While traveling there are some boring but necessary things that need to be done apart from having fun and enjoying as much as we can our time.
We wish we could just do whatever we want to without thinking at the financial side of it, unfortunately we haven’t won the lottery yet (not that we give it a try anyway) so we must keep an eye on our expenses and budget the trips trying to make the most of them by saving when possible.
When we decided to go to Japan we knew it was going to be an expensive trip compared to some other destinations, especially in regard to the transportation. So we did our research, we read as much as we could and we decided to buy a Japan Rail Pass with the promise to maximize it as much as possible once in Japan to make it worth the money we’d pay for it.
Where To Start?
To make sure you actually need a Japan Rail Pass you need to decide your itinerary and the length of your stay. There is a very useful website Hyperdia that we used every day while in Japan, almost religiously. It can give you an idea on train prices and can definitely help you plan your trip (bear in mind that on this site you can only check trains and flights, and you cannot check the buses and boats that can be taken with the pass too).
Based on a very rough estimation we realized we would have needed the Japan Rail Pass for the amount of places we wanted to visit in the short period of time we were going to be in Japan and that it would have saved us some money for sure.
Must Buy the Japan Rail Pass Beforehand
We made sure we were eligible to buy a Japan Rail Pass then realized that it cannot be purchased once we’d arrive in Japan. We were in Kiev at that time, we didn’t find a place that sold it so we ordered it online from an agency in London and had it delivered just in time before our flight to Tokyo. Phew, literally just in time!
We received just the Exchange Order that we exchanged for the actual Rail Pass once in Japan, (it can be done at any JR station with a Japan Rail Pass Exchange Office and you’ll need to show your passport with the “Temporary Visitor” stamp which is issued by immigration to tourists on arrival to Japan).
It is a very easy thing to do and everybody helped us and put us in the right direction even if they didn’t speak any English or just very little one.
Hands up who can argue the impeccable Japanese customer service!
Ordinary or Green Seats?
We went for the 21 days – ordinary pass that hopefully would have gave us plenty of time to go where we wanted to, and it did!
Going back we would have bought the ordinary one again without a doubt. In fact there isn’t much difference between these seats and the green ones that are considered superior class.
The ordinary seats on the high speed trains are very comfortable, have plenty of legroom which made Dale very happy, a reasonable luggage storage on top of the seats big enough to fit our backpacks.
When we saw the seats turning depending on which direction the train was going we couldn’t believe to our eyes, such a clever thing! We also witnessed what we still believe was the fastest and more efficient train cleaning session: in fact in only few minutes the cleaners made the train sparkling (not that it was that bad in the first place), they also changed the little cloth where the head leans on for each seat and even polished the windows and doors glasses.
We were simply speechless, what a service!
Let’s Do Some Math Then
We started our Japanese trip in Tokyo and, if you are in the same situation, as a little tip, we would recommend to activate your pass only the day before leaving the Capital as we did.
This was our Itinerary for the 21 days Japan Rail Pass:
Tokyo to Yamadera
Yamadera to Utsunomiya
Utsunomiya to Nikko
Nikko to Kyoto
Kyoto to Nara
Nara to Kobe
Kobe to Osaka and back to Kobe again
Kobe to Naoshima
Naoshima to Hiroshima
Hiroshima to Miyajima and back to Hiroshima again
Hiroshima to Nagasaki
Nagasaki to Fukuoka
Plus we used JR local trains when we could instead of metro or other public transport, to move internally in the cities which saved us from buying extra tickets.
The pass costed us 57,700 Yen each (approx $715, €560, £450) and, based on our very busy schedule, if we didn’t have the JR Pass we would have spent approximately 84,000 Yen each (approx $1040, €815, £655).
If the math isn’t an opinion, we saved approximately 26,300 Yen each (approx $325, €255, £205). Result!
The Japanese Rail Pass was definitely worth it for us and helped us save some money for sure, but when buying one you should really consider different factors like how long your trip is going to last and how many places you are willing to go to.
As you can see, our route was very intense, we traveled a lot in such short time therefore it made sense to have the JR Pass.
When planning and making a decision on buying the JR Pass, remember that the JR Pass allows unlimited rides (on the entitled trains, buses and boats) for a pre-selected period of time which you choose (check the Japanese Rail Pass website for more accurate info)
The JR Pass made our travelling in Japan very easy, almost stress free and most importantly saved us a consider amount of money for a two budget backpackers.
Please note that this article and the opinions included are entirely of our own making and are in no way affiliated to any agreement between the Japan Rail Agency & ourselves. We purchased the passes without discount & review them to benefit anyone considering a future purchase.
Extremely good and accurate info regarding the JR pass, the best agglomeration of summarized key points that I have come across in an hour or so of surfing the subject. I made the regrettable mistake of not doing any research before boarding the flight to Fukuoka. on the plane, I read about the JR pass requirement in my copy of Lonely Planet for Japan. In the first 6 days of moving about, I discovered that train travel was so expensive ($U100/97minutes for example) that I just had to get a pass or I would see nothing in Japan. Regrettably, this involved a $U250 hydrofoil trip to Busan in South Korea, just to get the pass. Of course, I arrive Sat arvo, 3hrs after the terminal agency has closed for the w/end. No one could point me to another open agency, so an unplanned w/end in Sth Korea is on it seems. As mentioned by the author, you can postal order for delivery to Japan. I was quoted 4 – 6 days for this process, hence the hydrofoil decision.
In short, if you want to travel in Japan, get the JRPass voucher before boarding for your flight for there!
Thanks for the compliment and sorry to hear about the little nightmare you are having to get your JR pass. I wish you found out about it before getting to Japan. On a more positive note, Busan is a nice city, we loved it so try to make the most of this unplanned weekend there, sometimes what is unexpected and not planned can turn to be the best experiences! 🙂
I would LOVE to explore more of Japan! We were in Tokyo for a few days, and while it was almost prohibitively expensive, it was great! We visited South Korea this summer, and discovered that for us, it was a more budget friendly Asian alternative to Japan, and we loved it there, too!
Shanna Schultz recently posted…Fabulous Friday Foto: Korean Women in Traditional Korean Costumes
You are correct about Japan being expensive, there are ways of making a bit less painful though and the JR pass was one of them for us.
We’ve been to South Korea too, straight after Japan, you’re right about it being less pricey.. where have you guys been? Busan, Seoul or anywhere else?
Lots of good information. It’s always useful to learn how to save money in expensive countries. Thx for sharing!
Nico recently posted…How I went to Rio and Missed the Carnival
Thanks Nico! I am glad you found the information in the post useful and hopefully it’ll turn handy one day 🙂