The Japan Rail Pass offers great value! It’s an economical way to travel throughout Japan’s extensive rail network, considered to be one of the most efficient in the world. This includes travel aboard the world famous Shinkansen ‘bullet trains’, limited expresses and local services.
A Japan Rail Pass can be used on all Japan Railways (JR) lines and the Shinkansen ‘bullet trains’ (except the pass is not valid on “NOZOMI” and “MIZUHO” trains on the Tokaido, Sanyo and Kyushu Shinkansen lines). The Japan Rail Pass is offered by the six companies that make up the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), including JR Kyushu, JR Shikoku, JR West, JR Central, JR East and JR Hokkaido. The Japan Rail Pass can also be used for the Tokyo monorail.
These Shinkansen “bullet trains” can be used:
A Japan Rail Pass can be purchased and used by:
3 months
Caution: Please note that during crowded periods you cannot be guaranteed a seat on a specific train.
The periods when seat reservations are particularly difficult to secure are as follows:
An unused Exchange Order Voucher can be returned for refund less a 10% administration fee within one year from date of issue. Once the Exchange Order Voucher has been exchanged for an actual Japan Rail Pass, it becomes 100% non-refundable.
Once a Japan Rail Pass is purchased, we will ship you an Exchange Order Voucher, which you exchange in Japan for the actual Japan Rail Pass. These Stations have Japan Rail Pass exchange offices. (This must be done WITHIN 3 MONTHS from the date the Exchange Order Voucher was issued. At the time of exchange, you can specify the date that you want to start using the pass. It can be any date within one month from the date the actual Japan Rail Pass is received. Once the Pass has a starting date written on it, the date cannot be changed.)
You cannot buy a Japan Rail Pass in Japan. An Exchange Order Voucher must be purchased outside Japan, prior to your trip.
The Japan Rail Pass is also valid for the following buses: local lines of JR bus companies (JR Hokkaido Bus, JR Bus Tohoku, JR Bus Kanto, JR Tokai Bus, West Japan JR Bus, Chugoku JR Bus, JR Shikoku Bus, JR Kyushu Bus) and some of JR highway bus services (Sapporo-Otaru; Morioka-Hirosaki; Tokyo-Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka,Tsukuba Center; Nagoya-Kyoto, Osaka; Osaka-Tsuyama, Kasai Flower Center), and ferry: the JR Miyajima ferry.
The Japan Rail Pass is not valid for travel on non-JR lines. If you wish to travel on non-JR lines, you will need to pay the corresponding fare to the private railway company concerned.
4.82out of5Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Seamless convenienceRex Eaton ,Canada January 26, 2013My Japan Rail Pass made my trip through the country an absolute pleasure, with seamless connections between local and national trains, and the opportunity to experience the rail system itself as a tourist attraction. The incredible speed, smooth travel, absolute timeliness and integration of JR lines is something to behold.
And when at one point the main island of Honshu was hit with a violent wind storm and transportation, including airports and many of the rail lines, had to shut down for several hours, it was fascinating to see how well JR provided information to to its travelling public, and how the people of Japan responded - with calm and patience. Their response I'm sure was due in good part to their faith in the JR system.
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Value  3.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Convenient pass, very comfortable travel, Craig ,EnglandJanuary 25, 2013 Train travel in Japan is a must. Very fast, regular, comfortable and efficient. Only downside is that if you plan to catch any trains not covered by the pass it can become quite expensive. This also applies to the various subway networks which aren't included.
Still, the pass is very convenient and peace of mind when you walk through the turnstiles.
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | It's a Train Journey. From Another PlanetMark ,EnglandJanuary 21, 2013 I can honestly say that the JR Rail Pass was quite probably the best thing I've spent my money on. Ever. Seriously.
My friends and I spent 3 weeks travelling from Nagasaku to Beppu. From Hiroshima to Osaka. From Tokyo to Kanazawa. From Okinawa to Sapporo.
Every train had a different personality. Every train was clean and comfortable.
It was like travelling on a train. In your dreams.
Don't hesitate. Do it !
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Value  4.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Where else in the world?Wendy ,USAJanuary 20, 2013 We really enjoyed our time on the Japan trains. The people were very friendly and it was easy to navigate, even without knowing the language. The scenery going through towns was as inspiring as seeing the snow covered mountains and it's a great way to more through the country at a quick pace.
Traveling from USA, be sure to purchase your pass before leaving the country, at a lower cost. My credit card declined the first time tried because it's processed out of the country, but a call to my cc company took care of it quickly.
