Something different today, I will not talk about BABYMETAL for once, but I will try to cover the subject of transportation available in Japan for a visitor.
Quite often on Youtube or various blogs you will see the following question: Which is better, the JRPass or the Suica card. Lots of very strong opinions on the matter, most forgetting to take all relevant facts into account. So a lot of bullshit.
In addition to me it's the wrong question simply because we are trying to compare two very different products, addressing very different needs. The JR Pass is mainly to go from city to city, the IC card is for the more local transports.
1 - JR PASS Vs Suica
You need to ask yourself only one question, "what will I do while in Japan ?"... Meaning will you stay in one area / city or will you visit different regions / cities during your stay.
For me it's the main criteria to decide if getting a JRPass is for you or not.
The JR Pass is really an unlimited ticket that allows you to take local trains, Shinkansen between major cities, ferries and some buses operated by JR (Japan Rail) as much as you want over a period of 7, 14 or 21 days . These Passes are valid either throughout Japan or in a specific region, depending on which one you choose.
The Suica card or an equivalent IC card allows you to pay for local city transport like Metro without worrying about buying single tickets. It also allows you to pay at some vending machines, in stores or in Taxis.
So if you plan the remain in Osaka or in Tokyo for the duration of your stay, a Suica or Icoca card is all you need. If you plan to cover many different cities in Japan or fully explore a region like Kansai, you'll have to calculate the cost of your travel to see if getting a JRPass will help you save money. We'll talk about this later.
In Tokyo and Osaka, JR has local train lines covering the city, going around in a loop they are quite handy. It's the Yamanote in Tokyo and the Loop Line in Osaka, but there are others.
These lines are quite handy and free if you have a valid JRPass but they most certainly do not justify getting a Nationwide JRPass. A 7 day JRPass is Y29,110, so you need to spend your time ridding the Yamanote just to get your money's worth.
A Shinjuku / Akihabara single ticket is Y170, the 7 day Nationwide JRPass is equivalent to 170 single tickets... or about 24 trips per day.
2 - IC Cards
IC cards are actually electronic wallets, when you buy one the card costs Y500 ( refundable when you return the card) and the balance is travel credit you can top-up anytime you want at most train / metro stations, but only in cash.
Tickets pricing in local trains, Metro is based on distance, most times getting to your destination means changing trains, line and even operator. An IC card will allow you to save lots of time by just tagging in and out instead of having to calculate the fare before buying your ticket, and then having to adjust once you get there if you misread the tables.
The IC card most people know is the Suica sold by JR West in Tokyo but all over Japan there are over 10 different versions depending where you are. In Tokyo Passmo from Tokyo Metro is equivalent to Suica.
All regional Japanese IC Cards.
The IC card system is based on interoperability between regions, each card is valid on all other networks. For instance I do not have a Suica but an Icoca card and it works perfectly in it's native Osaka but also in Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Alternatively a Suica will work everywhere else.
If you land in Osaka's Kansai Airport, you can buy a normal Icoca card at the JR desk or pre order a "special" version.
Special version are shown below, I have a classic from my first trip but couldn't resist getting the Hello Kitty one last year.
These special cards are also available in the Icoca + Haruka package available here : Icoca + Haruka
The Haruka express train is a JR Express train linking Kansai Airport to Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Nara.
How to top-up your Passmo or Suica card (In English with French Subs).
At the end of your trip, if you don't think you'll come back to Japan you can return your card and get your Y500 deposit back. If you keep it as a souvenir, it will remain valid for a long time but will be deactivated if you have not used it for 10 years.
3 - Metro Pass
Tokyo
If you don't want to go the IC Card route, there are passes in Tokyo for unlimited travel for a day (y800), 2 days (Y1,200) or 3 days (Y1,500)
These tickets are for foreign tourists only and are valid on Tokyo Metro and Toei so no JR Line like the Yamanote.
More info on Metro Tokyo website here.
Kyoto
There are daily Passes for the local buses only (y600) ou bus + métro (y1,200). More info here.
4 - JR Pass
As mentioned before, the JR Pass is a prepaid Pass that gives you unlimited rides on trains, buses and ferries of JR with a few exceptions.
