the automatic gates. For reserving seats the experience has always been great, even as a non-Japanese speaker. The guy will find you the time, changes, etc... will ask you if you want to be together as a group, smoking or non-smoking cars (if that's still a thing), etc... and will find what's best for you taking into account what's available, often in less than a minute. I have never had an experience like this with a machine, not even close.
Maybe you travel mostly at rush hours, where the queues can get longer, but no "palaver" for me, everything has been as efficient as it could be. Generally I find machines to be strictly worse than competent staff, and the JR staff is among the best.
> I have never had an experience like this with a machine, not even close.
Ah, but you haven't seen what they've done to the machines !
Its equally awesome:
1) Login using the QR code on your JR Pass
2) Enter your route and desired date/time
3) Machine shows you available next scheduled options
4) Machine shows you available coaches
5) Machine displays seat maps and allows you to choose seats
6) Yes you can do this as a group, you scan multiple QR codes and choose as group
7) The machine even has a "least busy" button so it will show you the seat map for the least-busy carriage
The only thing you can't do (yet ?) is change a seat reservation already assigned to a different journey. You need to go to the counter for that .... or just use your JR pass without seat reservation.
The bit about the Japan Rail Pass, in particular the statement "and which you must purchase before you get here".
This is no longer the case. In the run-up to the Olympics, Japan made serious improvements in relation to the JRP: