julianaoctavia

Hey all..

I am planning my next trip to Japan on May 2014. A friend and I heard about the JR Pass and we tried to look it online on how to use the pass. However, I am a bit lost on how exactly to use it. Our trip will be Tokyo - Osaka - Tokyo with maximizing day trips in between. We are planning to have full 10 days there and might visit mt. Fuji, Gotemba, Hakone, Nara, and Kyoto. The question is: is the JR Pass can be used in ANY kind of train transportation? Like we say, between stations, or is it only can be used on shinkansen? We tried to google it, but apparently we cannot find any explanation. Next, is it easy to use? One of our concern is being totally lost in translation. Both of us cannot speak any Japanese. Lastly, is it cheaper to buy the pass or should we just buy the tickets on the spot? What is the payment mechanism? We pay per trip or we just deposit some money and the ticket price will be deducted on a card?

Thank you travelers... Hope i can hear from you soon...


Regards,

Julie

Kavey

The JR Pass can be used on any trains run by Japan Rail. That includes shinkansen, as well as local trains between and in towns. BUT it doesn't include ALL trains in Japan, as some are run by private rail companies. Incidentally, it doesn't include ALL shinkansen either, you can use all but the Nizomi train services.

In practice, this is easy to work out, and Hyperdia.com is your friend, an amazing website to work out travel itineraries / train timetables.

How you use it:

Buy before leaving home and do not lose the voucher you are given.
On arrival, go to a large JR station (Narita airport has one as do many of the larger stations in Tokyo, for example) and exchange the voucher for the JR Pass. You will need to tell them what date it should start on. That means you can go in a few days before you want to first use it, if that's convenient, or on the day itself.

If you are making any long journeys during busy times, work out ahead of time (using Hyperdia) which train you want to take and go to a JR office and ask them to book you seats. Ask for the tickets to be printed in English. This gives you reserved seats for your chosen train.

If you would prefer more flexibility, the trains also have carriages set aside for those without seat reservations, though of course you are not guaranteed to find a seat if they are busy. Mostly you'll probably be fine, but we had to compromise when we left our booking for Osaka to Kumamoto in late October to night before travel.

For local trains, no need to book.

When you get to the station, go to the side of the entrance barriers where there is a manned ticket office, show your pass and you will be allowed through. You don't need to show seat reservation tickets, but may need to show them once on the train, if inspectors ask.

For local non-JR metro services, buy a SUICA card (can also be purchased at Narita airport, and there's a deal that covers SUICA plus Narita Express into town) and load money onto it. YOu can use this to swipe through for individual metro journeys, and just load more money onto it at a machine as and when needed. Works across Japan and some bus services accept it too.

For the rest, few and far between, buy individual tickets at the station, after checking the JR pass doesn't cover them.

kja

info on train passes:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

julianaoctavia

Thanks Kavey and kja...

This trip is the most challenging one that I have planned since I heard lot of ppl said that it is very hard for us to find the locals that can speak English.. Singapore and Hongkong MRT and MTR are easy to use.. But Japan has like millions of lines that I am scared getting lost. Is there any other transportation to be considered of when we visiting Japan?

Thank you...


Julie

kja

Please check the japan-guide web site for everything you could possibly want to know about transportation in Japan.

You will almost certainly encounter people who do not speak English, or who will not attempt to speak English. IME, younger people are the most likely to both know some English and be willing to try speaking it. I've certainly been in places where it was more difficult to find an English-speaking person. BTW, I've been fortunate enough to travel reasonably extensively, and I found people in Japan among the most helpful I've ever met.

As for getting lost, just make sure you always have something with you that has the Japanese name and address of your hotel. If you get lost, just give it to a taxi driver or policeman or someone at the desk in the nearest hotel (even if it isn't yours) or whatever -- they will see to it that you get there. Keep in mind that being lost can be a great adventure, as long as you know how to eventually get to where you need to be.

With the exception of Tokyo, I found the trains and metros extremely easy to use, even when I needed to switch lines. It was a tad more difficult within Tokyo. Good advance information will help, and although you don't need to do a lot of advance research, any advance planning you do (e.g., to identify metro routes or which exits you will need or whatever) might help once you are on the ground.

Hope that helps!

kja

BTY, you should DEFINITELY learn how to say "thank you" in Japanese.

And it would probably be to your advantage to familiarize yourself with Japanese etiquette:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e622.html

julianaoctavia

Arigato gosaitmatsu kja... That is really helpful...


Julie

Kavey

We didn't speak any Japanese before our first trip in 2012 (other than please, thank you, excuse me) and only marginally more on the second trip (last year) and had no difficulties getting around, nor in getting help on the rare occasions we needed it. Occasionally we'd have to ask a few people to find someone who could help but that was no big deal at all, really.

julianaoctavia

Thank you Kavey...

