Hello everyone,

I am traveling from Tokyo to Mt.Fuji/Hokane and then onto Kyoto then Osaka.
Does anyone know if it would be beneficial to buy a Japanese Rail Pass before I leave the country? Thank you for your time- I really appreciate it!

... then Osaka, and then what? Do you leave Japan from Osaka?

Bonjour HoosierGirl,

Even if you leave from Osaka, I think the railpass can be a good deal, if only for all the hassle it avoids you: no need to take tickets/book seats on trains other than shinkansen, you can use it on JR lines inside Tokyo without having to desperately look for the price of tickets for your destination, shortcuts through big train stations like Tokyo, Shinjukum Kyoto or Osaka by just flashing your pass at the turnstile, etc.

Hello! Sorry for the delay in response. I will be departing from Osaka Kansai

Here are the prices using individual JR tickets for your itinerary:

2940 Narita Express, airport to Tokyo
3640 Kodama shinkansen, Tokyo to Odawara
11950 Hikari/Nozomi shinkansen Odawara to Kyoto
3490 Kyoto to Osaka Kansai airport

That's 22020 yen, total. That's using shinkansens and limited express trains, including part of the trip on a Nozomi. You could do the travelling for less (around 18000 yen, using shinkansens)

A 7-day JR Pass costs 28,500.

Florence is right about the convenience, but the JR Pass would have a tendency to lock you in. Without a pass, you have the option of getting a Hakone Free Pass and riding an Odakyu train to Hakone/Yumoto. On the Osaka end, you could consider using an airport bus or other non-JR transport to get to the airport.

And if your trip is 8 days or longer then you would have to at least buy one of the aiprort transfers in additon to the 7-day pass.

If your itinerary is pretty well fixed, then you don't need the pass. OTOH, if you had a JR Pass and you were in Kyoto and decided that you wanted to go to Hakata for the day, you could do it for no additional cost.

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for the information! I greatly appreciate it you taking the time to help me. I think that although the rail pass seems easier I will just go ahead and buy individual tickets. I will be in Japan for 12 days so I don't think the 7 day pass would work. I also suspect the more days I add on to a pass the more expensive it will be.

Is it possible to make reservations on trains before I depart the U.S.? Will it be hard to get the trains if I reserve when I arrive?

Again, thank you for your responses.

When are you travelling? It is possible to make Narita Express and shinkansen reservations before you leave the U.S., but it is also not necessary in most situations (I think it would be good for a large group and maybe for travel during the busiest holidays).

http://www.world.eki-net.com/

I will be in Japan May 16- May 26th.
Thank you for the quick response

Ok, then you won't have a problem getting seat reservations.