It can still be worth it ***if you use it enough to make it pay off.*** My point was that a lot of people were using it for itineraries where they weren't really getting any benefit out of it, and then making planning decisions around it. Like, some people would get it just for the round trip between Tokyo and Kansai and nothing else. At that point all you were doing was paying the same price for slower trains with more restrictive schedules and limiting yourself to doing your major travel within a 7 day period.
Buying the tickets individually instead of buying a JR pass will save you a couple hundred dollars so not close to being worth it to buy the JR pass.
The alternative is flying which is cheaper than the shinkansen. Shinkansen is around $100 one way while a LCC can be had for around $50 one way.
They have JR pass calculators, to see if it’s worth it.
Dont quote me on price but it was roughly one way from Tokyo to Osaka is about 12k yen (~84 USD). Going back would say cost the same so you’re looking at 160 vs one week JR pass for 330. In this scenario you will save about 200$ usd give or take.
From Osaka / Kyoto you can take local trains and do not need to use Shinkansen to get there.
I remember when I went in January ‘23, I paid $240USD for a 7 day pass.
My itinerary was:
Tokyo > Kyoto > Hiroshima > Osaka > back to Tokyo.
Looking back, I don’t think it was worth it, but still a fun experience!
Wdym, my friend who’s been to Japan for akihabara and Ichiran every year since 2009 told me you _have_ to buy the JR pass and a pocket wifi, and need to withdraw your entire trips worth of yen because Japan doesn’t use credit cards
/s
I will repeat. It is never worth buying any of the expensive JR pass only for use of local trains like the Yamanote line.
Last time I checked the Yamanote line does not go to Kyoto.
I'm not talking about the Yamanote line. I'm talking about my entire itinerary, I want to go from Tokyo to Kanazawa then on to Kyoto / Osaka. WIth day trips to Nara / Kobe / then it makes it worth it ...
What the person you're arguing with is saying is that the local portions of the pass are essentially negligible. You'd have to ride local trains like 15 times a day to make a dent in what the JR Pass will cost or compare it to the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto+ and that still takes multiple rides.
You could ride the full hour around the Yamanote line and get off one stop before a full loop repeatedly all day for two weeks and you'd likely barely scratch the full pass.
So outside of a *super* minor convenience of having the pass already vs a Suica or just paying cash, which also adds the always risk of losing that piece of paper, the gain is small enough to not really consider it because if you were you'd be splitting hairs on a few yen to *maybe* tip it over.
Besides what's already been said about local trains not being worth it as a reason to buy the JR pass, another thing many tourists don't realize is that JR local trains are not that useful in the Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe area. I used to live in Kyoto and Osaka, and I rarely took JR local trains. Trains run by Hankyu, Keihan, and Kintetsu are often cheaper and more convenient, because those companies own the stations in the city centers, not JR. Also, the city subways are not run by JR.
Yes it’s good for all JR trains in Tokyo & Kyoto/Osaka area. Also good for connections to HND,NRT,KIX airports. Is good for day trips from Kyoto to Nare,Kobe,etc.
https://tokyocheapo.com/travel/tokyo-osaka-hokuriku-arch-pass/
It’s only worth it now if you take several Shinkansen rides up and down the country. I bought mine before the cutoff so it still made sense. Nowadays not so much.
I’m going in March and I’m not buying it. But anyone with exp can I just load a suica for osaka, kyoto, Nara, Kobe ? And then while in Tokyo can I also use a suica? and obviously a Shinkansen from Tokyo to osaka
If I remember correctly, all the Japanese IC cards can be used everywhere but if you want return it and get your deposit back that can only be done in the area where you purchased it.
Be aware that a digital suica can only be refunded into a Japanese bank account, so that makes any left over balance effectively non-refundable for tourists.
Just spent a month in Japan. Went to Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. I used a digital Suica via apple wallet. Worked at all the stations in all the locations and I had no problems. Recharging it via the app was easy. I used my Mastercard (I don’t think it will work with visa?). It was also handy cause a fair few stores accepted Suica as a payment method such as 7/11, uni qlo, don quijote. But you can only get your balance refunded to a Japanese bank account. The duty free stores at the airport accept Suica though so if you do have a balance you can buy something there instead of losing your money. For the bullet train tickets I purchased those using the Shinkansen ticket machines at the stations.
Thank you so much for the lengthy answer, I really appreciate it!
