A Full Information to the Japan Rail Go

Posted: 1/9/23 | January ninth, 2023

Japan is one in every of my favourite nations on this planet. The serene great thing about the mountains and temples, the hustle and bustle of the sprawling cities, the beautiful meals, and its lengthy historical past make for an interesting place to go to.

Nevertheless, Japan has a fame, particularly amongst funds vacationers, as being too costly. “Higher skip Japan and head to Southeast Asia, the place your cash goes additional,” they are saying.

But you may journey Japan on a funds. Meals, sights, and even lodging (it’s the land of capsule resorts!) will be discovered for a comparatively low value if you understand the place you look.

But one facet of touring in Japan that does dwell as much as its pricey fame is transportation — significantly prepare journey.

Japan’s iconic bullet trains (known as shinkansen) are lovely, snug, handy, and quick. They’re world-class wonders of transportation, racing round at speeds as much as 320 kilometers (200 miles) per hour. They run on particular tracks separate from the opposite trains and are a formidable feat of engineering.

They’re tremendous costly. There’s simply no method round that truth.

Fortunately, there may be one simple factor you are able to do to chop your prepare ticket costs in half (or extra): purchase a Japan Rail Go. You actually shouldn’t be touring across the nation with out one (and I’m fairly certain they worth the cross and common tickets out in a method that basically forces you to purchase one).

On this publish, I’ll introduce the JR Go and clarify the way it works, how a lot it prices, and reply widespread questions I get concerning the cross.

What’s the Japan Rail (JR) Go?

The Japan Rail Go (also referred to as the JR Go) was created to assist vacationers get across the nation (much like the Eurail cross in Europe). JR is the biggest prepare operator in Japan, and the cross gives limitless entry to all its trains for a set worth.

The cross is available in 7-, 14-, and 21-day choices. Observe that these are consecutive days, not journey days. So, if you wish to journey round Japan for 2 weeks, you’ll have to buy the 14-day choice, regardless that you received’t be taking the prepare day by day.

A number of JR trains are included within the cross. The preferred is the shinkansen (bullet) prepare, which is the quickest prepare and goes to just about each vacation spot and area. The following quickest is the tokkyu (restricted specific). The kyuko (specific) prepare comes subsequent, adopted by the kaisoku (fast) and kakueki-teisha or futsu-densha (native trains that make each cease).

Briefly, because of this there are JR trains that quickly journey between areas, some that go between cities with a number of stops, and native commuter-style trains which are sluggish (however low-cost).

Moreover, JR trains additionally serve some metropolitan areas, to allow them to be used inside cities. For instance, on my final go to, I used my JR Go to get round Kyoto and Tokyo as an alternative of shopping for native metro tickets.

The JR Go must be bought earlier than you arrive in Japan and it needs to be mailed to you so that you’ll wish to order it properly upfront (extra beneath).

How the JR Go works

The JR Go may be very simple to make use of — you simply want to recollect to buy it beforehand, whereas in your house nation, because the cross is simply obtainable to guests. (Whilst you can buy it at choose ticket places of work in Japan till March 2023, in-person passes value considerably extra, so it’s higher simply to order it upfront).

The cross has a number of choices (every legitimate for consecutive days, not simply journey days):

• 7 days: 29,650 JPY (39,600 JPY for a Inexperienced Go)
• 14 days: 47,250 JPY (64,120 JPY for a Inexperienced Go)
• 21 days: 60,450 JPY (83,390 JPY for a Inexperienced Go)

The Inexperienced Go is the first-class choice. Because the trains in Japan are already superb, you probably don’t want to purchase the Inexperienced Go except you really need some luxurious. Moreover, touring in inexperienced vehicles will be extra of a problem in case you prefer to be spontaneous, as you should all the time reserve a seat upfront in inexperienced vehicles, requiring you to go to the ticket workplace or computerized reservation machines forward of time to take action. In abnormal vehicles, you may simply hop on and take any obtainable seat.

Along with the usual and inexperienced JR passes, there are regional passes in case you aren’t touring throughout all the nation. These choices can prevent much more cash since they’re cheaper than the common JR passes. Every area has a number of cross choices, often ranging between one and 7 days.

You should purchase JR passes for six areas:

• JR East (for the primary island)
• JR West (for the primary island)
• JR Central (for the primary island)
• JR Hokkaido (for the northern island)
• JR Kyushu (for the southwestern island)
• JR Shikoku (for the southeastern island)

If you happen to’re simply going to be specializing in one area of the nation, think about shopping for a JR regional cross. If you’d like entry to all the nation, get the common JR Go.

If you happen to’re a first-time customer to Japan, you’ll probably need the common JR Go, because it covers all the foremost locations.

In sum, to get a cross, you might want to:

1. Choose the time period on your cross (7, 14, or 21 days)
2. Select your class (Inexperienced or commonplace — once more, commonplace is greater than enough for many vacationers)
3. Determine what geographical space you wish to go to (the entire nation or a single area)
4. Pay the charge and order the cross earlier than you allow residence

Getting and utilizing Your JR Go

The simplest approach to get a Japan Go is by ordering it on-line (there are various official on-line suppliers however I like to recommend this one because it’s been promoting passes for the longest time).