To be eligible to get one, you have to be a foreign tourist, enter Japan under a 90 days tourist visa. If you are a student ou doing a Working Holiday visa you are not eligible. Japanese citizens are not eligible unless their normal residence is outside of Japan but they have to provide numerous certificates.
There are different kinds of JR Passes, a National one and many local ones. Most are available in Standard or Green version (1st class)
- Les Pass Locaux
There are about 6 Regional Passes covering the main regions of Japan. When you take into account variations, options it's 17 different local passes you can choose from even more when you take duration into account.
The prices mentioned in the table are indicative and can vary as currencies fluctuates. For the latest prices, click here.
Before getting a regional Pass be aware of the restrictions, some look interesting but only cover Local trains, not Shinkansen.
- The Nationwide Pass
The Nationwide JR Pass is available for 7 (219€), 14 (349€) ou 21 days (447€). When you order it, before you travel to Japan, you will receive a voucher that you'll exchange for the Pass once you are in Japan.
JR Pass duration only counts full days, whether you activate your Pass at 8AM or 11PM it still count as day 1.
You activate it when you need it, it seems you can even go to a JR office and ask for an activation date in the future.
Once in Japan, how to exchange your voucher for a JR Pass
- Is the JR Pass worth it ?
That is probably the main question people ask and what you should first check considering the price of these.
A tip to maximise the savings is to try and group all the travel together if possible so you can get a 7 day pass instead of a 14 days. If you spend 21 days in Japan, maybe the first few days you stay local and the same at the end of the trip so you only need a 14 days Pass instead of a 21 days.
What you can do is calculate the cost of regular tickets for all the train journeys you are planning during your stay. If will then be easy to compare with the cost of a 7,14 or 21 days Pass.
My own calculation for October 2017 with reserved seat was as follows :
7 days Pass cost : ¥29,110
Regular tickets cost : ¥50,460 (Osaka - Hiroshima return and Osaka - Fukuoka return)
It's not even close, to give you an idea a Tokyo / Osaka return trip costs ¥28,280 so it covers the basic 7 days Pass.
To get a quick idea of the costs, use this very simple tool, Japan Guide. Enter departure station and destination, pick single or return and build your trip.
If you are looking for more detailled info on the trains, schedules, even platforms and transfers you an go to this other site. They have all timetables months in advance.
Give it a try here : http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
You need to know the departure and arrival station, sometimes it is not as straightforward as you think. Shinkansen leave Tokyo from Tokyo Station, easy. In Osaka it's from Shin-Osaka and in Fukuoka it's Hakata.
Here is a search for a trip from Osaka to Fukuoka, July 24th 2018 from 10 AM on Hyperdia.
Choose departure and arrival station, Shin-Osaka and Hakata for this simulation.
You can also choose the nearest Metro station from you to have the complete cost and itinerary.
Our goal this time is to check the cost of a Shinkansen trip.
Click "More Options" to unselect the Nozomi option as these are the only ones not eligible to JR Pass.
Once you have selected all the relevant options, click search
Next screen will list all the existing trains based on your selections, for our request these are the results.
You can see the first 3 options are Sakura semi-express trains, 153 minutes or 2h33 travel time and the 4th is a Kodama which takes 260 minutes or 4h20. All are priced the same.
Let's say the 10h08 train suits us, let's see what it does really say.
We can see departure for Sakura 551 service from Shin-Osaka will be platform 20 at 10h08, it will take 153 minutes to get to Fukuoka with changes, arriving on platform 15.
Total distance, 622Km, no transfer.
Tickets cost is ¥15,200 with a reserved seat, it would be ¥14,480 in an unreserved car. A Green Car seat (1st class) would cost ¥20,960
If you use this system to simulate all your journeys, you'll get the total cost of your train trip and will be able to compare with the cost of the JR Pass.
In this case vs a 7 days Pass, a return trip already covers the cost.
In some areas, the JR Pass gives you access to other services. In Hiroshima you can freelyuse the JR tourist bus known as the Hiroshima Loop Bus. All 3 lines connect at Hiroshima Station and cover all the major spots in Hiroshima.
