Allow me to introduce you folks to our new travel community: TravelTalk NZ.

We hope to see you there!

JTB - official NZ agents

Used them probably 4 or 5 times on recent trips

Can be ordered through STA Travel who organise through another party (can't recall the name). Had no issues ordering this way a few years back.

Or when you get off the plane

openmedia:

 

Or when you get off the plane

 

Yep, it is available in Japan, but it seems to cost more.
https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/common-questions/can-i-buy-my-japan-rail-pass-in-japan

Just got back from a month there, there are several ways to get around depending on your itinerary. Check out each regions 1,3,5 etc day pass. The Kansei Area pass for example is really good value for getting around Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. And the Tokyo 72 hour pass is a total steal for only Y1500

Can buy them from the airport when you arrive

Rail passes could traditionally not be purchased outside Japan. Things have changed recently an you now can purchase them at *some* stations and airports but the cost is still higher in Japan from what I had seen last time I was there about 18 months ago.

It's worth noting that if you buy a rail pass in NZ (or anywhere else) it's not the rail pass per se - it's a voucher that is eschanged for a rail pass at the station, so you need to actually do this at a station that has a ticket office that processes them during their opening hours. If you want to prebook seats (highly recommended on some services) IMHO you're better off doing this at a bigger station where you'll have a better chance of finding somebody who speaks fluent English which makes the process a lot easier. 

we bought them in Narita Airport station. same queue as those needing to exchange their overseas bought vouchers. the lady assisting the queue spoke better American than me. not sure about price difference. takes 1 hr depending on queue length.

mdubsnz:

 

Can be ordered through STA Travel who organise through another party (can't recall the name). Had no issues ordering this way a few years back.

 

Worth noting that while at first glance they seem cheaper than JTB, STA's service charge doesn't show up until the payment screen and makes it more expensive (or at least this was the case about 3 months ago).

sbiddle:

JTB - official NZ agents

 

Used them probably 4 or 5 times on recent trips

 

 

 

 

We ordered ours from a travel reseller in Paris, as it was the cheapest even with courier to NZ.

SpartanVXL: Do be sure that the JR pass is suitable for your plans. It only lets you board JR rail lines and not the Metro/Subway. It does however let you board limited shinkansen (bullet train) lines so it may be useful there.

If you are staying in just Tokyo then a area pass or Suica/Pasmo card is probably better or more convenient.

Will echo this. if you are not using the shinkansen, get a cash card instead, as you will not likely use enough trains to pay for the JR pass. cash card allows you to pay any public transport line (the public transport is owned by many different private companies, JR being only one of them, albeit one of the biggest if not the biggest, but even then it will/may not get you everywhere you wish to go). in many places you could purchase stuff/food with your cash card too but not all. it's still a cash heavy society.

we had a jr pass but paid cash/coins when using other non jr train lines.

SpartanVXL: Do be sure that the JR pass is suitable for your plans. It only lets you board JR rail lines and not the Metro/Subway. It does however let you board limited shinkansen (bullet train) lines so it may be useful there.

If you are staying in just Tokyo then a area pass or Suica/Pasmo card is probably better or more convenient.

The place that supplied our JR Pass also included two Suica cards pre-loaded with about $25.

Agree with the above comments.  JR has a good ring line around Tokyo so we ended up only using the subway on a couple of occasions as we could get everywhere else on JR trains (over 5 days).  There are a couple of apps which are good.  I think we mostly relied on hyperdia as it could filter for your rail pass. 

The rail pass queue is long at Narita but gives you the advantage of catching the express train for "free".  You still need to go to a ticket office to book your seat.

Bon voyage.