which pass is most economical for family travel?

Hi there!

As a 7 day pass is ¥28,300, you'll need to spend more than this on JR tickets to make one worthwhile. Lets take a look at the costs for the travel you mention:

1. Tokyo > Hiroshima: ¥17850, (295mins, 894km)
2. Hiroshima > Osaka: ¥10220, (109mins, 345km)
3. Osaka > Kyoto: ¥540, (29mins, 42km)

TOTAL: ¥28610 for 3 legs

As you can see it is slightly cheaper to use a 7 day pass, coming out with an overall saving of ¥310. While the savings are slight, the simplicity of travelling with a JR Pass (especially with children) and the options it opens for doing day trips if needed means that I can recommend it in this case.

Please note that you'll be able to use the JR Pass on JR lines around Tokyo and Osaka too, so if you plan your trips well you should make even more savings.

Hope this helps!