Home

Japan Hotels
Japan Luxury Hotels
Japan Accommodation
Map of Japan
Japan Attractions
Japan Information
Japan Climate
Japan Itinerary
Accommodation Styles
Japan Temples
Japan Rail Pass
Shinkansen Bullet Train
Ski Japan

JAPAN CITY - BY REGIONS
HOKKAIDO
Furano
Hakodate
New Chitose Airport
Niseko
Noboribetsu
Sapporo

TOHOKU
Akita
Aomori
Sendai
Yamagata

KANTO
Kamakura
Hakone
Narita
Narita Airport
Nikko
Tokyo
Yokohama

CHUBU
Centrair International Airport
Gifu
Hakuba
Hamamatsu
Kanazawa
Karuizawa
Matsumoto
Mount Fuji
Nagano
Nagoya
Niigata
Shiga Kogen
Shizuoka
Takayama

KANSAI
Himeji
Kansai Airport
Kobe
Kyoto
Nara
Osaka

CHUGOKU
Hiroshima
Kurashiki
Miyajima
Okayama

SHIKOKU
Matsuyama

KYUSHU
Beppu
Fukuoka
Kagoshima
Kumamoto
Nagasaki
Oita

OKINAWA
Naha

JAPANESE TOPICS
Japan Travel
Tokyo
Kyoto
Japan
Japanese Culture
Japanese Translation
Japan Pictures
Japan Map
Japanese Girls
Japan Forum
Link Exchange
Site Map
Contact

JR PASS RESTRICTIONS

JR Pass Restrictions - When does it make sense to buy a JR Pass? What times of the year should you not buy a JR Pass?

When not to buy a JR Pass

Around the New Years time most intercity trains are very full as this is the traditional time for the Japanese to return to their family's home town. You cannot book a train ticket from outside Japan with a JR Pass. Thus you cannot book a train ticket until you arrive in Japan. If you are only arriving a few days before the New Year and you wish to travel between cities on or near the New Years, then I strongly recommend not purchasing a JR Pass for this section of your trip.

You must purchase JR Pass outside Japan

JR Pass can only be purchased outside of Japan. You can purchase your JR Pass online here. Upon purchase, you are given a receipt, which can be exchanged at Japan Rail Offices at most stations in Japan (including all of the  JR Stations nearest to airports), for the JR Pass itself.

JR Pass only works on JR Network

Cities like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka have many different train companies, sometimes more than five. JR is only one of them and you can only use the JR Pass on JR lines. If you are staying in a part of a city that is not serviced well by JR or you want to go to an attraction that is not serviced by JR then you will have to buy tickets for those trips.

JR Pass only works on the slower Shinkansen

On the main Shinkansen lines there are three different speeds of service. You cannot use the JR Pass on the fastest Nozomi service.

Japan Hotels

Japan Prefectures

Find answers to your questions about Japan in our forum.

Tokyo Hotels
Osaka Hotels
Kyoto Hotels
Hiroshima Hotels
Nagoya Hotels
Fukuoka Hotels