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A How to Guide to the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass)

October 27, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

As I mentioned in my last post the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass) is a must have traveling in Japan. In this post I'll discuss how you must go about getting, activating and using the pass. You know the stuff that you'll probably want to know before leaving.

Buying the JR Pass

You must buy the JR pass before arriving in Japan. This is done because the JR Pass is intended to help boost the Japan tourism. In fact, we read somewhere that of the tourism in Japan only 3% is from foreign countries. This means that most of the tourism in Japan is actually Japanese tourists! Crazy huh!

Anyway, you actually can't buy the pass while in Japan. We went to the JR pass website and found an office in Vancouver to order our tickets. We had to fill out a form and fax it to them in order to get JR pass. The tickets arrived 3 days afterwards (we payed extra for xpresspost shipping).

Activating the JR Pass

When arriving in Japan you must search out a station with a JR pass activation booth. Fear not as there's a list of stations which have these booths. You then present your JR tickets. You'll then have a chance to tell them when you want to activate your pass. It's quite an easy process actually. If you're wanting to activate your pass right away there is an office right in the airport. We activated our passes at Tokyo Station and the booth was right beside the main JR ticket office.



Using the JR Pass

To use the JR pass you simply go to the ticket stalls like everyone else. At the far left side (or sometimes right) there will be a main at a booth. You simply show him/her your JR pass as you walk by. The sign will say something like "white backed tickets".

When exiting from the JR station you go to the far right (sometimes left) and show the ticket again. Voila! You've now used your JR pass to 'pay' for a ride on a train.

I was fearful that there wouldn't be a man at the booth or that there would be a big line. However, there was always someone at the booth and we never had to wait more then 2 minutes to show our pass. Japanese efficiency at it's best!

Reserving seats on a Shinkansen (bullet train) with your JR Pass

Reserving a seat on a shinkansen is easy. You simply go to the ticket purchasing counter and tell them where and when you're traveling. They'll provide you with the available traveling options.

Luckily, most ticket sales counters speak some basic english and tell you the time of departure and arrival on a calculator which is unbelievably handy!

The JR pass is a must have when traveling in Japan if you're going to be going to multiple destinations. If you're planning on going to only one city and staying for a while then the rail pass might not be your best option and you'll have to do some simple math. However, if you're planning on traveling around Japan for a two week period the JR pass will save you money and time.

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JR Pass - A must have when traveling in Japan

October 20, 2008 by Jeff · 1 Comment 

Let me just say that the Japan Rail Pass or JR Pass is a must have when traveling in Japan.  The added convenience, amount saved and amount of time saved is definitely worth it.

Cost

The JR pass will save you money. Plain and simple.  The normal return ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto on  a Shinkansen costs approximately 13220 on a Hikari car.  You can only book the Hikari or Kodoma cars with the JR Pass.  The Nozomi (the fastest) costs extra.   This is approximately the cost of a 7-day JR pass ticket.  If you're planning to travel past Kyoto or around other places then you'll definitely pay off your ticket quickly.

Convenience

While traveling around the number of times that we picked the wrong gate, wrong direction or just wanted to leave the gate for a few minutes was almost countless.  It's so easy to just jump back and forth between the gates with your pass.  In Hiroshima we stopped in for a quick 4 hour visit and went through the JR gates probably around 20 times. 

Train to the Airport (Narita Express)

Another nice thing about the JR Pass is that you can get a seat on the Narita Express Train.  This is a reserve only train so you HAVE to reserve. However, this train is free with your pass and will get you to the airport quickly and efficiently.


Additional Thoughts

As well, if you ever change your mind and want to visit somewhere else it's no big deal.  We were traveling to HIroshima and decided to continue along to Fukuoka.  No big deal.  We simply moved to a 'non-reserved' seat and kept on going.  You can also do this without a JR pass but you'll have to deal with Fee corrections and additional costs when you arrive to your destination.  This isn't a big hassle but it is really nice having the flexibility to extend (or shorten) your trip depending on your travel plans

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Traveling on a Long Weekend in Japan

October 20, 2008 by Jeff · 1 Comment 

We were lucky (unlucky?) enough to be traveling on a long weekend in Japan.  Here are some tips that you should take into consideration... Or another way to put it... Learn from our mistakes!   lol.  Let's just say not having a reservation ended up allowing us to see the Osaka Station and Shimbashi area... with our 40-50 pound backpacks on our back!

Make a Hotel Reservation

If you're staying at a major destination with lots of hotels you wouldn't think that finding a hotel will be difficult.  However, let me warn you...... it is.