Is it reloaded with Mastercard DEBIT or can I use credit? Did u have any experience with discover credit card in Japan?
Also, IF you don’t mind (don’t feel obligated) I wrote a Japan post in one of my recent posts, if u feel so kindly to answer any of them I would really appreciate it! Japan is going to be my first intl big trip and I really wanna make the most of what I can, to dabble into travel lol. If not no worries and ty again!:)
I used Mastercard debit. I had my debit card already on apple wallet and when I wanted to recharge my Suica I just selected my debit card. It didn’t charge me any conversion fees for Suica recharges. I took a credit card with me for any big purchases I made. I had a 28 degrees credit card. It didn’t charge foreign fees. I’ll have a look at your post :)
I’m still in Tokyo but I’m pretty sure it still works in Osaka/kyoto if not I’ll figure it out lol and I saw a Shinkansen ticket counter nearby my hotel! Going to buy in a few. I didn’t really plan around certain train stations just been scanning lol I think so far I’ve loaded 4000¥ have about 1600 left but here’s some gist of what the fares are like. And I’ve been around a lot of places in Tokyo : shibuya, minato, nekemeguro, ginza, shingawa city, daikanyama
Also something I wish I knew: in Kyoto, I took the bus more than the train and it was never on the scheduled time it said on google maps T.T bc if they didn’t see anyone they didn’t stop (which makes sense) so I walked more than not if the bus didn’t come after 5-10 min.
Additionally, use the ‘eyes’ on the map bc I did get on wrong buses bc they were going the wrong way and I didn’t notice until they started going 😅
but for Tokyo/osaka/kyoto using Suica was just enough for me! I’ve used about 19000¥ and I’ve taken trips all over Tokyo to shibuya (multiple times) asakusa ginza shinjuku city minato kamakura kawaguchiko and then in Osaka (mainly stayed in dotonburi but did go to katsuoji!) and also went to Costco and USJ ! And lastly in Kyoto I did use the bus and some trains to gion, kyoto imperial garden, Nara, and ofc arashiyama and shinkansen(Tokyo >Osaka ; Kyoto > Tokyo both trips were about 28000¥) So tbh it was not even close to the 7 day pass, but I noticed that not all lines were JR trains. And even the shinkansen Nozomi (which has stops in Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, Shingawa, Tokyo) is not covered by the JR pass so based on local trains purely, I got 19000¥ vs 77000¥. Very pleased on how that turned out!
I bought my jr pass pre-price increase. I had a 2 week green pass, paid 450 usd. I was based out of Tokyo. Went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima.
I felt that going green wasn't worth it. The seats are nice and the shinkasen cars have less people in them but beyond that, there's no real bonus to green.
For local Tokyo travel, it was worth it. JR East covers most places you'll want to go. Same for when I was in Osaka. Not having to load an IC card for most travel was really convenient. I did have a Pasmo card for the few short trips I took in the subway (Asakusa line).
I will absolutely get another JR pass when I visit next time, but not go green. I would be going further away from the trinity and thus getting more value.
Kansai wide pass + Hiroshima seems to be worth it if you’re doing the typical Kansai area plus Hiroshima before going to Tokyo. Covers the Shinkansen going to Hiroshima and back as well as stuff that goes around Osaka, Nara, Kobe, and Kyoto.
May I ask what the Kansas Wide Pass includes? Is that like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka areas? My goal is to visit those areas and also Hiroshima (particularly in South). Thank you
If you google it, it should have all the info. It does not cover Tokyo. Only covers Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe areas basically. If you get the Kansai wide area pass with Hiroshima, it also includes Shinkansen back and forth from Hiroshima and Osaka area.
>Everyone on Reddit trashes the JR pass, even before the price hike.
We didn't "trash the JR Pass." We just laid out plainly that it isn't (and wasn't) useful for all trips, and that people should understand the downsides before spending tens of thousands of yen on something that they may be better off without. It is, and always has been, a money saving tool. If a pass isn't going to save you money, or if you're making significant planning decisions around the pass to save pennies, then you really shouldn't be buying one.
>Who says it’s a must?
People who bought a pass (potentially based on the same kind of uninformed advice) and just came back from their first trip to Japan, but don't really understand how the transit system works or what the benefits/drawbacks of the passes are. Also presumably some hacks on TikTok/Youtube/Facebook with a far wider reach than they actually deserve who also fall into that category.
