For the benefit of HNers thinking they might want to visit Japan someday: There are basically only two discounts for the shinkansen -- one is multi-trip ticket

For the benefit of HNers thinking they might want to visit Japan someday: There are basically only two discounts for the shinkansen -- one is multi-trip tickets (回数券 -- which are mostly for businesses). The other is something which is half a discount and half just outright subsidization of policy goals, the JR Rail Pass. It is a special ticket, only available to people who are visiting Japan and don't hold either a Japanese passport or mid/long-term visa, which gets you all-you-can-eat access to all of the JR lines (including the shinkansen, less one class of them). The cost for a week-long pass is less than that of a roundtrip ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto. If you ever come to Japan, make sure you buy a voucher for one of these before you leave home, since they're not sold here.