The ultimate guide to Japan Rail Pass types and prices

There are some Singaporeans who travel to Japan so much that the names of obscure Japanese onsens and izakayas roll off their tongues like smoother than kewpie mayo. For the rest of us, travelling around Japan is and will always remain a mystery.

Booking flights from Singapore to Japan is easy enough. But once you're there, you'll need all your brain power to figure out the intricacies of the Japan rail and public transport systems (yes, plural).

More importantly, before you get there, you need to calculate whether it's worthwhile to buy a JR Pass in Singapore before you fly.

What exactly is JR Pass, you ask? This is short for the Japan Rail Pass, basically an unlimited travel pass that lets tourists take Japan Railways trains for a certain number of days.

You don't need it for travelling within the city, but if you're travelling across several prefectures, it might be more cost-effective than buying train tickets a la carte.

To make things confusing, on top of the nationwide Japan Rail Pass, there are also many cheaper regional JR Passes e.g. JR Hokkaido Pass, JR Kansai Pass and JR Kyushu Pass.

So which JR Pass should you get, and how much does it cost? Here's a guide to help you make sense of the options available.

1. Overview of Japan Rail Pass prices

Here's an overview of the most popular tourist JR Passes available in Japan. Don't worry if it makes no sense just yet — I'll cover them systematically later.

However, there's a simple way to break it all down. I've organised them according to these common travel needs:

• Travelling throughout all of Japan
• Getting from Tokyo to Osaka & Kyoto
• Travelling around Tokyo & its surrounds
• Travelling from Tokyo to East Japan
• Travelling around Hokkaido
• Travelling around Kansai (Osaka & Kyoto) and beyond
• Exploring Kyushu island

* Japanese yen (¥) and SGD prices are as reported on the Japan Rail Pass website.

Prices are for adult passes purchased outside of Japan. There’s also a ~50% discount for children aged six to 11 (kids up to age five travel for free).

Not only is it generally 10 per cent to 15 per cent cheaper to buy your JR Pass outside of Japan, it's also easier because they're more widely available. If you wait till you arrive in Japan, there are only a few specific offices you can purchase your pass from. In Singapore, you can buy your pass easily online; the last section will cover where to buy JR Passes before you fly.

As you can see, there are a TON of regional JR Passes…. and this is after I omitted the ones that aren't worth considering because they don't let you travel to and from major cities.

2. Japan Rail Pass - the JR Pass that covers all of Japan

The original JR Pass that most Singaporeans would be familiar with is the Japan Rail Pass. This covers practically all of Japan, which is connected by an extensive JR (Japan Railway) network.

There are two versions of the JR Pass: Ordinary and Green. The former is cheaper, but it only lets you board Ordinary or coach class. If you're travelling during non-peak periods, an Ordinary pass will suffice. As anyone who's taken the train in Japan can tell you, even coach class is super clean and comfortable.

Spending more on Green gives you access to the premium Green class, which is found on long-distance trains. If you're travelling during peak travel season e.g. cherry blossom season, it might be worthwhile to splurge on a Green JR Pass. During these periods, coach class is packed to the brim. It'll be easier to get seats in the more expensive Green cars.

After deciding on which class you want, the next step is to decide on the number of days: 7, 14 or 21 consecutive days. You can specify the exact date on which you want to activate your pass.

Putting it all together, here's a table to show you how much each variant costs, with the approximate cost in SGD alongside:

* Japanese yen (¥) and SGD prices are as reported on the Japan Rail Pass website.

Pricey, huh? 

So when is the JR Pass worth getting?

Even if you go for Ordinary, the full Japan Rail Pass is a significant cost and it really only makes sense if you are planning to cover a lot of ground in Japan, especially by Shinkansen bullet train.

Before you take the plunge, you should have an idea of the major train rides you plan to take in Japan, and key them into any of the many free JR Pass fare calculators available online. Alternatively, look up train ticket prices & timings on Hyperdia.