I am excited in planning this trip because usually if I go traveling in a foreign country, I always rely on driving myself and GPS to get around... So, this kind of trip really makes me anxious. Well, the JR pass is kind of expensive, and at first I thought that I would not buy it. Then again, after reading many posts on the necessity of it, I decided to buy it anyways. Now I just need to have a well planned trip instead..

Thank you for y'all help... I really appreciate it...


Julie

Kavey

We drove around Kyushu and had no difficulties but I wouldn't dream of driving in Tokyo or Kyoto and it's just so easy and fast to use the train system for travelling between them...

But if you want to see rural areas, sure, driving is a good option, with the GPS proviso!

Kavey

Depending on how many train journeys you take, the JR Pass felt an incredibly good deal to us, on our first trip. We used a lot and saved a lot over buying tickets individually.

On our second trip, we only had two longer train journeys and they were more than a week apart, so we didn't buy a pass, just bought the tickets.

For us, travel was OK, but we found the hotels a little pricier than some destinations.

We used Agoda.com and Booking.com to find and book hotels at better prices, though we didn't use them for the ryokan bookings. On the second trip, we used booking.com more, as there is no payment upfront at all and most places offer cancellation up to 3 days ahead of arrival date.

julianaoctavia

Kavey,

Thank you for your help...

I am planning to have 3 days in Tokyo, 3-4 days in Osaka, and go back 3 days more in Tokyo. While in Osaka, we are planning to go to surrounding towns, probably kyoto or nara for day trips. While in Tokyo, we are going to gotemba and yokohama.. Do you have any suggestion on how I should distribute my time there? Or any places that i have to visit?

Thank you

kja

Only day trips to Kyoto and Nara? Many people plan on at least 4 days in Kyoto, if not 6 days for Kyoto and Nara.

Kavey

Is there a reason you decided on Osaka as your Kansai base rather than Kyoto? And have you deliberately prioritised your time to give more to Tokyo?

There is a lot to see in Tokyo, certainly 6 days is not too much, and you won't get bored. However, I think it's fair to say that the majority of people I've talked to have found they love Kyoto even more.

If I were putting a trip together for family or friends, unless there were very specific interests / requests involved, I'd at the very minimum, equalise days in Kyoto with Tokyo, more likely I'd give one or two more to Kyoto than Tokyo. I'd also suggest Kyoto as the base rather than Osaka. A few people I know do love Osaka, but I again, most I know have liked it but preferred Kyoto. There is a lot more to see and do in Kyoto too. And yes, Osaka is a little cheaper on accommodation, but if you research well, Kyoto has a lot of accommodation options, so you can find affordable there too.

Purely personal, if I had only 10 days in total, I'd skew 4 to Tokyo, 5 to Kyoto (with an optional day trip to Nara or Osaka) and the last one could possibly be an overnight in either Hiroshima/Miyajima or Koyasan or Nara (or Hakone which I've not been to yet).

If you're into whisky, a visit to Yamazaki distillery (half day trip from Kyoto) is enjoyable, especially if you make time to buy a few more interesting drams from their special whisky library bar after the tour.

julianaoctavia

Oh wow... Thank u..

Well, this will be our first trip to Japan, and we do not have any clue on where to go. Me and my friend love to eat (usually, we go to a place just to eat), and we also plan to go to universal studio in osaka. That is why we thought that it would be better to stay there. But if Kyoto is much worth it, we would definitely consider it. Our interests are traditional food, shopping, and sightseeing.. Is there any other suggestion? I am so glad that you guys help me...


Thank you,

Julie

Kavey

Both Osaka and Kyoto will give plenty of opportunities for traditional food -- this was also one of my biggest priorities.

For sightseeing, Kyoto is better, hands down, about 100 times better (in my personal opinion). Osaka does not have many tourist attractions, though I did LOVE the food market (Kuromon Ichiba). Kyoto has its own fascinating food market (Nishika Ichiba) as well as a hundred different (and genuinely fascinating) temples and shrines, superb shopping (both modern and traditional), the opportunity to attend cooking classes and craft classes, museums and so on.

I would recommend you spend some time on Japan-Guide.com and get a feel for what you want to see in each place, and then decide how many nights each place should have.

julianaoctavia

Ok it really helps... I appreciate it a lot...

Regards,

Julie

Cilla_Tey

Domo is handy if you can't remember arigato gozaimashita. IME, it's the older Japanese who come forward to help you at ticket counters as the young are too shy to practise their English.