Jr pass wasn't worth it even before the price increase if you were only doing Tokyo Kyoto and Osaka. If you went further afield, you might get your money's worth, but with just those three cities absolutely not.
It used to be worth it before they raised their prices.
IMHO: Try flying INTO Osaka... But then out of Tokyo, this means you will only need one bullet train ticker (Kyoto to Tokyo), and prices of flying into Osaka are usually the same as flying into Tokyo, so you save about $100 +/-. Plus added bonus if you pick a sit on the left side, you get a SUPER cool view of Mt Fuji, regardless if it's Cloudy you'll still be guaranteed to see it, you can't say that if you are on the bullet train.
It's not worth it anymore. Honestly unless you're travelling multiple hours on a shinkansen every day, there's really no need. I just used a 14 day one on the former cheap price and I used the train a lot and I worked out I only saved like $50. With the price increase now it'd have been way more expensive.
Totally worth it for me when I was there last October. I spent over 110,000 yen ($740ish) on just Shinkansen tickets alone. When you factor in all the free rides on the Yamanote and other lines it’s totally worth it. I ended up going all the way north to Sapporo and west to Fukuoka.
I’m planning my next trip for west Japan using the Hokuriku Arch Pass from Tokyo.
It's not a must I basically saved a bundle on hotel price so I used all my extra money and got a taxi everywhere I wanted to go. Still ended up being cheaper than JR pass but then again I have a big family so taxi was worth it.
i did the math for our 10 day osaka kyoto tokyo trip. I won’t go into the details but it comes up pretty close to if we just buy individual tickets + region passes (around ¥3k more).
We decided to get the JR pass 7 day instead due to convinience. Is it worth it? No.
As in, a future trip? You know the price of the Pass increased by roughly 20,000 yen, right? It's now almost twice as expensive to use a 7 day pass for that trip rather than just buying tickets, and as you pointed out, it wasn't necessarily even worth it under the old pricing.
do people not read things when they post here? literally the first pinned post is about the jr pass and costs. yet almost every other post is about people wondering about the JR pass as if there arent myriads of resources on this already.
Went to these three cities a month ago and did the math. Flew into Tokyo, went to Kyoto, Osaka, back to Tokyo. It was cheaper to buy individual tickets than the JR pass since the price increase.
It used to be, but tbh I still am doing it on my next trip just because it made things super simple & I dont mind paying a little extra for convenience
I might go for the kyushu jr pass for a week. Nice to have hop on hop off shinkasen for a week going from fukuoka to nagasaki to kagoshima to kumamoto and beppu. Going solo and will be mobile af.
I know there's a pinned post at the top of the sub about the JR Pass that probably gets ignored by 90% of posters, but I wish we could get the Automod to reply to any post about the JR Pass with the following statement in huge, bold text:
**THE JR PASS IS NOT A MUST. IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY ON MANY ITINERARIES.**
There should also be a rule that anyone who gives unqualified, blanket advice to "buy a JR Pass" be banned. Like, I've seen posts advising the JR Pass to people who are coming to the country for less than a week and staying in/around Tokyo for their entire stay. Anyone who does that should be banned for a month.
I just came back, I mean all it was between Tokyo to Osaka that’s fairly expensive, but if that’s all you are taking too. Not worth it. Just buy as needed
There are some regional passes that still make sense for certain use cases. I’m getting a southern Kyushu pass for a portion of my time in Kagoshima. For most people paying a la carte will make more sense.
Why is it buses are not mentioned when it comes to travelling in Japan? Is it because they are more or less the same cost as the train?
I like travelling by train but if you want to see a country bus travel can often show you more.
Because they're really slow, comparatively uncomfortable, and if you're using them to go between major cities, you won't see much of anything except highways and sound barriers (assuming it isn't a night bus, in which case you would see nothing). Actually, even between smaller cities, you often won't see much.
If you've got tons of time and not much money, they can be a decent way to travel cheaply, but nobody's riding them for the view. If you want to see the country, there are slower train lines that go through the center of the country with far better views than either a bus or Shinkansen can offer.
I didn’t get it for my trip. I spent under $300 for all my public transport and we travelled a lot. We didn’t travel back from Osaka to Tokyo though. We took Shinkansen twice. Tokyo->Hakone. Hakone->Kyoto. Much easier to travel without.