Let's check out a sample train route for a week-long trip:

In this case, it doesn't make sense to get the ¥50,000 (S$454.13) Ordinary JR Pass, which is ¥18,000 more expensive than the cost of going a la carte (although it does give you more mobility and flexibility in the 7 days).

If you're willing to alter your train route, however, there might be cheaper regional JR Passes that can help you save money. See the next section for a useful Japan travel hack.

3. JR Pass from Tokyo to Osaka & Kyoto - Hokuriku Arch Pass

Common question for those planning big Japan trips: Apart from the nationwide Japan Rail Pass, is there a JR Pass for travelling from Tokyo to Osaka and Kyoto?

Yes, there is! Not a lot of people know about it, but the JR Hokuriku Arch Pass links up the three major tourist destinations by rail via the scenic Hokuriku region, which includes the "Japanese Alps" (Nagano and Toyama). It also includes the airport trains Narita Express (connecting Narita Airport to downtown Tokyo) and Haruka (connecting Kansai Airport with Kyoto/Osaka).

The regional JR Hokuriku Arch Pass is valid for seven days and costs ¥30,000 ($263.55), which lets you shave about S$190 off your costs compared to a similar 7-day Japan Rail Pass.

However, because the route is linear, this JR Pass is a better for those who want to fly into Tokyo or Osaka and fly out of the other city.

To me, there's not much sense in getting this if you already bought return tickets to and from the same airport, because you'll have to traverse the same route twice. I would rather get the JR Pass in that case for more flexibility with train routes.

4. JR Pass for Tokyo, Greater Tokyo & Mount Fuji—JR Tokyo Wide Pass

If you're visiting Tokyo and not planning to do any other major cities, but still want to do some day trips or travelling around Greater Tokyo, the JR Tokyo Wide Pass can help stretch your yen.

For ¥15,000 (S$131.81), you get three days of unlimited travel on JR trains (including Shinkansen bullet trains) in Tokyo and beyond. This covers:

• JR EAST Lines​ ​
• Tokyo Monorail
• Izu Kyuko Line
• Fujikyu Railway Lines​ ​
• Joshin Dentetsu Line
• Saitama New Urban Transit (Ōmiya – the Railway Museum)​ ​
• Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit Line (Rinkai Line)​
• Reserved seats in ordinary cars of the following express trains with through operations between JR EAST and Tobu Railway lines: Nikko, Kinugawa, and SPACIA Kinugawa trains.
• Regular trains (including rapid trains) from Shimo-imaichi to Tobu-nikko and Kinugawa-onsen on the Tobu Railway line. Between Kurihashi and Shimo-imaichi, you can only use limited express trains that run through to Tobu Railway.
• The only limited express trains you can use with the JR TOKYO Wide Pass are through trains from JR lines to Tobu Railway lines. You cannot use limited express trains whose first and last stations are Tobu Railway stations.

If you're flying in from Narita Airport, the high price of Narita Express (¥3,070 one-way to Tokyo from the airport) would already cover quite a big chunk of the JR Tokyo Wide Pass. For those planning to travel a fair distance by train, e.g. to Mount Fuji or the farther-flung prefectures, it's definitely worth it.

The main problem with this pass is that it's only valid for three days. Unless you want to buy another pass, you need to squeeze all of your sightseeing in this period, which can be pretty exhausting.

The JR Tokyo Wide Pass is NOT suitable if you just want to explore urban Tokyo. For that, you will need to research the various one-day Tokyo travel passes available.

Tokyo's public transport network is run by multiple operators-Tokyo Metro, the Toei subway, local JR trains and so on-so it's hard to find a satisfactory travel pass that is flexible yet value-for-money.

JR has a Tokyo 1-Day Pass that covers just about every form of public transport in the city, but it costs a whopping ¥1,600 ($15.21). It's probably physically impossible to do that much travelling in a day!

So if you're staying within Tokyo, it makes more sense to get a Suica or Pasmo IC card (Tokyo's EZ-Link) and tap as you go.

5. JR East Pass - from Tokyo to Tohoku, Niigata & Nagano

For jaded travellers who have already done Tokyo to death and want to explore the length and breadth of East Japan, there are 4 JR East Passes on offer. For comparison, I’m including the nationwide Japan Rail Pass in this table.

