i am currently planning for my japan trip so i am like digging online for what kind of train passes i should buy for my transportation in japan... there are like so many types of passes & i am like so lost, seriously dont know what to choose.... but after some research & consideration, i came up with afew top choices in which i think they are most worthwhile to get & use them while you are in japan....
1. JR rail pass
i am sure everyone who want to go to japan would have heard of this pass... there are also regional JR passes which are categorise based on the location in japan.... this website gives you quite useful information about what & how to use the JR pass... i would call it the general JR pass whereby you can use it to travel to all parts of japan... you can buy your JR passes online over here.... the site also show you the kinds of regional pass..... i think it is convenient since you dont have to go down to JTB to get your passes but i am abit skeptical & worried that the site might not be trustworthy so i still gotten mine from JTB
ok, back to JR pass.... personally i think this pass is VERY USEFUL if you are traveling to different parts of japan since 1 trip on shinkansen can easily cost 5000 yen.... BUT you may want to do some calculation prior to purchasing JR pass to check if it's really worthwhile to get it... hyperdia is like your best friend site, it tells you the train timing, track number as well as fare prices....
let me share some background on the use of JR pass..... there are 2 kind of passes, ordinary or green car but both passes allow you to do seat reservation, meaning you can chop your seats on the train just like selecting one on flight....green car is like business class & the seats are bigger...but that's probably all to it & the price difference is like about 1.3x more compared to ordinary pass... personally i think it's not necessary to get that since the ordinary car is comfortable enough for your journey....for each train there will be 1 or 2 cabins for green car passengers, maybe 60% for reserved cabins & remaining for non-reserved cabins.... non-reserved cabins mean that is free sitting, so if you happen to board a very pack train, there will be chances that you have to stand.....
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| ticket price |
2. tokyo metro/subway tickets
this kind of tickets are only useful if you are traveling WITHIN tokyo.... there are only 2 types of tickets, either metro or subway (also include metro) tickets which are operated by different companies....
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| tokyo metro map |
there are 2 types of tickets that you can buy, metro or subway ticket.....metro means you can only take metro line while subway ticket allow you to take BOTH subway & metro trains....last time, the subway line (operated by TOEI) doesnt have discounted tickets but now they cooperate with tokyo metro.... so there are several day passes, 1, 2 or 3 days & you can buy multiple passes for your trip... personally i take almost exclusively metro trains, the TOEI or subway line is more limited so if you only need 2 days pass then probably just getting metro 2day pass is more worthwhile than subway 2day ticket.....
3. kansai pass
for my this japan trip, i will be going to osaka,kyoto,nara & kobe, which all fall in the kansai area so i will need a kansai pass.... of cause i can just get the general JR pass (which also cover kansai area) but i think it will be more expensive than buying a separate pass.... & actually this area pass caused me the most problem cause i dont know which 1 to get & whether should i even get 1.... because i was reading my travel bible (is actually travel guide but the information is so useful & important that i call it a "bible") that the passes are only worthwhile if you traveling to multiple locations which make sense cause a trip on local train cost about 230yen... so you have to calculate roughly before deciding if you want to buy kansai pass.... BUT the good thing is that kansai pass you can buy it in japan, unlike JR pass which must be purchased outside of japan.... now, let me elaborate on the individual kansai passes
kansai pass:
it is under JR regional pass(JR-west line) & they have 1 to 4 days passes, the good thing about this pass is that they include unlimited rides on the kansai airport HARUKA express (only non-reserved seats)... this is good because a ride from kyoto to airport on HARUKA express will cost 1880yen... so if you decided to go to rinku premium outlet (5min train ride away from kansai airport) then this pass will serve you well =) BUT you can only buy this pass once for your trip... so let say you staying 5 days in kansai area, you can buy one 4day pass but 1 of the day you have to buy individual train tickets.....
kansai wide area pass:
this also operate under JR-west line but like the name suggest, it cover a wider area compared to the normal kansai pass... so you can take sanyo shinkansen & more limited express lines.... but this is only useful IF you traveling to those area... since my focus isnt those area so this pass isnt for me....
kansai thru pass:
this pass is different from previous 2 kansai pass in which it's NOT operated by JR meaning you CANT take JR trains nor HARUKA express.... BUT you can take local trains & buses.... so if you did your research then you will notice that JR doesnt have very extensive network within kansai area.... JR or shinkansen will get you from place to place, like from kyoto to osaka but within each city, there are very limited or even no JR trains.... so this pass will come in handy especially in kyoto since its main mode of transport is local buses & you can get discounts at many attraction spot when you present the pass...
in the end it boils down to how you plan your itinerary before deciding which pass is suitable for you.... there might be other train passes around but i never research on them before so i cant give my opinion... hopefully these information will be useful to you guys =)
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