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Help with rail passes in my first trip to Japan

Finally, I`ve prepared my first trip to Japan, but have some questions of which rail pass or passes need to buy. Here is my schedule: Day one - Arrive at Narita Airport in the afternoon (day free) Day two - Day free and Tokyo city tour and some shopping. Day Three - Tokyo to Hakone (Mount Fuji). Will get the Hakone free day pass (overnight). Day Four - Hakone to Kyoto (maybe a half day city tour if time permits). Day Five - Kyoto (day free-Need recomendations of what to do). Day Six - Kyoto to Tokyo Day Seven- Kyoto to Usa I understand there are various options of rail passes by region. Will I need to buy the Hakone free day pass if I buy the one week JR pass? Can anyone recommend a reasonable priced Ryokan in Hakone? What about in Kyoto? Does this schedule will be well paced or is it to rushed? Thanks for any help you can give.

Hi Gilberto, see my approximative calculation if you buy point to point tickets : Day 1 - Narita -> Tokyo > by Narita Express 3500 yen Day 2 - Tokyo city > JR urban lines 500 yen (supposing you buy 2 – 3 tickets) Day 3 - Tokyo to Hakone Tokyo-Hakone possibly by a private line Odakyu from Shinjuku, not covered by JR Pass. So you will buy Odakyu « Hakone Free Pass » + a supplement if you take a comfortable and direct « Odakyu Romace Car » for Shinjuku/Hakone-Yumoto Day 4 - Hakone to Kyoto JR Line will be from Odawara to Kyoto (10000 yen by shinkansen). I think Hakone-Odawara (a bus ?) should be covered by the Odakyu « Free Pass » Day 5 - Kyoto Day 6 - Kyoto to Tokyo 11000 yen by shinkansen Day Seven- Kyoto to Usa Are you not back in Tokyo the day before ? Aynway I'm not familiar with Usa. Is this the one somewhere in Kyushu ? If so, i don't see why you will return to Tokyo as you say, on day 6 because Kyoto is situated between Tokyo and Usa(Kyushu). Kyoto-Usa is 15000 yen incl.Shinkansen line. Will you come again with the clarification on where you will be on the night of day 6 and where you will start on day 7 ? About your question of whether this itinerary is rushed or not, I'd say yes. I wish you could take a little more time in each place you are visiting but if this is what you want to do ...

Oops, Gilberto, I made a long reply to your post but you were not asking for cost comparison pass vs point-to-poin, were you ? Sorry. I start again. You will most likely want to buy Japan Rail Pass (unless there is a pass good only for JR West because you are travelling mostly in western part of Japan. JR East Pass exists.) and Odakyu Hakone Free Pass. My questions still stand. Where is Usa and where will you be on the night of day 6?

Thans for your info, Hike. Regarding your questions, on the sixth night I will spend the night at Tokyo, but on day seven will be returning to United States of America (USA), via Narita airport(sorry for not writing the full name).

Hmmmmm. This is just a wild guess, since I'm not Gilberto. But maybe Usa is the same as USA, sometimes called United States of America? And maybe that last day was supposed to be Tokyo to USA?

Ooops. Good timing as we posted together. Just call me Sherlock.

Yeah, it was stupid of me. I understand USA as the United States of A. but when written "Usa", somehow I thought about a place with that name pronounced "oohsa") in Kyushu, Japan. Oh well. Hope you will get more helpful replies, Gilberto. Where is our Japan expert, Florence?

Bonjour Gilberto, Take the cost of the return fare from Tokyo to Kyoto and the Narita Express to and from Tokyo, and you'll see that the JR railpass is a bargain, since it also covers most transportation in Tokyo, and all your daytrips around Kyoto. You can visit Hakone and Fuji area with the JR pass, although I don't know whether it is as convenient as what Odakyu rail offers. Depending on the time of your return flight, consider staying in Kyoto an extra day (3 hours from Kyoto to Tokyo station then 1 hour to Narita). My best advice about Kyoto is to go to the TIC and ask what there is to see while you're there. Another solution is to directly go to Kyoto from Narita, spend 2-3 days there, go back via Hakone and spend the last days visiting Tokyo.

Hi Florence, You said "You can visit Hakone and Fuji area with the JR pass." Could you tell me what you know about above? Would that be Odawara to Hakone (Shinjuku to Hakone by Odakyu) ? By Bus lines? I thought that was only with private rail/bus companies but if what you say is true, I might consider taking that route with my JR Pass next time. Thanks for your input!

Thanks to Hike and Florence for your orientation on rail passes in Japan. It makes much easier my decision to travel on my own, instead of a travel package that, usually, costs a lot more. I`m sure I will have more questions before the trip, so will keep in touch