Does one need to buy a JR pass in order to purchase a Bullet train ticket to Kyoto from Tokyo?
Or can one just purchase an individual ticket (round trip journey) for Bullet train ?
Arigato
From what I've gathered along with havhing chats with friends who've either lived or travelled up there, if you're staying DIREECTLY in Tokyo. You can do without it, since it would be pound for pound cheaper to just hop the train lines when needed as opposed to buying the rail pass, which has gone up exponentially in price compared to what it was before.
Tokyo has so much shyt to do that you can base your whole stay there, so it wouldn't be THAT necessary, but if you travelling to other prefectures and places OUTSIDE of Tokyo, then a Rail pass would save you a bit of coin if you trying to be frugal, but that's only if you really hate catching quick flights, which might work out cheaper in the long run.
So it depends on what you doing and how far away you gonna be doing it in.