In this video we'll explain how to travel Japan
by train without a JR Pass. For your Japan trip you may have been bombarded with recommendations
to get a Japan Rail Pass. However things have changed. Why was the JR Pass so great? The whole
Japan Rail Pass offers unlimited rides on JR trains throughout Japan including shinkansen
bullet trains. It's extremely convenient to have if you want to ride in an unreserved car of
a shinkansen train all you need to do is feed your JR Pass to the automatic ticket gate and board
the train. For years the JR Pass was an amazing deal at the previous price of around 29,000 Yen
per adult 7-Day ordinary JR Pass it was worth it to use on the popular golden route. However,
in October of 2023 the prices for the JR Pass skyrocketed by around 70%. Now it costs 50,000 yen
for an ordinary 7-Day pass. It's still convenient it still allows for unlimited train rides however
it's not so likely to save you money for the whole Japan Rail Pass. To save you money you would
need to travel far distances or stop at many cities within a short amount of time. But don't
worry you don't actually need a JR Pass to travel Japan by train. We're going to share multiple
options of how you can explore Japan by train without a JR Pass. Including buying individual
single Journey tickets for shinkansen trains, using a regional JR Pass or using an IC card
to pay for Local transportation within a city. But first a bit about why we love trains so much.
Trains are our preferred method of transportation within Japan. Compared to taking an airplane
flight you don't need to go through security and then wait at a boarding gate. It can be much
quicker to board a shinkansen train bringing food and drinks on board. The shinkansen is also fine
as there's no liquids restrictions like there are on airplanes. Also with an airplane once you
arrive at the airport you still need to to take another form of transportation to get to where
you're staying whereas a train will take you right into the Heart of the City. Compared to a
bus a train is a smoother ride which is especially important to us since one of our kids gets motion
sickness on buses. It's also nice that on a train you can get up and walk around and stretch your
legs. Single Journey Shinkansen train tickets. One of the main benefits of the JR Pass is it allows
you unlimited rides on shinkansen trains which are high-speed bullet trains that can whisk you
across Japan as fast as 300 kmph. That's fast. But a JR Pass is not the only way to ride Shinkansen
trains. You can purchase individual single Journey Shinkansen tickets. This is a better option for
simple Japan itineraries for instance the golden route which will take you from Tokyo to Kyoto
and Osaka and then back to Tokyo this costs about 32,000 Yen for adult ticket reserved seat in
an ordinary car. That's 18,000 Yen less than the whole JR Pass. You you can purchase a shinkansen
ticket at the train station at a ticketing office or at a ticketing machine. There are also a lot of
online options for instance Klook. Klook is great because they are the only third party vendor that
I know of that covers all the regions of Japan and their site is also really easy to use because
it has been translated into many languages and they accept numerous forms of payment. Another
benefit of Klook is you can purchase up to 90 days in advance. The second option is Smart EX.
This is another great option however they only cover from Tokyo on South all the way down
to Kyushu and this is on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines only. One of the main benefits
of Smart EX is that when you reserve a seat you can choose your own seat. You cannot do that on
Klook. Also sometimes they have good discounts if you can purchase in advance. With Smart EX you can
purchase up to 30 days in advance. The next option is to purchase directly from the JR websites such
as JR East JR West and JR Kyushu. The main issue with purchasing directly through JR is their
websites aren't as user friendly. For instance, other than English and Japanese it might be
hard to read but when you reserve your seats you can choose your own seats as well and same
with a Smart EX. You can only Reserve up to 30 days in advance. If you want to visit multiple
cities during your Japan trip then you will need to purchase individual Shin kansen tickets to
get from City to City. They are not offered as roundtrip tickets. So again if you're going
from Tokyo to Osaka you need to buy one ticket and then going from Osaka back to Tokyo you need
to buy another individual ticket. If you want a similar experience to using the whole Japan Rail
Pass then an excellent alternative is a Regional JR Pass that covers the particular part of Japan
you want to explore. Your itinerary may be covered by one or more Regional Passes. It's helpful to
understand the various regions of Japan. The Japan Railways Group consists of six companies based
upon the regions they serve. JR Hokkaido, JR East, JR Central, JR West, JR Shikoku, & JR Kyushu. To
get a better understanding of each region we'll link to each of the JR companies below. If you'll
be traveling through more than one region of Japan don't worry these JR companies work together.
