The Japan Rail Pass is a railpass sold by the Japan Railways Group, and is good for travel on all major forms of transportation provided by the JR Group, with a few exceptions. The Rail Pass is designed to stimulate travel and tourism throughout the country.
The Rail Pass comes in two varieties, one for each class of service, Standard Car, and the first class car, Green Car. Furthermore, the pass is time limited based on the length of pass purchased. Three time periods are available: seven day, fourteen day and twenty-one day passes, which provide the user unlimited use of JR transportation services.
The table below summarizes the prices for each pass. The amounts are listed in Japanese Yen. The purchaser buys the Japan Rail Pass through paying for the Exchange Order in the purchaser's home country currency based on the current exchange rate.
Validity
The pass is valid for travel on Japan Railways Group (JR) transportation throughout the country in the class of service indicated on the pass on the following lines:
Train
Shinkansen, except Nozomi
Limited express
Express
Local, including Rapid and Special Rapid services
Bus
The pass is valid on the local routes of the following bus companies:
JR Hokkaido- Bus Company
JR Bus Tohoku Company
JR Bus Kanto- Company
JR To-kai Bus Company
West JR Bus Company
Chu-goku JR Bus Company
JR Shikoku Bus Company
JR Kyu-shu- Bus Company
Highway bus
The pass is valid on the following highway bus routes:
Sapporo - Otaru
Morioka - Hirosaki
Tokyo - Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Tsukuba Center
Nagoya - Kyo-to, O-saka
O-saka - Tsuyama, Kasai Flower Center
Ferry
The pass is also valid for travel on JR Ferry service on the following route:
The Japan Rail Pass is obtained by purchasing an Exchange Order from a travel agency located outside of Japan. The exchange order can also be purchased from Japan based airlines such as Japan Airlines or All Nippon Airways, and cannot be obtained in Japan. It cannot be used for travel, and must be exchanged at the ticket office at any of the following JR train stations.
Kushiro Station
Obihiro Station
Asahikawa Station
Sapporo Station
New Chitose Airport Station
Hakodate Station
Hachinohe Station
Sendai Station
Yamagata Station
Fukushima Station
Niigata Station
Kanazawa Station
Narita Airport Station
Narita Airport Terminal 2 Station
Tokyo Station
Ueno Station
Shinjuku Station
Shibuya Station
Ikebukuro Station
Shinagawa Station
Yokohama Station
Shin-Yokohama Station
Odawara Station
Mishima Station
Shizuoka Station
Hamamatsu Station
Nagoya Station
Kyoto Station
Shin-O-saka Station
O-saka Station
Kansai Airport Station
Sannomiya Station
Okayama Station
Hiroshima Station
Shimonoseki Station
Takamatsu Station
Matsuyama Station
Kokura Station
Hakata Station
Nagasaki Station
Kumamoto Station
O-ita Station
Miyazaki Station
Kagoshima-Chu-o- Station
Terms & Condition
The Rail Pass is designed for tourist use, and therefore has conditions for its purchase and exchange.
Eligibility
The user must meet one of the following two conditions:
A foreign tourist visiting Japan, who has a passport bearing the "Temporary Visitor" entry status stamped at immigration, and who can present the actual passport at the time of exchange. A photocopy of the passport is not acceptable.
A Japanese national living in a foreign country,
who is qualified to live permanently in that country, or
who is married to a non-Japanese residing in a country other than Japan.
Validity period of the exchange order
The exchange order must be exchanged for a Japan Rail Pass within three months from the date the order was issued.
Exchange procedure
The person designated on the Exchange Order must apply for the Rail Pass at an exchange office, and there,
present the order, along with passport,
fill in the application form provided at the office, and then,
specify the desired first day of use, which must be within one month from the date of issue. For example, if the exchange is made on January 1, then the date of first travel must be selected before February 1.
The Rail Pass is valid on almost all forms of transportation (train, bus and ferry) operated by the companies of the JR Group. However, there are exceptions and conditions of use of the Rail Pass.
The Rail Pass is non-transferable and can only be used by the person designated on the pass.
The user must present his/her passport upon request.
Seat reservations can be made without additional payment. Seat reservations can be made at all JR Midori no Madoguchi ticket offices.
Use of a private compartment is not covered by the Rail Pass and requires an additional charge.
Use of a sleeping compartment on overnight trains is not covered by the Rail Pass and requires an additional charge.
Use of the Nozomi service is not covered by the Rail Pass and requires an additional charge.
Use of the Fukuoka to Busan hydrofoil ferry service is normally not covered by the Rail Pass and requires an additional charge. There however are exceptions as travel agencies in Korea sell special types of Kyushu Rail Pass (valid within JR Kyushu network) which includes a round trip ticket on the hydrofoil from Busan.
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