The Japan Rail Pass and How to Use It

Edit 2 October 2019: Updated prices to reflect the increase in Japan's national sales tax.

Edit 11 May 2020: Updated to reflect the updated Japan Rail Pass and the new online reservation website, both taking effect on 1 June 2020.

A Green Car version of the Japan Rail Pass, issued in 2016.

For overseas visitors looking to travel between multiple faraway destinations across Japan, the Japan Rail Pass is an ideal investment. It allows holders to ride local, express, and high-speed Shinkansen trains run by the Japan Railways (JR) Group without needing to buy tickets or use an IC debit card.

Before reading any further, pay attention to the following requirement.  The Japan Rail Pass is only available for foreign residents coming to Japan on a "Temporary Visitor" visa.  Japanese nationals living outside of Japan, and/or married to a non-Japanese spouse, are also unable to purchase a JR Pass.

The JR Pass is available for 7, 14, and 21 day periods.  These periods are measured in consecutive calendar days, measured from midnight to midnight.  It is also available in two versions: the regular pass allows free use of non-reserved and regular reserved seats, and the Green pass allows free use of upper-class Green Car seats on top of that. Official prices are quoted in Japanese yen, so actual prices in your local currency may vary among vendors.

Length	Price (Regular)	Price (Green Car)
7 days	¥29,650	¥39,600
14 days	¥47,250	¥64,120
21 days	¥60,450	¥83,390

As you can see, the JR Pass can be a hefty investment.  It is easily possible to save even more money by using it instead of paying for tickets directly, especially if you plan to use Shinkansen and/or limited express trains frequently, but you will need to do some research to determine whether or not the JR Pass is right for you.  If you're just staying within a certain city, the JR Pass would not be for you.  As a frame of reference, the 7-day pass costs roughly as much as a round-trip Shinkansen ride between Tokyo and Osaka, Kanazawa, or Morioka.

The JR Pass is accepted on all Japan Railways (JR) Group lines, which accounts for about 70% of track mileage in Japan.  It does NOT cover trains run by non-JR companies, including city subway lines. There are a few exceptions which are covered by the JR Pass, however, generally to access isolated JR lines:

• The Tokyo Monorail, for access to Haneda Airport.
• The Aoimori Railway between Aomori, Noheji, and Hachinohe, for access to the JR Ominato line.
• The Ishikawa Railway between Kanazawa and Tsubata, for access to the JR Nanao line.
• The Echigo Tokimeki Railway between Toyama and Takaoka, for access to the JR Himi and Johana lines.

Note: With the exception of the Tokyo Monorail, you cannot get off except at the stations listed above.

The JR Pass is also not generally valid on non-train transportation, hence the name "Japan Rail Pass".  There are a few exceptions, however.

• Buses: The JR Pass is valid on a few local buses run by the JR Group, such as the "Maple-oop" tourist loop bus in Hiroshima.  It is not valid on long-distance highway buses, even those run by the JR Group.
• Ferries: The JR Pass is valid on the short ferry ride to Miyajima island near Hiroshima.  It is not valid on the ferry between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea, despite also being run by the JR Group.

A few notices about using the JR pass for limited express and Shinkansen trains:

• Japan Rail Passes issued after 1 June 2020 will have a magnetic strip, allowing them to be used with automated gates like regular tickets.  Passes issued before than cannot be used with these gates.  However, nearly all gates have an attendant on either side. Simply show your pass (and reserved seat tickets as necessary) to them, and they will let you through.  They may ask for you to show your passport as well to confirm your identity.
• Seat reservations may be made for free.  You may do this at reserved-ticket vending machines by scanning the QR code on your pass, entering your passport number, and searching for your train by start/end stations, date, and time.
• You may also reserve tickets at "Midori no Madoguchi" ticket counters. These staff may speak English in addition to Japanese.  I found it handy to write down the information needed to reserve tickets beforehand (including train name/number, date, time, start/end stations, and seat type), and show it to the staff.
• If you have made seat reservations on the new website, launching on 1 June 2020, you may pick up your seating tickets by using your pass at the appropriate ticket vending machine or service counter.  Insert both your pass and seat ticket into the ticket gates, as you would with regular tickets.
  
• On the Tokaido, Sanyo, and Kyushu Shinansen, the JR pass is NOT valid for any seats on Nozomi and Mizuho express services. If you wish to use these trains when you have a pass, you must pay the full price out of pocket as normal. The fastest services available with the pass, the Hikari and Sakura respectively, only differ by half an hour at most.
• A few JR trains, including limited express services, travel on both JR and non-JR lines. When using these trains, you will need to pay a supplement fee for the non-JR sections.  The fee varies between services, but works out to the cost of taking the non-JR segment alone.  Generally, it is still far less than paying for the whole trip out-of-pocket.

So, let’s say you've worked out your itinerary and decided the JR Pass is right for you. How do you get it, then? It’s not as easy as simply buying one in Japan. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Buy the JR Pass overseas, either directly or through a travel agency.  This can be done easily over the Internet, through many different websites.  Shop around to find the lowest price and most reliable vendor, but be aware that prices will not vary much from the official rates listed above.
2. You will not receive the pass itself in the mail, but an exchange order. You will use this order to pick up the actual pass upon arrival in Japan.
3. When you arrive in Japan, go to a JR Travel Centre, found in most major airports and train stations. A full list of offices may be found here: (English)
4. Hand in your exchange order, along with the Temporary Visitor stamp in your passport, and receive your Japan Rail Pass.  This is necessary to confirm that you are an overseas visitor.  Note that the exchange order must be exchanged for the actual JR Pass within three months after the issue date marked on the exchange order.
5. If you wish for your pass to take effect on a later date, you may do so at this time.  Even before the period takes effect, you may still reserve tickets for within that period.

But that's not all!  From 1 June 2020, a new website will launch allowing users to not only purchase Japan Rail Passes, but also reserve train seats online.  The catch is that passes bought from this site are more expensive, and online reservations can only be made if you've bought the pass from this site.  More information: (English)  Furthermore, the Japan Rail Pass is also being sold directly within Japan on a trial basis.  The same eligibility requirements apply, so only temporary foreign visitors need apply.  However, the pass will be more expensive if purchased in this fashion, as opposed to the traditional method of buying an exchange order before arriving in Japan.  Prices for buying the JR Pass both within Japan and from the new website are as follows.  I have also included the differences between the direct purchase and pre-order prices for your reference.

Length	Price (Regular)	Price (Green Car)
7 days	¥33,610 (+¥3,960)	¥44,810 (+¥5,210)
14 days	¥52,960 (+¥5,710)	¥72,310 (+¥8,190)
21 days	¥66,200 (+¥5,750)	¥91,670 (+¥8,280)

As with many things involved in travel planning, it pays -- almost literally in this case -- to get these sorts of things in order as soon as possible.  But it's nice to know there's another option available if you can't manage those preparations in time!

More information on the Japan Rail Pass is available on the following website: (English)