Hi there,

I am really looking for some advice, as I have been told many things. I am looking at travelling on the JR train system. I read on their website that if you are on a working holiday visa that you cannot use the rail pass. Someone also told me that it can be done but I am not sure how. For all those people that have gone to Japan and taught English, how did you get around this please?

Thanks....

JR Passes are for use by short term tourists on tourist visas only. On a working holiday visa you do not qualify. Your passport and visa status is checked when you validate the pass. If you can somehow find a way around that check, you could use the pass I think, as no one else will check your passport and visa. But, Japan tends to be the land of following the rules, and it is highly unlikely that you would be able to have your pass vaidated without your passport.

You are, however, eligible to purchase passes aimed at the Japanese market...there are some local train passes for holiday periods only sold on certain dates, for example, that are cheap. Local trains take a whole lot of time to get from point A to point B though.

There are some area passes and commuter passes too, which might be useful for you. You can find out about these at the stations. Some are JR. Some are private lines.

We almost always do our traveling by car as it's less expensive for 3 to go by car. For 1 person, train is cheaper. For 2, car is a bit less. For 3, it's a no brainer.

You can also fly easily in Japan, and there are frequently good discount tickets available for ¥10,000 each way. These promotions are listed on the ANA and JAL websites.

Kim has this subject well covered here. I would like to add that I believe that you would have <u>no chance</u> of getting JR Pass with a work visa stamp.

japan-guide.com has a good description of train passes in Japan, including ones that you could use. See:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

and that site has a good description of air passes:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Thanks for the advice, for people that have used the JR pass can you get the pass authenticated with a photocopy of your passport??? Or do u need the original? Would love to hear from someone who has used the photocopy.

Thanks

You need the original I'm guessing because with a copy you could copy your photo page and someone else's visa page...not their objective. Honestly, I've not heard of this working in many years. I did hear of it being possible when we first arrived here, but that was a long time ago, and they've surely caught onto that.

You are going to need your actual original passport and the JR agent will look for the tourist stamp and you will be denied a JR Pass.

and it would be very expensive to buy the voucher and then not be allowed to use it if you get caught.....