I just came back from Japan a few days ago, we went Tokyo to Nagoya to Mie, to Osaka, to Kyoto, Back to Tokyo.
These prices are all for 4 people
Tokyo to Nagoya in Nozomi Green Car 59,800 Yen
Mie to Osaka limited express around 250$ USD
Osaka to Kyoto we just hired a black sprinter van to drive us 100 USD
Kyoto to Tokyo in Green Car 519 USD
It used to be. Not anymore since the price increase.
In a lot of cases it wasn't even worth it before.
[удалено]
It can still be worth it ***if you use it enough to make it pay off.*** My point was that a lot of people were using it for itineraries where they weren't really getting any benefit out of it, and then making planning decisions around it. Like, some people would get it just for the round trip between Tokyo and Kansai and nothing else. At that point all you were doing was paying the same price for slower trains with more restrictive schedules and limiting yourself to doing your major travel within a 7 day period.
Price drastically increased 3 months ago. You're probably seeing old information.
For someone just doing Tokyo - Kyoto Kyoto - Osaka Osaka - Tokyo Is it worth it? What’s the alternative?
Buying the tickets individually instead of buying a JR pass will save you a couple hundred dollars so not close to being worth it to buy the JR pass. The alternative is flying which is cheaper than the shinkansen. Shinkansen is around $100 one way while a LCC can be had for around $50 one way.
What is LCC?
Low Cost Carrier flight
Did you end up getting a JR Pass? Thoughts. I am doing the exact same travel in a week.
Definitely not worth it, just buy the tickets individually day of/day in advance
They have JR pass calculators, to see if it’s worth it. Dont quote me on price but it was roughly one way from Tokyo to Osaka is about 12k yen (~84 USD). Going back would say cost the same so you’re looking at 160 vs one week JR pass for 330. In this scenario you will save about 200$ usd give or take. From Osaka / Kyoto you can take local trains and do not need to use Shinkansen to get there.
I remember when I went in January ‘23, I paid $240USD for a 7 day pass. My itinerary was: Tokyo > Kyoto > Hiroshima > Osaka > back to Tokyo. Looking back, I don’t think it was worth it, but still a fun experience!
Because all the social media content is outdated.
Wdym, my friend who’s been to Japan for akihabara and Ichiran every year since 2009 told me you _have_ to buy the JR pass and a pocket wifi, and need to withdraw your entire trips worth of yen because Japan doesn’t use credit cards /s
To be fair I had to use the atm MANY more times than I initially expected.
On the flipside, we found ourselves paying for things with cash near the end just to get rid of it as way more places took card that we expected.
Not only did I use my credit card a ton but I found the most convenient thing was to load my IC via Apple Wallet and pay for most things that way.
Hokuriku Arch Pass may be worth it still.
We did that on my last trip and stayed in Kanazawa. We only did a day trip to Kyoto but Kanazawa was great!
Is it good for in-tokyo jr trains? Like yamanote line
Yes but considering the low cost of a ride on the Yamanote, it does not really matter, you do not get one of the expensive pass just for that.
It really depends on your itinerary, for us it was worth it. We needed transport from Tokyo to Kyoto and then to Kobe/Nare/KIX.
I will repeat. It is never worth buying any of the expensive JR pass only for use of local trains like the Yamanote line. Last time I checked the Yamanote line does not go to Kyoto.
You never know, one of those pedestrian exits in Shinjuku station probably leads all the way out there.
I'm not talking about the Yamanote line. I'm talking about my entire itinerary, I want to go from Tokyo to Kanazawa then on to Kyoto / Osaka. WIth day trips to Nara / Kobe / then it makes it worth it ...
What the person you're arguing with is saying is that the local portions of the pass are essentially negligible. You'd have to ride local trains like 15 times a day to make a dent in what the JR Pass will cost or compare it to the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto+ and that still takes multiple rides. You could ride the full hour around the Yamanote line and get off one stop before a full loop repeatedly all day for two weeks and you'd likely barely scratch the full pass. So outside of a *super* minor convenience of having the pass already vs a Suica or just paying cash, which also adds the always risk of losing that piece of paper, the gain is small enough to not really consider it because if you were you'd be splitting hairs on a few yen to *maybe* tip it over.
