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Budget ¥5,610 (about $36) per person whichever option you take:
on this line the fare does not depend on the train. What separates them is how long they take, and the fact that the Japan Rail Pass does not cover the fastest train.
The two stations are 180 km (112 miles) apart by rail.
The two ways to get there
JR train
Sanyo Shinkansen Sakura
Shin-Osaka → Okayama, unreserved seat
¥5,610
about $36 · per person
about 44 minuteson the Sakura or Hikari, up to 1 h 11 on the Kodama
Japan Rail Pass: yesCovered by the Japan Rail Pass.
Who runs it
JR
The public rail network, six regional companies. The Japan Rail Pass is valid on their lines and on nothing else.
Source
Which train
Sakura, Hikari or KodamaHikari and Sakura: Same rails as the Nozomi, a few more stops. Covered by the Japan Rail Pass, with no supplement.
SourceKodama: The service that stops at every station on the line. The slowest of the three, and covered by the Japan Rail Pass.
Source
This single trip can pay for a JR Kansai Wide Area Pass on its own: that pass covers every train on this section without exception, the Nozomi and the Mizuho included. Worth weighing against the national Japan Rail Pass on an itinerary that stays in Kansai.
Fare source
JR train
Sanyo Shinkansen Nozomi or Mizuho
Shin-Osaka → Okayama, unreserved seat
¥5,610
about $36 · per person
about 44 to 49 minutesjourney time
Japan Rail Pass: noThe Nozomi and the Mizuho are the only JR trains the pass leaves out.
Who runs it
JR
The public rail network, six regional companies. The Japan Rail Pass is valid on their lines and on nothing else.
Source
Which train
Nozomi and MizuhoNozomi and Mizuho: The fastest services on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu lines: they stop only at the major stations. They are the only JR trains excluded from the Japan Rail Pass.
Source
The Nozomi and the Mizuho are never covered by the national Japan Rail Pass, despite an unreserved fare identical to the Sakura, Hikari and Kodama.
Fare source
Last checked August 11, 2026. The dollar figure is worked out at the exchange rate of the site's last update and
is never stored beside the yen.
A regional pass covers this trip
Less known than the national Japan Rail Pass and often far cheaper, they are only valid inside their
own area. These cover this trip end to end.
We earn a commission on the Klook links below, and it costs you nothing extra. It does not
change which pass we say covers your trip.
JR Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass
¥17,000 (about $108) for 5 consecutive days
See this pass on Klook
This trip inside your whole itinerary
One trip on its own never tells you whether the Japan Rail Pass is worth it. That depends on every
other leg of the journey, and on the regional passes, which are far cheaper and cover only their
own area.
The company decides whether the Japan Rail Pass applies: JR yes, private no, whatever the train.
The train decides how long it takes. It changes nothing about the pass, with one exception: the Nozomi and the Mizuho, the only two JR trains the pass leaves out.