So many of the regional passes cover two or more regions. For instance the Hokuriku Arch Pass
starts in Tokyo which is JR East and continues to Osaka which is part of JR West. Another example
is the Sanyo-San'in Area Pass. This covers parts of JR West, JR Shikoku and the northern part
of JR Kyushu. Now we're going to introduce the best Regional Passes to use as an alternative
to the JR Pass. There are additional Regional passes as well. The Hokuriku Arch Pass is the
only JR Regional Pass that includes the three major cities on the golden route: Tokyo, Kyoto,
and Osaka. The pass follows a designated arched route it starts in Tokyo then goes to Nagano not
Nagoya continues to Kanazawa then onto Fukui, Kyoto and ends in Osaka. This pass does not
include the Tokaido Shinkansen which directly connects Tokyo to Kyoto. None of the Regional JR
Passes include the Tokaido Shinkansen. That is only covered by the whole Japan Rail Pass. Also
please note that on March 16th 2024 the price of the Hokuriku Arch Pass is going to increase from
24,500 yen to 30,000 yen. This is because the Hokuriku Shinkansen has been extended. Now instead
of stopping at Kanazawa, the shinkansen continues on to Tsuruga Station. Which is going to offer
a really good time savings. From there you can continue on with the Thunderbird Limited Express
to Kyoto. Our family used the Hokuriku Arch Pass last summer and we really enjoyed it. It takes you
near many of Japan hidden gems. If you're the type of person that prefers beautiful nature and likes
to be a bit away from the crowds then the Hokuriku Arch Pass may be an excellent option for you. the
Hokuriku Arch Pass is valid for seven consecutive days. If you want to lock in the current price of
the Hokuriku Arch Pass make sure to pre-order it before March 15th of 2024. We'll leave our Klook
affiliate link below where you can pre-order it. You'll need to redeem it in Japan within 90 days
of purchase. Otherwise, if you purchase directly through the JR website you can purchase it 30 days
before you use it. If you want to spend a few days exploring Tokyo and nearby sites then another
excellent option is the Tokyo Wide Pass. This pass includes Transportation within Tokyo as well
as nearby areas such as Nikko or if you want to go skiing you can take the shinkansen from Tokyo
all the way up to Gala Yuzawa Ski Resort. Yes it drops you off right at the resort. And currently
if you show your pass you can get a discount on lift tickets until the 6th of May 2024. And the
Tokyo Wide Pass is the only JR Pass that will take you from Tokyo to Mount Fuji Kawaguchiko
Station. Using the Fujikyu Railway. And it also includes Transportation getting to Narita and
Haneda airports. The Tokyo Wide Pass is valid for three consecutive days and currently costs 15,000
Yen per adult. If you will spend a few days in the Kansai Region you may want to get the Kansai
Wide Area Pass this pass covers Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Wakayama and as far south as Okayama. It
allows you to ride the Sanyo Shinkansen including the Hello Kitty Shinkansen. Also you can ride
on Express trains the Haruka Express to Kansai Airport in Osaka as well as local JR Trains in
the region. The kansai Wide Area Pass is valid for five consecutive days and costs 12,000
yen. This is one of the passes we recommend most often. If you need to go further south than
Okayama then the Sanyo San'in Area Pass is a good option. It basically includes everything that the
Kansai Wide Area Pass includes except it goes even further south to Hiroshima where you can take the
Miyajima Ferry. And you can continue All the Way South to Hakata in Fukuoka. And while it does
not include the ferry to Busan South Korea you can get on the ferry in Fukuoka. The Sanyo San'in
Area Pass is a 7-Day pass and costs 23,000 Yen per adult. The Hokkaido Rail Pass covers all JR trains
on the island of Hokkaido with the exception of the Hokkaido Shinkansen. But that's not really a
big deal because the Hokkaido Shinkansen only runs in a small section of the island then leaves
South to Aomori. With the Hokkaido Rail Pass you can visit the beautiful flower fields in
Furano or visit the national parks of Shiretoko and Daisetsuzan. And if you want to go north you
can visit the Charming Seaside town of Otaru and of course one of our favorite places Sapporo.