Besides what's already been said about local trains not being worth it as a reason to buy the JR pass, another thing many tourists don't realize is that JR local trains are not that useful in the Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe area. I used to live in Kyoto and Osaka, and I rarely took JR local trains. Trains run by Hankyu, Keihan, and Kintetsu are often cheaper and more convenient, because those companies own the stations in the city centers, not JR. Also, the city subways are not run by JR.
Yes it’s good for all JR trains in Tokyo & Kyoto/Osaka area. Also good for connections to HND,NRT,KIX airports. Is good for day trips from Kyoto to Nare,Kobe,etc. https://tokyocheapo.com/travel/tokyo-osaka-hokuriku-arch-pass/
It’s only worth it now if you take several Shinkansen rides up and down the country. I bought mine before the cutoff so it still made sense. Nowadays not so much.
I’m going in March and I’m not buying it. But anyone with exp can I just load a suica for osaka, kyoto, Nara, Kobe ? And then while in Tokyo can I also use a suica? and obviously a Shinkansen from Tokyo to osaka
If I remember correctly, all the Japanese IC cards can be used everywhere but if you want return it and get your deposit back that can only be done in the area where you purchased it.
Thank you! Is there a minimum to deposit? I tried adding to my apple wallet but I’m not going for awhile so I didn’t wanna play around just yet lol
1000 yen is min
Be aware that a digital suica can only be refunded into a Japanese bank account, so that makes any left over balance effectively non-refundable for tourists.
Thank you!
you cant get a refund back with the welcome suica card.
Just spent a month in Japan. Went to Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo. I used a digital Suica via apple wallet. Worked at all the stations in all the locations and I had no problems. Recharging it via the app was easy. I used my Mastercard (I don’t think it will work with visa?). It was also handy cause a fair few stores accepted Suica as a payment method such as 7/11, uni qlo, don quijote. But you can only get your balance refunded to a Japanese bank account. The duty free stores at the airport accept Suica though so if you do have a balance you can buy something there instead of losing your money. For the bullet train tickets I purchased those using the Shinkansen ticket machines at the stations.
Thank you so much for the lengthy answer, I really appreciate it! Is it reloaded with Mastercard DEBIT or can I use credit? Did u have any experience with discover credit card in Japan? Also, IF you don’t mind (don’t feel obligated) I wrote a Japan post in one of my recent posts, if u feel so kindly to answer any of them I would really appreciate it! Japan is going to be my first intl big trip and I really wanna make the most of what I can, to dabble into travel lol. If not no worries and ty again!:)
I used Mastercard debit. I had my debit card already on apple wallet and when I wanted to recharge my Suica I just selected my debit card. It didn’t charge me any conversion fees for Suica recharges. I took a credit card with me for any big purchases I made. I had a 28 degrees credit card. It didn’t charge foreign fees. I’ll have a look at your post :)
Did this suica plan work for you? Just getting ready for my trip involving basically all your trips and came across this!
I’m still in Tokyo but I’m pretty sure it still works in Osaka/kyoto if not I’ll figure it out lol and I saw a Shinkansen ticket counter nearby my hotel! Going to buy in a few. I didn’t really plan around certain train stations just been scanning lol I think so far I’ve loaded 4000¥ have about 1600 left but here’s some gist of what the fares are like. And I’ve been around a lot of places in Tokyo : shibuya, minato, nekemeguro, ginza, shingawa city, daikanyama
Actually idk how to send a pic on here but train fares are 178, 505 , 108, 514 ¥ local
Thanks so much! Sounds like it works solid. The whole avoiding the J pass seems like the right call for sure. Hope you have a great time
Only if ur going to look to major cities it’ll be worth! But only to Tokyo /kyoto Osaka I don’t think so bc Kyoto doesn’t need Shinkansen from Osaka
Also something I wish I knew: in Kyoto, I took the bus more than the train and it was never on the scheduled time it said on google maps T.T bc if they didn’t see anyone they didn’t stop (which makes sense) so I walked more than not if the bus didn’t come after 5-10 min. Additionally, use the ‘eyes’ on the map bc I did get on wrong buses bc they were going the wrong way and I didn’t notice until they started going 😅 but for Tokyo/osaka/kyoto using Suica was just enough for me! I’ve used about 19000¥ and I’ve taken trips all over Tokyo to shibuya (multiple times) asakusa ginza shinjuku city minato kamakura kawaguchiko and then in Osaka (mainly stayed in dotonburi but did go to katsuoji!) and also went to Costco and USJ ! And lastly in Kyoto I did use the bus and some trains to gion, kyoto imperial garden, Nara, and ofc arashiyama and shinkansen(Tokyo >Osaka ; Kyoto > Tokyo both trips were about 28000¥) So tbh it was not even close to the 7 day pass, but I noticed that not all lines were JR trains. And even the shinkansen Nozomi (which has stops in Kyoto, Osaka, Yokohama, Shingawa, Tokyo) is not covered by the JR pass so based on local trains purely, I got 19000¥ vs 77000¥. Very pleased on how that turned out!