Of the 4, I would skip the impractical JR Tohoku-South Hokkaido Pass. It covers only the northern bit of East Japan but not Tokyo. This is only suitable if you're flying in via Sapporo but are NOT interested in exploring Hokkaido.

The JR East Pass (Nagano, Niigata) covers travel from Tokyo to Nagano and Niigata via the Shinkansen. This pass is rather restrictive and is really more for the skiing crowd, since Niigata is a famous skiing hotspot.

That leaves the remaining JR East Pass (Tohoku) and JR East-South Hokkaido Pass as the only practical options.

The 2 JR passes are very similar. Both cover a huge swath of East Japan so you can explore the entire stretch from Tokyo up to Aomori and detour to the beautiful mountainous Akita prefecture to go hot spring-hopping.

However, despite being more expensive, the JR East-South Hokkaido Pass is actually more value-for-money for Singaporeans. It goes all the way to Hakodate and Sapporo in South Hokkaido, which lets you avoid having to make a super long trip back to Tokyo to return to Singapore. More on this in the next section.

6. JR Hokkaido Pass - for Tokyo to Hokkaido, or exploring Hokkaido

One of the biggest headaches of travelling to Hokkaido is figuring out how exactly you're going to get around. Its national parks, skiing spots and onsen resorts are all pretty spread out.

The standard method seems to be to rent a car, but… what if you can't drive? Plus, Hokkaido is absolutely immense-so big that some Japanese maps purportedly "shrink" it, which Singaporean drivers are probably not used to.

If you don't want to rent a car, train travel is an alternative way to cover those vast distances. Sure enough, there's a variety of JR Hokkaido Passes to choose from:

Which JR Hokkaido Pass should you go for? The answer depends on your travel route: whether (a) you're flying in and out of Sapporo directly, or (b) combining Hokkaido with Tokyo.

If (a), you can consider the JR Hokkaido Rail Pass. The ¥20,000 or ¥26,000 passes lets you choose 5 or 7 days of travel. If you really wanna stop and take your time to smell the roses (or onsens), go for the 10-day pass at ¥32,000. This pass lets you travel on all JR Hokkaido Lines except Hokkaido Shinkansen.

Note that some Japan travel forumers advocate buying train tickets a la carte as the JR Hokkaido Passes are pretty expensive. You'll need to do the math with Japan travel planner HyperDia to see if it's worth it.

If (b), then it may be worth it to get the JR East-South Hokkaido Pass (¥35,000/S$307.26). It lets you take the Shinkansen from Hokkaido (Hakodate) to Tokyo. A la carte, this 3.5-hour train ride would set you back ¥18,000, more than half the total price of the regional pass. If you want to travel around more within Hokkaido or Tokyo, the pass may be most cost-effective.

This JR Pass also covers train transfer from Hakodate to New Chitose Airport and the Narita Express from Tokyo to Narita Airport. Essentially, it's a discounted version of the Japan Rail Pass.

7. JR West Pass - JR Pass for Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto) & beyond

Apart from Tokyo and Hokkaido, the next most popular travel destination in Japan is the Kansai region, which encompasses Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe.

There are a lot-and I mean, a lot of options when it comes to West JR Passes for this region. Here are the major ones, along with the Hokuriku Arch Pass and nationwide Japan Rail Pass for comparison:

Assuming you're flying in and out of Osaka directly, the JR Kansai Pass should serve you well. It covers the major tourist hotspots as well as the trip to and from Kansai Airport (which costs about ¥1,190 one-way).

But whether it's better value than buying train tickets separately depends your pace of travel. In general, the JR Kansai Pass is for those who like to chiong multiple places in a day and/or are based in one place and doing a lot of day trips. If you're planning a slow-paced trip then you should probably go a la carte.

