Worth getting JRPass? Green or ordinary?
 

Hello,

The four of us will travel in Japan in mid-november, to spend 5 days in Tokyo, 5 days in Kyoto, a couple of days in Hiroshima/Miyajima, before heading back to Tokyo to catch our plane back home.

Considering that local passes are available in the different cities and that JR lines in Tokyo are very limited (Yamanote and the Shinjuku-Tokyo line), I was wondering at what point it makes sense to get a JRPass, and whether to get the Green or Ordinary version.

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html

I was thinking of getting some kind of five-day pass while in Tokyo, and only stamping the JRPass only once we left Tokyo, but I'd like to make sure JRPass is really useful to visit areas around Kyoto, head for Hiroshima, take the ferry to Miyajima, and go back to Tokyo (either through Shinkansen or by going through Shikoku for a change).

Thanks for any tip.

A single round trip Tokyo-Kyoto does not pay for the JR pass. Tokyo-Hiroshima would. But see if you can fly home from Osaka's Kansai airport, and avoid the return to Tokyo.

You can use this site to search for schedule and prices: http://www.hyperdia.com/

That site has a new look! Click on Search Details and uncheck NOZOMI and uncheck Airplane. Make sure the departure time is during the day.

A roundtrip Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo is about 26,000 JPY vs the 7-day ordinary railpass at 28,300 JPY. So you don't have to do much beyond that to get to break even. Tokyo-Hiroshima definitely would (even just one-way).

You can't use the JR Pass to get around IN Kyoto but can to get to places nearby to Kyoto like Nara or Himeji or Okayama or Kurashiki.

I think the green car is generally not worth it and that the regular cars are more interesting. But with a group of four you would have a much better chance of getting seats together in the green car. At least that is my impression.

There are no green cars on most Hikari and Kodama trains on the Sanyo shinkansen line (that is, west of Osaka thru Hiroshima to Hakata).

Going to Shikoku and visiting is a great idea. Going THRU Shikoku just to get back to Tokyo is not.

I am one on this site who loves the green pass and would not do it any other way. That said, the ordinary pass is ok if you enjoy the seating in coach on an airplane you will enjoy the cattle class on the train. First class travel is not that much more imho as compared to air travel and it is so much better especially if you are traveling in the JR East or JR Hokkaido sections of Japan. I guess my big butt is just a little more comfy in the green cars with more leg room and a lot better service to boot.

There are more and more JR West green cars now and as a side note of 6/1 of this year a lot more restrictions on smoking on the Shinkansens and all JR trains in general.

Aloha!

The comparison of ordinary class to airline economy class is fatuous. The Shinkansen have far more room and comfort in the non-green cars than any airline's economy class does. The same is true for limited express trains that are not shinkansen.

RT from Tokyo to Kyoto is 26440 with reserved seats. Add in the price of a one-way ticket from Tokyo to Narita on the N'Ex for your trip home (3100Y), and you've topped the JR pass cost.

RT from Kyoto to Hiroshima is another 21500+ with reserved seats. The sights in and around Kyoto (Arashiyama, Inari) are easier to access by JR train because, unlike Tokyo, the local subway is not extensive. And the only reasonable way to travel by train from Kyoto to Hiroshima or Himeji (although with the castle covered, this is probably not on your list) is by shinkansen -- do NOT underestimate how much faster the shinkansen is than any other express train: it cuts travel time by 40-50% at minimum.

In Tokyo, using the Yamanote and Chuo Lines is very convenient, especially the Chuo express from Shinjuku that gets you to the opposite side of the city in mere minutes instead of slogging along on the Metro. But you can cover your needs in Tokyo by purchasing a Suica card at the airport, which costs 3500Y (500 is a refundable deposit), charges only 1500Y for the N'Ex train to Tokyo instead of 3100, and you can use the remaining 1500Y on Tokyo Metro and Tokyo JR lines.

Just interested to know if BR has ever bought and used a green pass or are his opinions fatuous? I know my opinions are not fatuous but are based on numerous actual experiences and not just here say. If you don't agree with what I write you do not have to take my advice. Please don't bad mouth the messenger because you don't like the message.

Oh and btw, Himeji castle is not covered yet and won't be for a few more weeks as they are still in the surveying mode according to an October 11th Sapporo newspaper report I read earlier this month while in Sapporo.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ll-in-view.cfm

Aloha!

I think the 'covering' of Himeji castle won't start till April 12 2010. Before that date, you can still see the keep and climb it.

HT: I have ridden the ordinary and to compare ordinary class to economy class on an airplane, which is what you did, is COMPLETELY, WHOLLY AND ENTIRELY FATUOUS. Sorry but true. The difference in comfort, seat quality and room is tremendous and the trains are far more comfortable in ordinary class than an airline's economy seats.

You're telling the OP to spend hundreds more dollars for a convenience that is completely unnecessary when it is clear from the OP's post that his goal is to avoid unnecessary costs. The green cars may well be entirely more comfortable than ordinary class, I wouldn't doubt that for a moment. But the OP is looking to keep costs down and you're telling him that ordinary class is a cattle call. That's flat wrong.

I stick with my statement.

BR: I want to thank you for calling me a liar and telling us all that our opinions are of no value to anyone else if they do not agree with yours. I was merely giving my opinion on the subject that was asked for by the OP. You now want to turn this into an I'm right and you are dead wrong thing? You are an emotionally charged and very funny fellow.

You are making it sound like I am the devil trying to get the OP to spend "hundreds more dollars" by merely giving an opinion that was asked for by the OP. My opinions come from many many many rides on all types of shinkansens in both first and second classes from Kagoshima in the south all the way through Asahikawa on Hokkaido and multitudes of cities in between.

I personally think that your statement <i>The difference in comfort, seat quality and room is tremendous and the trains are far more comfortable in ordinary class than an airline's economy seats.</i> is the only fatuous statement made in our comments besides the misinformation you slipped in about Himeji Castle being covered up. The difference is not <b>tremendous</b> imho. The second class train seats are equal or very close in width to the economy seats in an airplane. The second class train seats do have a little more legroom between rows than economy seats in an airplane but not much. I am 5 feet 10 inches tall and cannot stretch my legs out in a second class seat on the shinkansen. I can in a first class train seat. My butt will fit <b>very</b> snugly in a second class train seat(I admitted to having a big butt in the above thread)but fits comfortably in the first class train seats.

I am just as always giving my opinion so that the OP can decide what is best for him or her. It is my truthful opinion based on my months of train travels throughout all of Japan. I really wish you would refrain from the personal accusations and emotional outbursts in the future and get your facts straight before giving advice.

My apologies to the OP and to the rest of the forum for my outburst here but do not take kindly to being called a liar in any shape or form.

Must have been packing away the Spam since I saw you two years ago ht, not that I was looking at your butt.

For a group of four the green car does make sense.

My DH is a big man at 6' 4" and weighs close to 260 lbs. He did not like the second class seating at all and felt very uncomfortable on our Japan trip last year. I also remember that the second class cars always seemed booked and we once had to make our reservations in the smoking car which was sheer hell.

I am 6'3" and big but find that the reserved seats on the shinkansen are comfortable. Some limited express train seats can be tight.

Yes Bill my butt is bigger than most.....maybe not yours but as you said I was not looking at yours either,lol......Linda was though.....and you are correct about the second class limited express train seats. When I sit down in a hurry on those seats my left thigh will sometimes press the button which activates the seat back rest which will in turn drop the back rest down and leave me in a position that I don't want at the time and that has happened more than once.

Aloha!