Maximizing your Japan Rail Pass

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When I published my Japan travel expenses, most of you balked at the price of my train ticket: Php 23,000 or ¥45,100. I also had the same reaction when Ivan told me about the pass, but upon reading up on it and calculating the amount of money I’ll save vis-a-vis buying the tickets separately, I made sure to buy the pass before I left for Japan.

Rail travel in Japan is very comfortable. All the trains are in great condition, and the seats have legroom airlines can only dream of. While it’s cheaper than flying domestic, it is more expensive than taking the bus. While the bus can save you money on fares and overnight buses can save you on accommodation costs, it eats up more time to travel the same distance. Besides, this is Japan we’re talking about! I can’t pass up the chance to ride the bullet train!

The beauty of the JR Pass is that it lets you ride the trains of the Japan Railways for free, as long as you have a valid pass. It’s valid on the shinkansen (except for Nozomi and Mizuho trains), express trains, and local lines. Though it’s not valid on private railways and subways, it can be used on the Osaka Loop Line and the Yamanote Loop Line in Tokyo.

To better illustrate how (relatively) cheap my 14-day rail pass is, here’s the list of all the trains I took in Japan and their corresponding fares, based on Hyperdia.com:

What do you think now? My Php 23,000 train ticket actually costs Php 56,304.86, which gives me a savings of Php 33,304.86!

A note about the fare as well: in long distance trains, you pay for the fare AND the seat. The seat cost depends on the class, and whether it’s a reserved seat or an unreserved seat. While most trains have cars with non-reserved seats, there are a handful of trains that only have reserved cars. Luckily, the Japan Rail Pass covers the cost of the seat and reservation fee already.

On the same vein, berths and cabins also have additional fees, so if you plan to riding sleeping trains, you’d have to research well because you might end up having to pay extra for your bunk. That’s why most of my train rides were during the day, and I was lucky to find a night train without any additional costs.

The Japan Rail Pass is available to foreigners traveling to Japan on a temporary visit visa, and Japan nationals who are residents in other countries. The pass is not available in Japan, so you’d have to buy it from an agent before you leave your home country. There are sites that offer this online, but in the Philippines, you can buy it from the Japan Airlines office (but only if you are flying with them), and travel agencies like Universal Holiday, Inc and Attic Tours. For more information about the JR Pass, visit their website at www.japanrailpass.net.