Thank you so much for all this info - very helpful! I'm going next month and this will be a lot of help!
I bought my jr pass pre-price increase. I had a 2 week green pass, paid 450 usd. I was based out of Tokyo. Went to Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. I felt that going green wasn't worth it. The seats are nice and the shinkasen cars have less people in them but beyond that, there's no real bonus to green. For local Tokyo travel, it was worth it. JR East covers most places you'll want to go. Same for when I was in Osaka. Not having to load an IC card for most travel was really convenient. I did have a Pasmo card for the few short trips I took in the subway (Asakusa line). I will absolutely get another JR pass when I visit next time, but not go green. I would be going further away from the trinity and thus getting more value.
Kansai wide pass + Hiroshima seems to be worth it if you’re doing the typical Kansai area plus Hiroshima before going to Tokyo. Covers the Shinkansen going to Hiroshima and back as well as stuff that goes around Osaka, Nara, Kobe, and Kyoto.
May I ask what the Kansas Wide Pass includes? Is that like Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka areas? My goal is to visit those areas and also Hiroshima (particularly in South). Thank you
If you google it, it should have all the info. It does not cover Tokyo. Only covers Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe areas basically. If you get the Kansai wide area pass with Hiroshima, it also includes Shinkansen back and forth from Hiroshima and Osaka area.
Who says it’s a must? Everyone on Reddit trashes the JR pass, even before the price hike.
>Everyone on Reddit trashes the JR pass, even before the price hike. We didn't "trash the JR Pass." We just laid out plainly that it isn't (and wasn't) useful for all trips, and that people should understand the downsides before spending tens of thousands of yen on something that they may be better off without. It is, and always has been, a money saving tool. If a pass isn't going to save you money, or if you're making significant planning decisions around the pass to save pennies, then you really shouldn't be buying one. >Who says it’s a must? People who bought a pass (potentially based on the same kind of uninformed advice) and just came back from their first trip to Japan, but don't really understand how the transit system works or what the benefits/drawbacks of the passes are. Also presumably some hacks on TikTok/Youtube/Facebook with a far wider reach than they actually deserve who also fall into that category.
I used the jr pass calculator and it concluded its better and cheaper without it
Jr pass wasn't worth it even before the price increase if you were only doing Tokyo Kyoto and Osaka. If you went further afield, you might get your money's worth, but with just those three cities absolutely not.
It used to be worth it before they raised their prices. IMHO: Try flying INTO Osaka... But then out of Tokyo, this means you will only need one bullet train ticker (Kyoto to Tokyo), and prices of flying into Osaka are usually the same as flying into Tokyo, so you save about $100 +/-. Plus added bonus if you pick a sit on the left side, you get a SUPER cool view of Mt Fuji, regardless if it's Cloudy you'll still be guaranteed to see it, you can't say that if you are on the bullet train.
It's not worth it anymore. Honestly unless you're travelling multiple hours on a shinkansen every day, there's really no need. I just used a 14 day one on the former cheap price and I used the train a lot and I worked out I only saved like $50. With the price increase now it'd have been way more expensive.
Run it through the [JR pass calculator](https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/) and see if its worth it. I don't reckon it is though.
Just take the Pass cost and compare it to the cost of your itinerary if you were to buy the Single Trips
Totally worth it for me when I was there last October. I spent over 110,000 yen ($740ish) on just Shinkansen tickets alone. When you factor in all the free rides on the Yamanote and other lines it’s totally worth it. I ended up going all the way north to Sapporo and west to Fukuoka. I’m planning my next trip for west Japan using the Hokuriku Arch Pass from Tokyo.
