Visiting Japan and buying the JR Pass. One Simple Thing I Would Do Differently Next Time

Shinkansen train at the train station

The JR Pass can be a convenient way to travel on the Shinkansen without needing to purchase a separate ticket for each leg of your journey. But purchasing the JR Pass is not without its issues. Here is my experience buying the JR Pass and one simple thing that I would do differently next time.

The first thing you need to figure out is whether the JR Pass is worth it. Since they hiked up the price tremendously, you'll want to calculate the difference between buying a pass or buying individual tickets. If you go to the JR Pass website, there is a fare calculator that you can use which calculates each trip for you. They only have passes for 7 days, 14 days or 21 days. I was there for 10 days, so I had to make sure I took all my trips on the Shinkansen within the 7 days to make the pass worthwhile.

JR Pass website far calculator page

For me, the pass was slightly cheaper than buying individual tickets, until I realized there are added fees. I think I probably broke even, so I got the pass really really for convenience.

Since I ordered this online there was also a US$9.00 booking fee and a US$17.00 FedEx delivery fee. I wasn't expecting either of those fees.

My email receipt for the total cost of my JR Pass

When the FedEx delivery arrives, what you receive isn't the ticket, but what they call a voucher. You'll need to take this voucher with you to Japan and exchange it for the actual paper ticket. So, don't forget to bring the voucher with you, otherwise you're SOL. Japan has a thing for paper tickets and not having any records of your order either.

What would I have done differently? Easy! I would have purchased my JR Pass ticket when I arrived in Japan. This would have saved me money on the FedEx fee. And hopefully the booking fee, but I'm not sure about that. It would have also saved me any fear of losing my voucher or forgetting to pack it with me on my flight.

Once you are at the JR ticket office at the airport, the staff will ask you when you would like to activate your ticket. I told them the next day and the staff helped me book a seat and plan my route from Tokyo to Onomichi so I can do the Shimanami Kaido ride, which I wrote about here.

The staff at the JR ticketing office seem to all speak varying degrees of English, but enough to help you figure out which trains to take and reserve a seat.

There are several websites where you can purchase the JR Rail pass like J Rail Pass, Japan Rail Pass, Klook, HIS Japan Travel and the official JR Pass website from Japan. I used the official JR Pass site from Japan. I purchased a 7 day pass for US$362.00 about a month before my departure date. At the time of this writing, you are unable to purchase the pass further than a month out.

The JR Pass can also be used on certain trains in Tokyo like the Yamanote Line, which to me is a very convenient line.