The Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass) can be one of the best travel values in the world.  It is a discounted unlimited use rail pass available to foreign tourist to Japan and Japanese nationals who permanently reside outside of Japan.  In general one can travel across the whole of Japan using the JR Pass on JR line trains and JR buses (it is not valid however on independent rail lines which are either more likely to be found in remote parts of the country, cover lines which most tourists won’t need to utilize, or which are fairly short in distance).  

It is available in 7, 14, and 21  consecutive day durations depending on the travel needs of the visitor (in other words, if one chooses a 7 day JR Pass it will only be effective for 7 days from its first use, not 7 separated days).  The JR Pass offers a choice of an ordinary coach class service pass or first –class service (Green cars) pass.

The JR Pass represents a better and better value the more long distance train use a visitor utilizes during his or her JR Pass validity period.  For instance, the price of a 7 days pass is slightly less than a round-trip rail ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto during the regular season, which in essence means that if you took the Tokyo-Kyoto round trip route as one of your journeys all other JR train traveling you undertook during the 7 day period would be free.

 

JR Pass Pricing (June 2009)

Type:	Green		Ordinary
Duration	Adult	Child	Adult	Child
7-day	37,800 YEN	18,900 YEN	28,300  YEN	14,150 YEN
14-day	61,200 YEN	30,600 YEN	45,100 YEN	22,550 YEN
21-day	79,600  YEN	39,800 YEN	57,700 YEN	28,850 YEN

 

 If a tourist strings together a couple of long distance segments during the 7 day period the savings are quite substantial.  On the other hand, if your time in Japan will be spent within a relatively small geographic radius you are not likely to benefit from use of the JR Pass.  For instance, if most of your time will be spent in the Tokyo area and you will be taking JR rapid and local trains from station to station you are unlikely to realize the full purchase price of the JR Pass.

Each traveler to Japan should have a good idea of the travel segments they plan for their stay and then do a cost/benefit analysis to see if the JR Pass is a good solution for their individual travel needs.  Once you determine that a JR Pass is right for you, arrangements must be made to purchase a Japan Rail Pass voucher (Exchange Order) while outside of Japan.  After arrival in Japan the Exchange Order is then exchanged at a select number of locations across the country for the actual Japan Rail Pass.  Japan Rail Passes cannot be purchased within Japan, so be sure to remember to take time to obtain your Exchange Order before your trip (please note that Exchange Orders should not be purchased more than 3 months from the intended conversion date to a JR Pass in Japan).

 
Exchange Orders can be purchased from our affiliate partner STA Travel by clicking on one of the banners to the right.

Upon arriving at the STA Site follow this click sequence to arrive at the place where you can order a Japan Rail Pass: 

"Destinations" -

"Asia" -

"China and Japan" -

"Japan" 

(At the bottom of the page you will find the Japan Rail Pass pricing and order options along with information on some interesting day-long and half-day tours around Tokyo.) 

Exchange orders for Japan Rail Passes can also be obtained by visiting the following vendors:

JTB Corporation

Nippon Travel Agency

Kintetsu International

Japan Airlines (with the purchase of a flight to Japan on JAL)

All Nippon Airways (with the purchase of a flight to Japan on ANA)

 

When you convert your Exchange Order for your actual Japan Rail Pass you will be asked what effective date you would like for the pass’s validity period to start.  This can be the same day on which you are exchanging the voucher or some later date within your trip to Japan (but not later than 30 days from when the Exchange Order is converted).  Once you have a valid JR Pass in hand you can then visit a JR ticket  reservations office (midori-no-madoguchi) or JR Travel Service Center (Ryoko Center) and obtain seat reservations (no additional charge) for reserved cars on whatever segments of Shinkansen or limited express or express trains that you would like. 

Of course you can travel in any non-reserved train car in the JR system at any time with your JR Pass (other than Nozomi Shinkansen), however you risk having to stand for a part of your journey (or your entire journey!) if the unreserved car is full when you board the train.  If you have the time to spend after converting your Exchange Order and have a set itinerary of train travel it is recommended that you obtain the appropriate seat reservations for your journey by presenting your JR Pass to personnel in the ticket reservations office or JR Travel Service Center.   

Most large ticket offices in stations where Exchange Orders can be converted to JR Passes will have personnel who are able to help you in English to obtain the seat reservations you desire (it is helpful if you have researched the exact route segments, dates and times utilizing the online resources that JR offers prior to your trip so that you can expedite your visit to the ticket reservations office).

Seat reservations cannot be made for the following periods due to the high demand for seating throughout the JR system:

April 27 to May 6
Due to consecutive holidays during this time known as “Golden Week”, there is large-scale travel throughout Japan for leisure and recreation.

 

August 11 to 20
A time for national travel to hometown areas, called the “Obon” season.

 

December 28 to January 6
The New Year holiday period is one of the busiest travel times for Japanese people.

 

Other Japanese Holidays may present higher than average volume on trains as well so it is wise to determine if any fall during your scheduled visit to Japan so that you may prepare accordingly.

 

Here is the list of official Japanese holidays:

 

Jan.1     New Years Day

Jan.12   Coming-of-Age Day

 

Feb.11   National Foundation Day

 

Mar.20   Vernal Equinox Day

 

Apr.29   Showa Day

 

May.3    Constitution Day

May.4    Green Day

May.5    Children's Day

May.6    Green Day Substitute Holidays

 

Jul.20    Marine Day

 

Sept.21  Respected-for-the-Aged Day

Sept.22  Declared Official Holiday

Sept.23  Autumnal Equinox Day

 

Oct.12   Health Sports Day

 

Nov.3    Culture Day

Nov.23   Labor Thanksgiving Day

 

Dec.23   Emperor's Birthday

 

 

 

Japan Rails Pass vouchers (Exchange Orders) can be exchanged at the following airports:

Kansai Airport

Narita Airport Terminal 1

Narita Airport Terminal 2

New-Chitose Airport

 

Japan Rails Pass vouchers (Exchange Orders) can be exchanged at the following JR stations:

Akita

Aomori

Asahikawa

Fukushima

Hachinohe

Hakata

Hakodate

Hamamatsu

Hiroshima

Ikebukuro

Kagoshima-Chuo

Kanazawa

Kokura

Kumamoto

Kushiro

Kyoto

Matsue

Matsuyama

Mishima

Miyazaki

Nagano

Nagasaki

Nagoya

Niigata

Obihiro

Odawara

Oita

Okayama

Osaka

Saga

Sannomiya

Sapporo

Sendai

Shibuya

Shimonoseki

Shinagawa

Shinjuku

Shin-Osaka

Shin-Yokohama

Shizuoka

Takamatsu

Tokushima

Tokyo

Ueno

Yamagata

Yokohama