Also near Hiroshima, if you plan a day trip to Miyajima, the Pass with cover the JR train to get there and the JR ferry to reach the Island.
5 - Shinkansen
The huge benefit of the Nationwide JR Pass is that you can ride almost all Shinkansen train as much as you want during the period covered.
There are different Shinkansen lines in Japan, all operated by the regional entities of Japan Rail.
Shinkansen bullet trains are also split into different serivce categories depending on their speed, from the one stopping at almost every station (Kodama) to the Express (Nozimi). Nozomi and Mizuho Express trains are the only ones not covered by the JR Pass.
For instance, on the Tokaido, San'yo et Kyushu lines, here are the main services types.
Nozomi (express, Tokaido & Sanyo) - not eligible with JR Pass
Hikari (semi-express, Tokaido & Sanyo)
Hikari Rail Star (semi express, Sanyo)
Kodama (local, Tokaido & Sanyo)
Sakura (semi-express, Sanyo & Kyushu)
Mizuho (express, Sanyo & Kyushu) - not eligible with JR Pass
Tsubame (local, Kyushu)
To give you a rough idea, I did Osaka - Hiroshima with a Kodama service, I was in a gorgeous very aerodynamic train, but when a Nozomi service takes 1h20 minutes and a Sakura 1h30 minutes the Kodama service took 2h25 minutes.....
It goes fast, as fast as the others almost (limited to 285 kph vs 300 kph), but it does stop at every main station along the way. We even sometimes stayed 10 minutes at a station to let faster Nozomi services overtake us.
Older JR 500 Series Shinkansen used for Kodama, superb trains, but slower service.
So you have collected your JR Pass from the JR Sales office and it's activated. Now what do you have to do to take a Shinkansen ?
Option 1, go to the station and try your luck in an unreserved car. There all seat are unreserved, so first come first served.
Option 2, go to the station and reserve a seat at the JR Ticket office, see below how it's done.
For extra piece of mind, you can reserve your seats a few days in advance. I did that to make sure I would not have a repeat of the Kodama experience. I had to take this train as all others were full.
In one go I booked seats for the following trip over the next 5 days : Hiroshima / Osaka, Osaka / Fukuoka et Fukuoka / Osaka.
One thing to remember is the legendary accuracy of trains in Japan, especially Shinkansen. And it is true, if your train is schedule to depart at 12h22, it will leave at the said time.
Below you have the schedule for the 10h08 Sakura 551 between Osaka and Fukuoka we looked at before. You can see all stops are between 1 and 2 minutes.
6 - Night Bus
If train and JR Pass prices scare you, do not worry there are cheaper alternatives, the Night Buses.
Night buses on top of costing much less than the train, will also make you save on accomodation as you'll sleep while travelling.
A company like Willer offers very comfortable buses. To compare prices with Shinkanse on a Tokyo - Osaka trip.
One way Tokyo / Osaka. Leaves Shinjuku at 23h45, arrives at Osaka-Umeda at 7h25 the next morning.
You end up with a return for under ¥9,000 Vs ¥28,000 using the Shinkansen. And as you spend the night in the bus, no hotel room to pay. Most of these buses are very well equipped with power ports, reclining seats, even personal screen like on a long haul flight.
Companies like Willer Express and Japan Bus Lines also offer Bus Passes.
7 - Flying
On some routes, it could pay off to look at flying instead of trains or buses. Tokyo / Sapporo or Tokyo / Nagasaki take almost 8hrs each and cost in excess of Y26,000 one way.
Foreign tourists are also eligible to lower rates on domestic flights with JAL and ANA. they have a voucher system allowing you to pre purchase a number of "segments" for a set priuce.
You can purchase between2 and 5 segments (flights) from Y10,800 a voucher. Prices vary with each airline.
Beside legacy airlines like JAL and ANA, Japan also has Low Cost airlines.
The main ones are : Peach, Jetstar, Vanilla, Skymark, Air Asia Japan, Air Do all of which have an English version of their website.
More info on domestic flights in Japan.
8 - Tools and useful websites
Divers
Google Map is very useful to find your way, check transport, train times etc....
Metro Pass :
Night Bus :
There are other companies offering Night Bus services but these two seem to be the main ones.
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