I often get e-mails and social media messages from people of whether or not a JR Pass is necessary.
They often hear from their friends who traveled to Japan that they bought a JR Pass but is it necessary?
My opinion is:
Only BUY a Japan Rail Pass if you are traveling long distance multiple times
If you are staying ONLY IN TOKYO or IN A CITY with NO Long Distance Travel, a JR PASS is NOT needed
I have written guides on a JR Pass before, so I’m going to tackle various questions I receive in this post:
I AM HOPING THIS COVERS MY TRAIN RIDES THROUGH TOKYO, WILL IT?
If you are only using Yamanote Line, Keihin-Tohoku Line, Chuo/Sobu Line an Saikyo Line and the Shinkansen, then yes. These are JR Trains. You just walk to a booth where there is a JR employee, show them your JR pass, they’ll let you through. Do not go to an area without an attendant.
BUT with that being said, a lot of the key shopping areas and destinations may require you to take the subway. So, it’s important to get an IC card (such as Suica or Pasmo), put money into that card and use that for the Metro
I have a travel guide on how to purchase a Suica or Passmo IC card here.
I have a travel guide on Tokyo Metro/Subways here.
I AM GOING TO TOKYO BUT I WANT TO VISIT YOKOHAMA (not far from Tokyo), DO I NEED A JR PASS?
The answer to this is NO. Yokohama is a distance away but only 30 minutes by train. A JR PASS is mainly for very long distance traveling, as in traveling hours away. Also, it pays off if you are traveling multiple times. If you are just going to a location like Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka round-trip, it’s cheaper to get a shinkansen ticket because if even if you purchase a 7-Day Shinkansen, it will cost you nearly $400(US).
I WAS TOLD THAT I CAN RIDE FREE WITH A JR PASS ON THE JR TRAINS AND BUSES
Technically, it’s not free, because you paid $400-$600(US). But yes, that is part of what’s cool about a JR Pass but if you are not going to do any long distance traveling, you can put $100 on your Suica/Pasmo IC Card and travel on a train or bus using your IC card. No need to spend a lot of money on a JR Pass for local transportation. But it’s important to note, the farther locations you go, they may not be JR, so have your IC Card ready (Suica/Pasmo/or from other major IC Card company).
I GOT MY JR PASS, BUT HOW DO I ACTIVATE IT?
Look at the website where you purchased your JR Pass, the sites should have locations where you can activate your JR Pass. Here is a good site that shows areas for activation.
CAN I ACTIVATE MY JR PASS ONCE I ARRIVE TO THE AIRPORT?
Both Narita and Haneda Airports have places to activate your JR Pass during business hours to early evenings. But if you are short on time, to catch a train to a far destination, then that makes it more complicated. Often, you will need to wait in line to activate (sometimes you may get attended to early) and if you have a multiple destinations to purchase a ticket, it helps to let them know the destinations, so they can book your shinkansen tickets in advance.
SHOULD I ACTIVATE MY JR PASS IMMEDIATELY OR WAIT?
I would activate your JR Pass on the day you are going on your first long distance trip.
To be safe, I include the final day you are leaving Japan as part of your JR Pass. So, count back from the day you leave on the type of pass you purchased (7, 14 or 21). For example, let’s say today is February 4th and you aren’t traveling long distance until February 11th. Let’s assume you have a seven day pass and are traveling only on the 11th and the 12th long distance and you are going home on the 15th. Then if that’s the case, I would activate it on February 9th, so you actually use the JR Pass for its entire 7-days.
I GOT MY JR PASS ACTIVATED BUT DIDN’T GET MY TICKETS, CAN I STILL GET THEM EASY?
You’ll need to find out through your JR Information booth (where you activate your JR Pass). The reason being is that there are reserved and non-reserved tickets.
If you are in Japan and are traveling during Japanese holidays, I would get your tickets ASAP! Why? Because the Shinkansen is PACKED during the holidays and people have found out first hand what happened when they didn’t reserve. Could you imagine standing in a packed Shinkansen for 2-4 hours without a seat? I had a friend who had to suffer standing in a Shinkansen for 3 hours. With a standard train, you can always take a seat whenever it’s available. On a Shinkansen, those seats are typically reserved.
So, do yourself a favor…Get your JR Tickets in advance! Tell them what date/time you are leaving, what date/time you are arriving. They’ll need to know the destinations and they’ll know which stations to book you.
IS IT A WASTE OF JR PASS IF I DON’T UTILIZE IT THAT MUCH?
My feeling is if you travel long distance more than once, then it’s not a waste. Long distance traveling can cost over Y15,000. If you spent $275 for a seven day pass and you traveled twice, you made that seven day pass worth it.
The problem is for those who purchase a 14-Day or 21-Day JR Pass and they are only traveling only a day or two. A 14-Day JR Pass can cost up to $450 and around $575 for a 21-day JR Pass. You want to make sure you are definitely traveling long distance multiple times to take advantage of it.
For example, I traveled to 7 long distance trips with a 14-day pass. The distance I traveled, I’m sure it would have cost anywhere from $2000-$4000 and I felt my JR Pass worked very well.
I know people who purchase a 14-Day JR Pass or a 21-Day JR Pass because they didn’t want to rely on Suica or Passmo card, they just want to show their JR Pass when they are on the Yamanote Line. They feel they are purchasing it for the convenience despite not traveling long distance. They lost money in the process, but they didn’t want to do deal with a Suica or Passmo card.
So, whether or not it was a waste is subjective to the individual.