Japan is truly worth every hour and penny spent getting there. The culture, customs and beauty can't be seen anywhere else in the world. I'm happy to answer questions or help plan. Wendy@cruisetraveloutlet.com
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Convenience at right priceVincent ,GermanyJanuary 20, 2013 I purchased online the Japan Rail Pass plus insurance last year. It was very convenient, easy, quick and the price is just right. I would purchase again from ACP rail on my next visit to Japan! ^_^
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Great valueAl ,UkJanuary 18, 2013 Made travelling a breeze. Just jump on virtually any train without the need to book. We travelled all over honshu with the pass and certainly would have spent more on tickets, more time buying them and therefore had less of a stress free holiday if we hadn't had the passes. Really good reasons to invest and save.
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 4.00 Service 5.00 | Outstanding Value!Xavier ,United StatesJanuary 18, 2013 At first I thought the cost of the rail pass was a joke or a part of a bait-and-switch. Most other rail pass offerings were for fewer days and this one seemed to offer too wide a travel range to be real. Still I took a chance and boy was I pleasantly surprised! Getting the passes was quick - a simple voucher exchange when I arrived in country and I had a pass that let me travel almost anywhere. This included NEX and other bullet trains! I would recommend ACPRail to anyone visiting Japan.
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Value 3.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Single traveller with JR rail passAnders Pedersen ,Denmark/ChinaJanuary 18, 2013 Japan is perhaps one of the most convenient countries to travel by train, and a JR rail pass is highly recommendable. Before ordering it, I would however recommend doing just a bit of research to find out how much you want to travel and if it is actually necessary with a rail pass, or if single travel tickets are more affordable - Japan is not cheap! If I had followed my original plan I wouldn't have made much of a saving buying the pass, but once I came to Japan I ended up travelling much more than planned, and saved almost 50% compared to buying single tickets.
I would highly recommend the website http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ to find schedules. Very simple and userfriendly. It makes it so much easier to make seat reservations if you have the exact train information and the ticket officer doesn't speak English. The free seat reservations are very convenient and easy to handle. It is hard to know when it is absolutely necessary to make a reservation, but I came across a public holiday and found it very useful.
Ordering the pass from ACP Rail went very smooth. At the time I was in China, ordered and paid online, and received the voucher the following day by courrier. Perfect! Making the exchange in Japan was just as simple, although the office was a bit difficult to find in Tokyo Station. No wonder, that place is massive!!
The fact that the rail pass is not valid on all trains should not be a reason not to consider buying it. The alternative travel options are plenty.
Very recommendable. ENJOY :D
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | Best OptionMartin ,Czech republikJanuary 18, 2013 JRP is the only option for travel in Japan if you have limited budget. You can travel with local - rapid or even shinkansen trains. For shinkansen you just need to make seat reservation around 20 min befor departure (at the latest) or you can take no-res. car.
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Value 5.00 User Friendliness 5.00 Experience 5.00 Comfort 5.00 Service 5.00 | A Fantastic PurchasePaul ,CanadaJanuary 18, 2013 The Japan Rail Pass was perhaps the best travel purchase I have ever made. I am not sure exactly how much money I saved while using the 21 day pass but it is certainly in the hundreds of dollars.
While you do need to travel a bit to get your value back I was able to do this in a fourteen day period with two or three day stops in each location. The other seven days which my pass was valid I was using it mostly on the local lines, which are sometimes Japan Rail too.
The convenience the Pass offered was also a huge boon. I was able to quickly book, or even just step onto, trains when needed. The Japan Rail Pass's true value, however, is found in its flexibility to miss trains (something that can happen in foreign places with language barriers)without having to purchase more tickets. I saved money in this manner myself, having accidentally missed a stop on a bus I was taking.
As well the pass accomadates all those eventualities which can occur while travelling. For instance while I was in Osaka a friend of mine forgot our tickets to a conference in Tokyo. With the Pass I was able to fetch them, with no additional expense, from Tokyo just in time to make it to the conference. Without the Pass it would not have been worth taking the train back and we would have missed an amazing opportunity.
Finally, while my trip was mostly planned, the Pass allowed me to adjust my itinerary to visit attractions that I only discovered once I had been in Japan a few days. If you are a less well organized traveller then I could not imagine leaving without this Pass, and even if you have a set plan the flexibility is worth almost as much as the money you will save.
-I should add that I was hesitant to purchase the pass before leaving Canada as I was not sure how useful it would be. I worked it out and found that at worst it was no more expensive than buying tickets in country so I got the Rail Pass. So glad I did.
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