Japan Rail Pass
The Japan Rail pass is a popular purchase for many visitors planning to travel in Japan and can save quite a few dollars but the pass has a few limitations which may make the pass not suitable for some.
The pass is available to anyone visiting Japan as a temporary visitor and must be organised before you leave by visiting a travel agent, JAL office, Japanese tourist office or Nippon travel agency. The pass is paid for and you get a ticket which is then exchanged for your proper pass at a station or collection centre when you arrive in Japan. Remember to have your passport with you to prove your identity and temporary status when collecting your ticket.
There are several pass types, 7 day, 14 day and 21 day and also a ordinary class and superior “Green” pass travel option. There are also child tickets available.
The pass can be used on JR lines only, including the Shinkansen bullet trains except for NOZOMI express trains that travel on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines which may be a problem for some people. They can also be used on JR local trains, express and rapid trains. They can also be used on JR bus and some JR ferry lines, in some cases there are restrictions or conditions so visit JR’s website for full details.
The pass does not work on any non JR rail network, visitors should be aware that several rail companies run operations in the larger cities especially Tokyo and Osaka. Some people may find that it is more practical to use another rail network for their travel, making the JR pass have little value. But for those who plan to use the JR network the pass can be quiet valuable.
Personally we have never bought the Japan Rail Pass as it hasn’t met our needs at the time, we recently prefer ed to purchase a Suica and NEX at Narita airport and used a JR all day pass (Tokunai Pass) when we decided to use JR exclusively for a day. The Suica is an IC top up card and the combo ticket that got us from Narita to Tokyo as well as a 2000 yen credit on the Suica for 3500 yen. The Suica is more convenient than buying tickets each time you go to a station and can be used on all rail networks and buses in the Tokyo and Yokohama region. By planning well we probably spent around 10000 yen on transport each day, so when we added it up the JR Pass we required for time we were in Japan was not worth it. At the time of writing an all day Tokyo Metropolitan District Pass (Tokunai Pass) was 730 yen.
For more information on the JR Travel Pass visit JR’s Website
http://www.japanrailpass.net/
