The JR pass is transit pass that provides unlimited rides on JR owned rail lines – both inner-city and MOST of the shinkansen - the high speed bullet trains that run between cities in Japan. It also includes travel on the ferry that runs to Miyajima. The pass can be confusing and since it’s expensive it is worth knowing whether it’s a good investment and how to best take advantage of everything the pass has to offer. Below you can find a step by step guide to pricing out, purchasing, activating and using your JR pass.
Should you get a pass?
- The JR pass is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days. It is from midnight to midnight meaning that if you activate it on Friday the 1st of the month it will be valid until Thursday the 7th of the month at 11:59 pm.
- Use the JR calculator to input all of the legs of your trip that you will be taking in a 7, 14 or 21 day time period. I have used our itinerary as an example below.
- If your itinerary and the pass are close in price then I would suggest purchasing the pass. The convenience of using it vs. purchasing individual tickets for each trip/day trip is worthwhile and you can use the pass on some local trains to get around cities like Tokyo and Kyoto – further making it worthwhile.
How to Order Your Pass
JR passes are for tourists so must be ordered in advance and vouchers are mailed to your home address. You can order them online on various websites like Klook and JTB (though there are other options out there). Be sure to give yourself a couple of weeks prior to your departure to ensure that the vouchers get to you on time.
How to Get Your Pass
When you exchange your pass this information sheet is presented to you by the staff at the JR office
JR passes are for tourists so must be ordered in advance and vouchers are mailed to your home address. You can order them online on various websites like Klook and JTB (though there are other options out there). Be sure to give yourself a couple of weeks prior to your departure to ensure that the vouchers get to you on time.
How to Get Your Pass
- Vouchers are redeemed when you get to Japan either at any major airport or at various JR stations at the JR travel office (different than the reservation centre). See a list of where you can redeem your passes here:
- YOU MUST BRING YOUR PASSPORT AND VOUCHER WITH YOU TO ACTIVATE YOUR PASSES
- When you arrive you will be provided with a registration form to fill out with your personal information and passport number.
- You choose the date that you would like the pass to be activated – it doesn’t need to be activated on the day that you exchange it. Activate it on the day that you plan on doing your first JR related ride.
- Know your first trip as the JR travel service centre will allow you to make your first reservation at the same time that you exchange your pass.
When you exchange your pass this information sheet is presented to you by the staff at the JR office
How to Plan your Train Trip
In this case, google is not your best friend. The best place to search for train times is the website www.hyperdia.com in order to search for train departure times. Note that by clicking on more options under the search conditions you can filter by JR railways and shinkansen so that you don’t see trains not covered by your pass.
While you don’t need to know your exact dates and times of travel for every day of your trip I would waiting to activate your pass until you at least know your first destination and departure time. That way you can activate your pass and reserve your seats at the same time, saving you one visit to the reservation office
How to make reservations
For all other reservations you will need to go to the JR Ticket Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) which can be found by looking for this sign. Again it makes the process smoother if you know the date and time that you plan on departing before you make the reservation.
Note 1: You do not NEED to make a reservation. There are a certain number of unreserved cars on each train and they are filled on a first come first serve basis. However, in order to ensure that you and your family can sit together and that you can leave at the time you want, it is probably best to reserve in advance. This is especially true if you aren’t boarding the train at the station at the beginning of the route and won’t be able to tell until the train has arrived and the doors have opened whether you will be able to board.
Note 2: From May 2020, a seat reservation near the luggage area will be MANDATORY in the shinkansen of the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines if the sum of the dimensions of your luggage exceeds 160 cm. In addition, the total height + width + depth of each item must be less than 250 cm. Consider bringing smaller suitcases to ensure that you aren’t stuck with supplementary charges or difficulty getting a reserved ticket. More information about luggage reservation and fees should be coming in the next couple of months.
In this case, google is not your best friend. The best place to search for train times is the website www.hyperdia.com in order to search for train departure times. Note that by clicking on more options under the search conditions you can filter by JR railways and shinkansen so that you don’t see trains not covered by your pass.
While you don’t need to know your exact dates and times of travel for every day of your trip I would waiting to activate your pass until you at least know your first destination and departure time. That way you can activate your pass and reserve your seats at the same time, saving you one visit to the reservation office
How to make reservations
For all other reservations you will need to go to the JR Ticket Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) which can be found by looking for this sign. Again it makes the process smoother if you know the date and time that you plan on departing before you make the reservation.
- If you are in Japan during peak tourist times (Golden Week, cherry blossom season, Olympics etc) you may want to make your reservation a few days in advance. We decided to leave Hiroshima early because of the rain and a few other people had the same idea. We ended up getting seats on a train that departed 3 hours later. There were very limited seats left for the rest of the day and we were really lucky to have gotten seats at all. In hindsight we should have made our reservations when we first arrived at the train station 2 days prior.
- Give yourself some time and patience when making reservations. There are LOTS of tourists using these passes and every station we went to had a line up. My recommendation would be to plan to split up – one parent can do the reservations for everyone (you just need the JR pass) while the other parent can take the kids to check out a shop or grab a snack. All our reservations took 30 minutes or less to complete but sometimes finding the office took a little bit of extra time.
Note 1: You do not NEED to make a reservation. There are a certain number of unreserved cars on each train and they are filled on a first come first serve basis. However, in order to ensure that you and your family can sit together and that you can leave at the time you want, it is probably best to reserve in advance. This is especially true if you aren’t boarding the train at the station at the beginning of the route and won’t be able to tell until the train has arrived and the doors have opened whether you will be able to board.
Note 2: From May 2020, a seat reservation near the luggage area will be MANDATORY in the shinkansen of the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines if the sum of the dimensions of your luggage exceeds 160 cm. In addition, the total height + width + depth of each item must be less than 250 cm. Consider bringing smaller suitcases to ensure that you aren’t stuck with supplementary charges or difficulty getting a reserved ticket. More information about luggage reservation and fees should be coming in the next couple of months.
Taking the Train
Keep your JR pass in safe spot but handy at all times. If you are at a JR station and using your JR pass to get on and off of the train you must go through a manned booth and show your pass both as you enter and exit the station. When using reserved seats on the shinkansen you must also have purchased separate tickets that give you your car and seat number.
Keep your JR pass in safe spot but handy at all times. If you are at a JR station and using your JR pass to get on and off of the train you must go through a manned booth and show your pass both as you enter and exit the station. When using reserved seats on the shinkansen you must also have purchased separate tickets that give you your car and seat number.
- Familiarize yourself with your ticket
- Find the platform where your train will depart from. On the platform there are indicators on the ground that show you where to line up to ensure you are getting on the right car.
- Be there 10 or so minutes early. Give yourself lots of time to navigate the station and make sure you are up on the platform about 10 minutes early. Some of the trains are very long and you want to make sure you have time to get to the right door. The trains always seem to leave on time so don’t count on any delays!
- You don’t need to show your ticket to anyone but do be sure to have it on you just in case there are any issues with your reserved seat.
- Baggage can be stored overhead or if it’s large, behind the last two seats. Strollers should be collapsed and also stored behind the last two seats. We never had any issues finding a spot for it and the staff on the train were always very helpful in finding a safe place to keep it that was out of other passengers way.
- Make sure you know when your stop is coming up – this is especially true if you aren’t getting off at a terminal station. The train doesn’t stop for long and people must disembark with their luggage and new passengers get on. Make sure you pack up your bags and be close to the door so that you can get your luggage off in a timely manner. We divided and conquered where I looked after the kids and the carry-ons while my husband unloaded the luggage and stroller.