Travel Plus…. Destination – Japan Rail Pass – How do you take advantage of it?

The Japan Rail Pass is quite an amazing thing – as it grants you access to the rail networks that are part of the JR Group network for fixed price.

My bruised and battered rail pass towards the end of the trip.

The used rail pass with the magic ticket bit.

But how can you really take advantage of it to the full extent?

Do you qualify to use it?

To use the Japan Rail Pass, you must:

• Be a foreign tourist, who will be entering Japan under a passport stamp of Temporary Visitor or a Japanese national living outside of Japan. Check the full conditions.
• A valid stamp must be valid in the passport – so no automated processing.
• You must have pre-purchased an exchange voucher outside Japan. You cannot buy this voucher inside Japan.

Japan Rail Pass Exchange Order… get it before you leave your home country.

Work out how much the Japan Rail Pass is worth in your local currency

In some currency (for example GBP), the one week pass is now a mere £150 in ordinary class or £200 in Green Car.

Prices: www.japan-rail-pass.com

In the past this has been higher, so for UK people – it represents better value for money.

I went for a Green Pass over 7 days on an 8 day trip – with me redeeming my pass on the second day of the trip (this would cover airport transport as well as everything else).

How many days are you thinking about travelling on the trains?

If you’re travelling long distance for 7 days in a trot, you can claw this back easily. If you’re travelling for some of it, then you’ll have to work out the costs compared to how much the actual fares are. You can do this using Hyperdia  (which is also great for working out timetables and planning trips too.

So for a trip between Tokyo and Kyoto for example:

Japanese train fares are made up of a Basic fare (in this case, 8,210yen  + an express fee. In this case it would be:

• 8210+4870 = 13,110 for an unreserved seats
• 8210+5390 = 13600 for a reserved seat
• 8210+10170 = 18380 for a Green Car Seat (first class seat)

What sort of distances are you travelling?

Japanese train fares are judged on distance (the basic fare) plus Express fares and other fees. It also depends on the region of Japan you’re in (for example, if you’re just hanging around Tokyo, the Kanto area pass (which includes N’EX and Tokyo Monorail) or Tokyo Metropolitan pass  may suit you better

Of course, if you’re bumbling around Tokyo on the Yamanote line, a Japan Rail pass is a waste of money. If you’re going further afield, it makes more and more sense

N700A Shinkansen Arriving at Tokyo Station – A good use if you’re travelling distance

An E4 series Shinkansen – good for the JR Rail pass.

A Chūō-Sōbu Line train… maybe not the best value to use a Japan Rail Pass on if you’re just using this.

Check what rail lines you’re going to be using.

Whilst the JR companies have a substantial amount of the Japan Railway way network, there are a lot of lines that aren’t controlled by the JR companies – which will require you paying up. Again, check the conditions. It’s deep reading…

Green Car or Ordinary Car?

For some its a matter of class and how much you have. For others, it will matter depending on the distance you’re going.

Typically Green Car seats are 2-2 style seating (vs 3-2 style seating), but you do have to do a lot of reserving (and for a data point – I had no-one sitting next to me)

Green Car aboard a JR West Sakura service to Hiroshima.

Green Car aboard a JR West Sakura service to Hiroshima.

Ordinary Car aboard a JR Central Hikari

It goes without saying that a Green Car pass is valid in an Ordinary Car… except on excluded services

For the amount of time I was travelling… it made sense for me get a Green Car pass.

Remember what you can’t use the Japan Rail Pass

As well as private companies, there are some JR owned things you can’t use including

• The Nozomi (the limited stop  service on the Tokaido Shinkansen)
• The Mizuho (JR West/Kuyshu limited stop Shinkansen)
• JR East/West Gran Class
• JR Express Buses
• JR Kyushu Hydrofoil between Hakata and Busan/Pusan (South Korea)

What do the numbers look like and the break even point?

Here are some numbers that I’ve done on my trip so far (all in Yen).

I’ve done reasonably well, with no local bumbling around Tokyo added in (and where I am in Tokyo, it’s great to hop on a Shinkansen to where I need to and avoid the local traffic.. which can be crush-capacity levels at any time). I haven’t added in any other Shinkansen rides I’ve had locally, or the Narita Express into this mix.

My break-even point was after a Shinkansen journey between Hiroshima and Kyoto. After that – it was pure gravy in terms of what I was getting.

Any other downsides?

Apart from the lack of use of the Nozomi (which is more annoying than anything) and the need to get an IC Card (such as a Suica, Mananca, PASMO or ICOCA)…

Getting an IC card like one of the above is pretty much essential for any transit that doesn’t include JR Lines. There are lots of local variants – so keep an eye out what interacts with each other. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica#/media/File:ICCard_Connection_en.svg to confuse yourself.

The biggest pain? Especially in urban environments (mostly Tokyo) was the time it took get through the ticket gates. As the Japan Rail Pass is safely sealed under the card pass, you can’t use the automatic gates. At small stations, this isn’t a problem, but in Tokyo, you could be waiting a minute or two to clear through popular stations (such as Ueno, Shinawaga, Shibuya, Tokyo etc).

It’s a small price to pay for really what is a discounted ticket to anywhere in Japan.

Do I get one when I go to Japan?

If your travels involve rail in Japan, do the math – you might find the Japan Rail Pass maybe better value than you think.

It certainly gives you access to some of the most interesting trains in the world – if not the most on-time trains in the world.

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