Japan by train and bus, and whether a pass beats it

The national pass comes in three lengths. Each is a run of consecutive days, and you pick when it starts. Since October 1, 2026, authorized agencies charge about $337 (¥53,000) for 7 days, about $534 (¥84,000) for 14 and about $668 (¥105,000) for 21, which is 5% to 6% more than before. JR's own site still sells at the old price, about $318 (¥50,000), about $509 (¥80,000) and about $636 (¥100,000), and has not said for how long. Prices checked October 2, 2026, on the official pass site.

Not quite, and plenty of guides still online quote prices from before the overhaul of October 1, 2023. The real rise depends on the length. It was 68.6% on the 7-day, from about $189 (¥29,650) to about $318 (¥50,000); 69.4% on the 14-day, from about $301 (¥47,250) to about $509 (¥80,000); 65.4% on the 21-day, from about $385 (¥60,450) to about $636 (¥100,000). In exchange, the Nozomi and the Mizuho became available to pass holders for a supplement.

A trip that stays inside one region almost always works out cheaper on a regional pass than on the national one. Four of them cover the most common routes:

• JR Kansai Wide Area Pass, about $76 (¥12,000), 5 days: Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, Okayama, Kinosaki Onsen, with the Nozomi and the Mizuho included between Shin-Osaka and Okayama.
• JR Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, about $108 (¥17,000), 5 days: the same area, extended to Hiroshima and Miyajima, with the JR ferry included.
• JR Tokyo Wide Pass, about $102 (¥16,000), 3 days: Nikko, Mount Fuji (the Fuji Excursion covered end to end, which the national pass does not do), Izu, Nasu. Not Hakone.
• Hokuriku Arch Pass, about $223 (¥35,000), 7 days: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto and Osaka by the Hokuriku Shinkansen, with the all-reserved Kagayaki included.

The calculator weighs them against the national pass and against single tickets on your own route, and only suggests a regional pass when it genuinely beats the cheapest alternative.

The pass does not have to cover your whole stay, only the window when you move the most. Started at the right moment, which is not necessarily your first journey, a 7-day pass can serve a three-week trip if your long-distance legs are packed into one week. The calculator above tries all three lengths and every possible start date on your real itinerary.

Work it out on my route

No, never, not even at full fare. They are the fastest bullet trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo lines, and the ones you reach for by reflex at the station. Take one anyway and a fixed supplement is added to the pass: about $32 (¥4,960) between Tokyo and Kyoto or Shin-Osaka, about $41 (¥6,500) as far as Hiroshima.

Reservations are free and unlimited, on the national Japan Rail Pass as on all four regional passes. They only really matter in the busy stretches. During Obon, Golden Week and New Year the unreserved cars fill quickly. Outside those, boarding an unreserved car works perfectly well.

Without a pass, you do not need to buy shinkansen tickets in advance. You get them from a machine or a counter a few minutes before departure, in any station, and the main lines all have unreserved cars you can simply board.

Two options come up on the machine, 指定席 (reserved) and 自由席 (non-reserved), and they do not cost the same, because a reserved seat carries its own limited express charge and the wrong pick can mean paying for a seat you never take. The guide to basic Japanese phrases covers the rest.

Three periods are the exception: Obon, Golden Week and New Year. Reserved seats do sell out, and buying from home then has real value. Outside them you would be paying a premium for peace of mind you would have had anyway.

If you are traveling in one of them, Klook sells bullet train tickets online, in English and in your own currency. Expect 1 to 8% above the Japanese counter price. That is what booking from abroad costs, as of August 2026.

See bullet train tickets

An IC card pays for subways, buses, local trains and konbini purchases with one tap, and no ticket. The nine regional cards (Suica, Kitaca, PASMO, manaca, TOICA, ICOCA, Hayakaken, nimoca, SUGOCA) all work on each other's networks, so a single one covers the whole trip, whichever city you happened to pick it up in.

The simplest route skips the ticket counter. ICOCA goes into Apple Wallet from home, before you fly, and tops up from a Visa, Mastercard, JCB or American Express card on an iPhone 8 or newer, with no Japanese bank account and no queue at a counter on the day you land. A plastic card is different: cash only, at machines and Seven Bank ATMs.

Prefer plastic? The Welcome Suica is the visitor version. No deposit, one per person, good for 28 days from the day you buy it. Since March 27, 2025 it has been sold in a short list of places: the JR EAST Travel Service Centers, the vending machines at the three airport stations, the JAPAN RAIL CAFÉ and the Takanawa Gateway Travel Service Center. An ordinary Suica costs about $3 (¥500) as a deposit. You get it back when you return the card, less about $1 (¥220) in fees.

Two traps cost money. The balance in the Welcome Suica Mobile app is never refunded, unlike the balance on a physical card, so load only what you will spend. An IC card holds about $127 (¥20,000) at most. That is plenty for local travel, and nowhere near a one-way ride from Tokyo to Kyoto.

The trap that strands you is a different one, and it is why this question belongs on this page: an IC card does not cross an area boundary. A journey that starts in the Tokyo area has to end there, and JR East names Tokyo to Sendai as a trip you cannot make with a tap. On a bullet train or a limited express the card pays the base fare only, and the supplement is bought separately. Long legs still need a ticket or a pass.

Exactly one month before departure, at 10 a.m. Japan time. On a Tokyo to Kyoto bullet train during Golden Week or Obon, the reserved seats go the same day.

On those dates what runs out is the seat and not the room, so lock in your train legs first, buy the tickets the day they go on sale, and choose the hotel afterwards, around the trains you actually got.

Yes, and you have to get it at home. Japan follows the 1949 Geneva Convention, so a permit issued in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia or Ireland is the document the police will ask for, and no office anywhere in Japan will issue one to you after you land.

The clock is the part people miss. You drive for one year from the day you land, or until the permit expires, whichever comes first. A permit runs one year from its issue date. Get it six months early and you lose half your window.

The JAF translation is a different rule. It replaces the permit for six countries that do not issue the Geneva model: Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, Monaco and Taiwan, and renting on a US or UK license with that translation instead would leave you uninsured.

Yes. Since October 2023 the Japan Rail Pass has been bought and paid for online on the official site before you leave, with no paper Exchange Order to swap at a station counter once you arrive.