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[travellingmango]

I'm going to Tokyo in a few weeks for 11 days and was wondering what people thought of the JR Pass available to tourists?

I would be using the underground every day of my journey and would probably be going to Mt Fuji, Kyoto, etc as well at some point.

Has anyone used it before and would you recommend it, or would it be easier for me to just pay the fares up front?

Thanks,

travelling mango

[battlemonkey]

i used the JR Pass when I was in Japan. 14 days, traveling between Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. It was well worth it. Keep in mind though that local trains and subways are privately owned, and the pass only works on JR train lines --which means it's of great use city to city, but within cities, you'll just be paying cash.

The easiest way to do this is to just tally up the cost of trips from one city to the next, and see if it comes out to be more or less than the cost of a pass. for me, it was a good value.

[kacampau]

I wish had heard of the JR pass. I spent 2 weeks in Japan as a tourish and almost all of my money spent on the trains and the buses. It was so expensive!

[travellingmango]

I decided to get one - not only to save time but also it seems that if I want to go travelling about, I can do it for roughly the same/slightly cheaper with the card.

Thanks battlemonkey and kacampau

[rbisset]

I had a 7 day pass and abused it royally I went from Tokyo to Fukuoka in a day! Then spent the rest of the week making my way back to Tokyo via Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, and Kyoto. Was a bargain for the travelling I managed to do.

[mataeka]

When I go back to Japan in a few years time with a mate we're goinna get the 21 day pass which is about $600 I think from memory, But in those three weeks we're gonna travel all the way frokm hokkaido to the bottom ends ... I dunno if it's possible to get to Okinawa via JR, but I'd love that as well.

THe think to remember is that a shinkansen (bullet train) costs about $100 to go from Nagoya to Tokyo, so if you're using the shinkansen and going from town to town a lot ... it's totally worth it.
If you're going to Japan and sticking in Tokyo for the whole time, then no maybe it's not your cup of rice in that instance.

[kitkatgo]

i used the JR Pass when I was in Japan. 14 days, traveling between Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. It was well worth it. Keep in mind though that local trains and subways are privately owned, and the pass only works on JR train lines --which means it's of great use city to city, but within cities, you'll just be paying cash.

The easiest way to do this is to just tally up the cost of trips from one city to the next, and see if it comes out to be more or less than the cost of a pass. for me, it was a good value.

Yeah, I agree...just depends on how many cities you're going to and if it adds up or not.

Also, there are different types of JR passes. I know there is a "regular" pass and a "Green" pass. Regular, I believe, is like unreserved seats and can be crowded. Green seats are much quieter and you reserve your seats (can be done just before you get on). Green is more expensive of course.

We had green passes and went to several cities in Japan. It was great I thought. We got the passes on advice from the Japanese fellows my husband was meeting with...

[mataeka]

i used the JR Pass when I was in Japan. 14 days, traveling between Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara. It was well worth it. Keep in mind though that local trains and subways are privately owned, and the pass only works on JR train lines --which means it's of great use city to city, but within cities, you'll just be paying cash.

The easiest way to do this is to just tally up the cost of trips from one city to the next, and see if it comes out to be more or less than the cost of a pass. for me, it was a good value.

Yeah, I agree...just depends on how many cities you're going to and if it adds up or not.

Also, there are different types of JR passes. I know there is a "regular" pass and a "Green" pass. Regular, I believe, is like unreserved seats and can be crowded. Green seats are much quieter and you reserve your seats (can be done just before you get on). Green is more expensive of course.

We had green passes and went to several cities in Japan. It was great I thought. We got the passes on advice from the Japanese fellows my husband was meeting with...

Green passes are like the luxury or first class cars, you can still get a reserved seat on a normal JR Rail Pass

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en007.html

theres some more information on that site

[kniki123]

Hi,thanks for posting. I'll be heading for tokyo next week. Could anyone here tell me how to apply or avail the JR Pass for tourists? Thanks!


Regards,
kniki123
Placement financier

[segacs]

Agree the pass is highly worth it for most travelers, as long as you're:
-trying to cover quite a lot of distanace within a relatively short period of time
-planning to do a lot of inter-city travel
-planning to make use of your pass most of the days you have it

It may not be worth it for:
-longer-term travelers who want to spend a month or more in Japan and are traveling very slowly
-people who are only traveling locally (e.g. if you go for a week and spend all your time in Tokyo)

I had a 7-day pass when I went to Japan for 10 days in November '08 and it was a ridiculously good bargain.

[mitsukishiroi]

When I go back to Japan in a few years time with a mate we're goinna get the 21 day pass which is about $600 I think from memory, But in those three weeks we're gonna travel all the way frokm hokkaido to the bottom ends ... I dunno if it's possible to get to Okinawa via JR, but I'd love that as well. .

You cannot get to Okinawa via JR. The best you can do is travel to Kagoshima and take the flight from there to Naha city!