As soon as you buy a cross, you’ll obtain an “alternate order” within the mail, stamped with a date, that you just’ll flip in to choose up your precise cross in Japan. Don’t overlook your alternate order at residence, as you should carry this doc to choose up your cross in Japan!

When you get to Japan, you’ll alternate your alternate order (therefore the title) for a JR Go at a JR workplace. Be sure to have your passport on you (not a photocopy) whenever you go to gather it, as they are going to test to just be sure you have a brief customer stamp in your passport. The JR Go is simply obtainable to guests and they’re fairly strict about verifying you’re a vacationer.

You’ve gotten three months from the date printed on the alternate order to choose up your JR Go, however you don’t want to begin utilizing the cross on the identical day that you just choose it up.

For instance, say that you just wish to choose up the cross when you arrive however you wish to spend a while in Tokyo earlier than heading on to see the remainder of the nation. You possibly can choose any date inside one month of exchanging the order as your beginning date. (However as soon as the cross is issued, you may’t change the beginning date.)

When you’ve bought your cross in hand, you don’t want to fret about getting tickets, as you merely use your cross to go proper by way of the automated turnstiles.

Along with utilizing the shinkansen and different trains, the JR cross offers entry to:

• Native buses operated by JR (such because the vacationer loop bus in Hiroshima or JR buses round Sapporo)
• Ferries operated by JR (such because the one from Hiroshima to the island of Miyajima)
• JR traces working by way of metropolitan areas (comparable to Tokyo and Osaka)
• Free seat reservations (in any other case, seat reservations value round 330-930 JPY)

The JR Go isn’t legitimate for:

• The Nozomi and the Mizuho shinkansen traces
• Japanese residents or residents, comparable to foreigners working in Japan (solely these with a vacationer visa can use the cross)

Is the Japan Rail Go value it?

Completely! Though you would possibly get sticker shock initially when buying a cross, you’ll save lots of of {dollars} throughout your journey with one — even in case you simply go to 2-3 cities. For instance, with no rail cross, a ticket from Tokyo to Osaka prices round 27,000 JPY (round-trip), but you will get a seven-day rail cross that features limitless journey on JR trains for simply 29,650 JPY. So for the value of 1 round-trip ticket, you get limitless journey. It’s a no brainer!

Listed here are some extra examples of one-way prepare tickets on the shinkansen trains with non-reserved seats within the “abnormal” (non-green automobile) class:

• Tokyo-Hiroshima: 18,380 JPY
• Tokyo-Kyoto: 13,320 JPY
• Tokyo Fukuoka: 23,390 JPY
• Kyoto-Hiroshima: 10,570 JPY
• Kyoto-Osaka: 4,230 JPY
• Hiroshima-Fukuoka: 9,000 JPY
• Nagano-Kanazawa: 8,440 JPY
• Tokyo-Yokohama: 3,210 JPY
• Hakodate-Tokyo: 23,500 JPY

As you may see, it solely takes one longer-distance journey from Tokyo (comparable to to Hiroshima or Fukuoka) to justify the price of the cross. And also you’ll probably use it way more than that!

And even in case you aren’t taking the bullet trains, the cross nonetheless is smart. For instance, a visit on an area prepare from Kyoto to Tokyo prices round 8,360 JPY — as an alternative of 13,320 JPY for the bullet prepare. Nevertheless, the native prepare journey takes 9 hours and requires a number of transfers, as an alternative of a direct three hours, making it a lower than best selection for many vacationers (particularly in case you’re tight on time). It’s usually merely not value the fee financial savings.

You’re higher off utilizing the bullet trains and reveling within the high-speed expertise because it whisks you from one unbelievable vacation spot to a different!

Japan Rail Go Steadily Requested Questions

Is JR Go just for vacationers?
Sure. Solely folks visiting on a vacationer visa can use the JR Go.

Can Japan Rail Go be used on the Tokyo subway?
Yep, a few of the subway traces (although not all) in Tokyo are run by JR, which implies you may entry them without spending a dime together with your JR Go. That is true for all the nation. Metro traces and native subway traces are excluded from the cross.

Can I modify the times on which I want to use the Japan Rail Go?
No. As soon as the cross has been activated, the dates are set in stone.

How do I activate the Japan Rail Go?
To activate the JR Go, carry your alternate order and your passport to a JR workplace in Japan. As soon as they confirm your id and visa standing, they are going to activate your cross.

Can I exploit JR Go from Tokyo to Kyoto?
Yep! The gap is 445 kilometers (283 miles), and the journey takes below three hours on the bullet prepare.

Are buses included in JR Go?
Sure, JR does run some bus traces, that are included within the JR Go. Some locations the place JR has buses embrace Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu.

Can I cancel my Japan Rail Go?
You possibly can cancel your cross so long as it has not been activated, however as soon as it’s activated, you may’t.

Prepare journey is one of the best ways to see Japan. The trains are clear, quick, and the surroundings attractive. I like touring the nation by prepare. Whereas shopping for a rail cross would possibly appear to be a pricey selection, it can prevent a ton of cash — and it’s a uniquely Japanese expertise that you just received’t overlook!