No you cannot book train travel outside of Japan as you are using a pass and cannot make any reservations until you convert your voucher into a pass in Japan.

I answered your other thread regarding hotels

Aloha!

Like I said before, if you are booking tickets (not JR pass) a travel agent like JTB can book your tickets for you for a fee on top of the ticket price. It is, however, no problem to ride without reservations in the non-reserved cars, though if it is crowded you will not be able to sit together and may have to stand even. You will never be unable to board, though. You will also be able to book your own tickets once you arrive. There are many, many trains per day between your destinations so you should be able to find one with seats to reserve on your arrival day.

I prefer the Peninsula in Tokyo. Like I said before, we had a fantastic stay there, and the location is excellent.

In Kyoto, we've had 3 excellent stays at the Hyatt.

Did you book through a Virtuoso agent? The benefits of using one that I mentioned to you before are quite good. The agent does not charge you anything.

I contacted a Virtuoso agent yesterday, per your suggestion, and they said they would have a listing back to me by tomorrow.
So, I will see what I am able to come up with.

My husband gets use of his corporate rates at some of the larger chains, so that seems to work for us as well!

Thank you!

Japan-guide.com states: "The Obon week in mid August is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons, accompanied by intensive domestic and international travel activities and increased accommodation rates. In 2010, the peak of the Obon travel season is anticipated to take place between August 7 and August 17. The busiest days are expected to be around August 12 with people leaving the big cities, and August 15 with people returning to the big cities."
That trip from Kyoto to Nagasaki could be a problem. We were once unable to get train tickets at all a week in advance of Golden Week. After standing, or sitting in the snack bar, from Kobe to Hakata on another occasion, I vowed never again and made advance arrangements for future travel. I think the OP should follow through with her plan and get train tickets in advance through an agent.

WJ,

How do you get ticket reservations in advance through an agent when you are utilizing a JR pass? The only pass I know of that will let you do that is the JR East.

Aloha!

HT, I agree, but believe that this thread has moved away from the original prospect of using a JR Pass--see KimJapan's last post. I was one of those advising abandoning the idea of purchasing a pass. Notice that the OP contacted an agent yesterday because of wanting to book train travel outside Japan.

Ah, I have to apologise for my post, I actually forgot the dates, after reading through the thread!