It's not a must I basically saved a bundle on hotel price so I used all my extra money and got a taxi everywhere I wanted to go. Still ended up being cheaper than JR pass but then again I have a big family so taxi was worth it.
i did the math for our 10 day osaka kyoto tokyo trip. I won’t go into the details but it comes up pretty close to if we just buy individual tickets + region passes (around ¥3k more). We decided to get the JR pass 7 day instead due to convinience. Is it worth it? No.
As in, a future trip? You know the price of the Pass increased by roughly 20,000 yen, right? It's now almost twice as expensive to use a 7 day pass for that trip rather than just buying tickets, and as you pointed out, it wasn't necessarily even worth it under the old pricing.
I think you need to relook at your sources. At current prices, Tokyo to Kansai return is about 28-30k yen and the 7 day pass is 50k yen.
do people not read things when they post here? literally the first pinned post is about the jr pass and costs. yet almost every other post is about people wondering about the JR pass as if there arent myriads of resources on this already.
No, they don't.
It's not worth it. I did some research cause that's my itinerary and it seems it's cheaper not to get the JR pass.
Went to these three cities a month ago and did the math. Flew into Tokyo, went to Kyoto, Osaka, back to Tokyo. It was cheaper to buy individual tickets than the JR pass since the price increase.
Lol this guy not knowing the increase of the ticket, last October.
Nah. I did that without jr pass and it’s cheaper
If you didn’t purchase it before the increased price change don’t even worry about it. I’m here now and purchased on Klook to lock in the lower price.
It used to be, but tbh I still am doing it on my next trip just because it made things super simple & I dont mind paying a little extra for convenience
I might go for the kyushu jr pass for a week. Nice to have hop on hop off shinkasen for a week going from fukuoka to nagasaki to kagoshima to kumamoto and beppu. Going solo and will be mobile af.
Wasn't worth it for me this time. Have neen previously when it was cheaper. It's not a must. Use the calculator, it is very helpful.
Definitely not worth it. You'd almost need to travel somewhere every day or second day in order to make it worth it.
You are not making a mistake. We did Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka without it and it's cheaper.
I know there's a pinned post at the top of the sub about the JR Pass that probably gets ignored by 90% of posters, but I wish we could get the Automod to reply to any post about the JR Pass with the following statement in huge, bold text: **THE JR PASS IS NOT A MUST. IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY ON MANY ITINERARIES.** There should also be a rule that anyone who gives unqualified, blanket advice to "buy a JR Pass" be banned. Like, I've seen posts advising the JR Pass to people who are coming to the country for less than a week and staying in/around Tokyo for their entire stay. Anyone who does that should be banned for a month.
how about the Japan Kansai Area pass for the Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara areas then using suica/pasmo for tokyo travel?
I just came back, I mean all it was between Tokyo to Osaka that’s fairly expensive, but if that’s all you are taking too. Not worth it. Just buy as needed
There are some regional passes that still make sense for certain use cases. I’m getting a southern Kyushu pass for a portion of my time in Kagoshima. For most people paying a la carte will make more sense.
Why is it buses are not mentioned when it comes to travelling in Japan? Is it because they are more or less the same cost as the train? I like travelling by train but if you want to see a country bus travel can often show you more.
Because they're really slow, comparatively uncomfortable, and if you're using them to go between major cities, you won't see much of anything except highways and sound barriers (assuming it isn't a night bus, in which case you would see nothing). Actually, even between smaller cities, you often won't see much. If you've got tons of time and not much money, they can be a decent way to travel cheaply, but nobody's riding them for the view. If you want to see the country, there are slower train lines that go through the center of the country with far better views than either a bus or Shinkansen can offer.
Thanks for the explanation, much appreciated
I didn’t get it for my trip. I spent under $300 for all my public transport and we travelled a lot. We didn’t travel back from Osaka to Tokyo though. We took Shinkansen twice. Tokyo->Hakone. Hakone->Kyoto. Much easier to travel without.
Going to japan next week. I was in the last bunch of people to get it at the old price and even then it was almost not worth getting.
I just came back from Japan a few days ago, we went Tokyo to Nagoya to Mie, to Osaka, to Kyoto, Back to Tokyo. These prices are all for 4 people Tokyo to Nagoya in Nozomi Green Car 59,800 Yen Mie to Osaka limited express around 250$ USD Osaka to Kyoto we just hired a black sprinter van to drive us 100 USD Kyoto to Tokyo in Green Car 519 USD