Japan Rail Pass

Less often than it used to. After the 2023 increase it only wins on itineraries with a lot of long-distance travel in a short window, such as Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima to Kanazawa and back inside seven days, or several long side trips from one base. For a single Tokyo to Kyoto return, ordinary tickets or a domestic flight are usually cheaper. Its other value is convenience: you stop buying tickets and can add a side trip on a whim.

Not without paying extra. Those are the fastest services on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen, and you need a Nozomi Mizuho Ticket for the section you ride, sold at major JR ticket offices. Roughly: Tokyo to Kyoto or Shin-Osaka ¥4,960, Tokyo to Hiroshima ¥6,500, Tokyo to Hakata ¥8,140, Shin-Osaka to Hakata ¥4,960. The Hikari and Sakura are covered in full and are only a little slower.

Calendar days, midnight to midnight. Start a 7-day pass at noon on day one and it ends at midnight at the end of day seven, not at noon on day eight. If you are on board when it expires, you may finish that journey; but a shinkansen or limited express you board after midnight is no longer covered for its express supplement.

Foreign nationals entering Japan with Temporary Visitor status. Japanese nationals living abroad may qualify with an overseas residence certificate issued within the previous six months; dual nationals need ten or more continuous years of residence abroad. Residents of Japan cannot use it. The pass carries your name, cannot be shared or transferred, and staff may ask for your passport.

From 2026/10/01 the official site is cheaper: it keeps the current prices while agency Exchange Orders rise by about 6%: a 7-day ordinary pass is ¥50,000 on the official site and ¥53,000 as an Exchange Order. The official site also lets you reserve seats online before you arrive and collect the pass with your passport alone, at machines as well as counters. Agencies can be worth it if you are bundling other travel products or earning points.

At ticket counters of designated major JR stations, including Narita and Kansai airports. Hand over your passport, plus the voucher if you bought through an agency; photocopies are not accepted. Buy from the official site and you can also use selected ticket machines. Passes are no longer sold at stations inside Japan.

Yes, any date within a one-month window. Buy from the official site and you set it at purchase and can change it afterwards. With an agency voucher you set it when you exchange, and once the pass is printed the start date is fixed. Vouchers must be exchanged within three months of issue.

Only before the start date. Once the pass has started it cannot be refunded or extended. A pass bought on the official site is refunded for a ¥560 fee. An agency Exchange Order you have not exchanged goes back to the agency that sold it, which sets its own fee; one already exchanged in Japan is refunded at an exchange office for 10% of the price.

They are free and unlimited, made at ticket machines or offices, or online if you bought from the official site. Some trains are reserved-only and do need one: Hayabusa, Hayate, Komachi, Tsubasa and Kagayaki shinkansen, all limited expresses on Hokkaido, the Sunrise night trains, and limited expresses from Osaka and Kyoto toward Kanazawa, Kinosaki, Tottori and Kumano. On Tokyo-area limited expresses like the Narita Express you may sit in a vacant seat but must give it up to whoever booked it.

On the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen (Tokyo to Kagoshima-Chuo), a bag whose length, width and height add up to 161 to 250 cm needs a seat with an oversized baggage area, reserved in advance. With the pass that reservation is free: ask for it at the ticket office. Board without one and you pay a ¥1,000 fee.

Not on its own. It helps in Tokyo and Osaka, where the JR Yamanote and Loop lines do a lot of the work, but in Kyoto and most other cities the useful services are subways, buses and private railways, none of which the pass covers.

Green cars have wider seats, more legroom and are usually quieter, and they run on most shinkansen and limited expresses. Ordinary seats are comfortable enough for most people. You cannot upgrade cheaply on the day: an ordinary pass covers only the base fare, so you pay the Green Car fee and the express supplement separately, which rarely works out.