There are three possible durations either 5, 7 or 10 days. The 7-Day version costs 26,000 Yen
per adult. Typically the price of regional passes for children aged 6 to 11 is half that of an adult
pass. Children ages five and younger can ride with an adult for free. However, if you want to reserve
a seat for your child who is five or younger then you need to buy them a pass. Downsides of
Regional Passes. There are a couple. Mainly they don't cover all the areas like the whole Japan
Rail Pass therefore you're going to have to do some research. You're going to have to check maps
and see what's included and what's not. To make things easier we recommend that you download the
Japan Travel App by Navitime - as you can sort by different passes. And you can expect to pay for
some side trips for instance with the Hokuriku Arch Pass we visited the city of Matsumoto and it
is not included in the Hokuriku Arch Pass so we paid a separate fare which was small to go from
Nagano to Matsumoto. You may want to get both an individual single Journey bull train ticket and
also a Regional JR Pass. For example you could buy a shinkansen ticket to take you from Tokyo to
Kyoto and then once you're at Kyoto you could use the Kansai Wide Area Pass to visit Osaka Nara and
Himeji. Or you could buy a single journey bullet train ticket from Kyoto to Tokyo and once you're
in Tokyo use the Tokyo Wide Area Pass to explore the surrounding area. Combinations such as these
will serve you best without spending unnecessary money. Note that just like the Whole Japan Rail
Pass, the JR Regional Passes run for consecutive days the first day you use the pass also called
the activation day counts as day 1 it doesn't matter if you start using it at 11:00 a.m. in the
morning or 11:00 p.m. that is day one. There are also Regional Passes offered by companies other
than JR. For example the Hakone Free Pass that I explained in a previous video is offered by Odakyu
Railway. Odakyu Railway also offers other passes such as the Enoshima Kamakura Free Pass and also
the Fuji Hakone Pass and some other combinations as well. So don't be afraid to look beyond JR.
How to pay separately for local transportation. You won't always be riding the bullet train to
get around Japan in many instances you'll just be traveling locally within a city there is an
easy and convenient way to do this without having a transportation pass. Within each city you can
pay for transportation by using an IC card to ride trains, buses, subways, and metros. And this
includes transportation on both JR and non JR lines. IC cards are rechargeable contactless smart
cards that allow you to use public transportation and they can also be used to pay at shops,
vending machines and some lockers. You can purchase IC cards at JR ticketing office offices,
vending machines, and tourist information centers. However there is a chip shortage right now so
it might make it difficult for you to actually purchase an IC card. When you purchase an IC card
you'll be required to put down a deposit and load money onto the card so you can start using it.
The beauty of the IC card is you won't have to buy individual paper tickets to ride either the
trains, subways, buses, you name it. This could be a huge timesaver as you won't have to decipher
the charts that are mostly in Japanese and then trying to figure out what the cost is instead you
just tap and go. When your balance is running low on the card there are many places where you
can charge it including at the train stations, they have charging machines. You can also go to
the JR ticketing office and also many convenience stores near the train stations. Which IC card
should you get? Each region of Japan has their own IC card. For instance in Hokkaido they have the
KITAKA Card in Fukuoka they have the SUGOCA card, Osaka has ICOCA and in Tokyo they have the SUICA
and PASMO. While these cards work in some places outside of the regions not all do. So depending
on which area of Japan you're going to be spending the most time should determine which card you
get. But if you want to get the card with the most widely acceptance across Japan then the best
options are either SUICA or the ICOCA card. And we've had really good luck using both of these
cards across most of Japan. Another option is if you have an iPhone you can use the electronic
version of the SUICA, PASMO, or ICOCA card. This is a really good option if you have an iPhone
and you can't get a regular IC card. I hope you now see that even without a JR Pass you can
still travel around Japan by train. You can buy single Journey tickets for shinkansen trains,
opt for a regional JR Pass, and conveniently pay for local transportation using an IC card.
You might even do all three. Let us know in the comments below which Regional Pass you would
like us to make a more detailed video about. We share tons here on Kensho Quest to help you travel
throughout Japan with ease so please subscribe for more travel tips and inspiration. Now we've
got a plane to go catch to Sapporo, Japan.