The Kansai area has tons of things to see and do, but if you want to explore further, there's also a huge variety of JR Passes serving the entirety of West Japan, like the JR Kansai Wide Pass, JR Kansai-Hiroshima Pass, JR Kansai-Hokuriku Pass and JR Sanyo-San'in Pass. (Don't forget to turn to your travel companion and say, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansai anymore.")

Planning to travel cross-country from Kansai to Tokyo or vice versa? Consider buying the long-distance JR Passes: either the JR Hokuriku Arch Pass or the nationwide Japan Rail Pass. 

8. JR Kyushu Pass - for exploring Kyushu island from Fukuoka

Though not a mainstream destination like Tokyo or Osaka, Kyushu island it's been growing in popularity ever since Singapore Airlines began offering direct flights to Fukuoka Airport.

Surprisingly, the island is well-connected by train. It even has its own Shinkansen bullet train, which can cover the length of the island-Hakata (where Fukuoka Airport is) all the way down to Kagoshima — in less than 1.5 hours.

The JR Kyushu Pass comes in three main varieties: South Kyushu, North Kyushu and All Kyushu. Self-explanatory. Here are the prices, along with the JR Sanyo-San'in Pass for comparison:

On the whole, the JR Kyushu Passes are very good value for money as long as you're taking the Kyushu Shinkansen. Here's a very modest 3-day itinerary with fares for one-way trips:

If you get the ¥17,000 JR All Kyushu Pass, you'd be saving at least ¥4,000 (S$38.25) on train fares. That's decent!

For longer stays, consider buying the ¥8,000 (S76.49) JR South Kyushu Pass + ¥10,000  (S$95.62) JR North Kyushu Pass instead of the JR All Kyushu Pass. That's an extra day of travel for ¥500 less. You can stay in Kumamoto if you want to avoid doing a hotel change midway.

Finally, I also included the JR Sanyo-San'in Pass which is for those who fly in to Fukuoka but want to visit the Kansai area (Kyoto and Osaka) instead of exploring Kyushu island.

9. Where to buy JR Pass in Singapore

Phew. We've finally come to the end of a very long parade of JR Passes. (I never knew how big Japan was until I wrote this article…)

To recap some of the key takeaways that might be lost in the massive info-dump above:

• It’s not always worth it to get a JR Pass. If you’re just staying in one city, it’s usually better to just use the metro as you go. Get yourself a Suica card and tap like an EZ-Link card.
• Get a JR Pass only if you’re planning quite a bit of intercity travel, especially if it involves the Shinkansen bullet train.
• Plan your major train trips and use HyperDia or a JR Pass calculator to tally up the total costs, then figure out if your JR Pass is worth it.
• Don’t automatically go for the nationwide Japan Rail Pass. It’s very expensive. Even if you’re covering 2 or more regions by Shinkansen, there might be a cheaper regional JR Pass that covers your route.
• Each JR Pass variation has different rules, so check and make sure it covers all the trains you want to take, especially the expensive ones like Narita Express and Shinkansen bullet trains.
• After buying your JR Pass in Singapore, remember you’ll need to exchange it for an actual pass in Japan at major train stations and airports.

If you've finally decided on which JR Pass you want to get, the next step is to buy the JR Pass. For that, you have three options — buy your JR Pass

1. Physically in Japan: If you want to go old school and visit a physical branch, you can buy your JR Pass in Japan.
2. Physically in Singapore: You can also visit an authorised agent in Singapore. Here’s a list of Southeast Asian sales offices and agents — scroll down to the section on Singapore for a list of offices and their contact details.
3. Online (in Singapore): The most affordable option! We’ll elaborate below.

There are also plenty of options to buy JR Passes online, and they're generally cheaper than buying them at a physical branch. But do be wary of the huge price difference between the retailers. I've compared some of the prices for the nationwide Japan Rail Pass (Ordinary) to show you how crazy the discrepancy can be.

The JR Pass on these sites may or may not be cheaper than buying it directly from the Japan Rail Pass website:

Regional JR Passes vary in price as well, so be sure to check three to five retailers before you buy.

ALSO READ: Japan introduces new climbing regulations for Mount Fuji

      

This article was first published in MoneySmart.