So be sure to make a reservation.  Yes, the prices may seem slightly higher then you're willing to pay. However, the other option is

  • Wandering the streets looking for a place with an open room
  • Paying more anyway because you need a place to stay!


Make a Train Reservation

Trains are the other thing that gets ridiculously busy during the long weekends.  Although, you'll be making a train reservation regardless traveling on the Shinkasen's (bullet trains) you'll want to make the reservation early.  One of the reasons is that there are more Nozomi trains that travel between this area which are not included in the JR Pass. So you could pay for this but simply making a reservation early will save you some money!

We made a reservation from Osaka to Tokyo two days ahead of time and the only time we could get was early in the morning. This doesn't seem that bad but considering the number of trains that travel between Osaka and Tokyo this is quite crazy! It worked out but it could have been a lot worse, trying to cram in a non-reserved section or sitting for three hours in a smoking section. 

Tourist Sights

If you'd like to visit an area (temple, garden, etc...) with less people then don't plan to travel during a long weekend.  The Japanese are great appreciators of their own heritage, culture and sights.  This means that there are lots of tourists at most places during a long weekend.  Try to make your plans work around to not include these sights until after the long weekend!

The other option is to visit a tourist sight that IS busy and that you'd like to see busy, like Shibuya.  Shibuya has the distinction of the busiest intersection on the planet. We went here on the Monday of the long weekend and it did not disappoint!  Check out the number of people in the picture below... crazyness!

Hopefully these tips help you to enjoy your long weekend in Japan.  Don't let the business stop you in fact you should try to enjoy it because that's a more Japanese experience!

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Japan in T-minus 3 days - Finalizing Plans!

September 22, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

Japan here we come! In T-minus three days we'll be in the air flying over to the land of unknown. We're really looking forward to the trip and it should be an amazing experience.

We arrive at the Narita International Airport and will make our way to Tsukuba in the Ikibata Prefecture which is approximately 45 minutes outside of Tokyo. We'll spend the first 5 nights there as Lindsay will be at a conference and I'll tour around Tsukuba during that time. After Tsukuba we'll be heading south (or west). We'll make stops at Mt Fuji, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi.

A note about the blog

I'll do my very best to update the blog often. I'm hoping to get at least a post a day so stay tuned and I hope to have lots of great information for everyone. We've also updated our camera, camera storage, camera battery and everything camera related so hopefully we'll bring home some good shots!

If you have any comments of where we should go, see or do, then please leave a comment.

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Things I would like to see in Japan

August 22, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

We leave for Japan in approximately one month. One of the fun things I like to do before going anywhere is make a list of things that I'd like to see. We've been doing a lot of reading from the books from the library and wikitravel and have gathered a starting list of things to see in Japan.

Your list may be completely different as we all have different tastes and enjoyments but here is my list.

Mt. Fuji - Growing up we had a picture of Mt. Fuji on our wall. I always thought it was a cool looking mountain and it was also the name of a WWF's manager (Mr. Fuji). Weird how these things stick in your head growing up. Mt. Fuji Picture from (Travel in Japan)

Bullet Train (Shinkansen) - We're going to take the bullet train from the South of Japan (not exactly sure where yet) to Tokyo before we leave. The train travels up to 300 Km/hr. I'll be sure to keep my hands inside the vehicle at all times!

Car Ferris Wheel / Parking garage - The Japanese's parking garage is a car ferris wheel. I don't know the exact details but it sounds pretty neat. Optimizing space by reducing the size of your parking garage!

Hiroshima - This is for obvious reasons and will be quite moving.

Sushi Restaurants - We love sushi. It'll be great to go to the source where sushi originated. Plus, I already know most of the words so at least I can order in a restaurant! Did I mention we LOVE Sushi?

Tokyo - I've heard amazing things about the city from the Shinjuku and Shibuya districts to the other outlining ones like Chiyoda. Seeing the dense population and crowded streets to more touristy type things like the Imperial Palace. Should be neat visiting a city with almost half the amount of people as Canada! I think we'll be spending at least 2-3 days here at the end of our trip.

A couple other strange things I'd like to see for no particular reason are the Food Vending Machines and 100 yen stores (the Japanese equivalent of a dollar store). This doesn't include the obvious temples, gardens and budda's that we'll undoubtedly see.

When we get back I'm going to dedicate a post to each one of these topics as they are things that I think are super interesting. So, am I missing anything? Would you want to see something different?

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