The whole appeal of getting a JR pass is to save money when travelling in Japan, but with the recent announcement of price increases, is the JR Pass still worth it?

What is the JR Pass?

The JR Pass is a public transport pass available to foreigners visiting Japan. 

You can purchase a JR Pass in 7, 14 or 21 day blocks.

The JR Pass gives you unlimited trips on certain JR operated shinkansens, subways, buses and ferries around Japan.

JR Pass price increases in late 2023

• 7 day pass jumps from JPY 29,650 to JPY 50,000 (69% increase)

• 14 day pass goes from JPY 47,250 to JPY 80,000 (69% increase)

• 21 day pass rises from JPY 60,450 to JPY 100,000 (65% increase)

The Green Car passes will also rise by similar amounts.

The price increases are set to start around October, there is not a clear date yet on when they will come into effect.

Positives to the JR Pass price increases

You will be able to use the Nozomi Shinkansen services with the new JR Pass. Nozomi bullet trains are faster and more efficient services, which are not available with the current JR Pass.

Discounts will be available for JR Pass holders - the type of discounts have not been confirmed, although they are likely to be at tourist attractions.

Alternative to getting a JR Pass

If you don’t purchase a JR Pass for travel around Japan, what are your options? Well, some of the alternatives are:

Buses - Japan has an extensive bus network. Buses are clean, safe and efficient for travel.

Flying - domestic flights can be an affordable and fast way to travel between major cities.

Regional JR Passes - there have been no price increases on regional JR Passes announced as of yet. Some examples of regional JR Passes include JR East Pass, JR Central Pass, JR West Pass, Hokkaido Pass and the Kansai Pass.

Buying individual shinkansen tickets - more on that below.

Buying individual shinkansen tickets 

We are big advocates for buying single Shinkansen tickets - it’s how we got around Japan on our recent 20 day itinerary. With this method, you purchase a single Shinkansen ticket from point A to B as needed, e.g. Tokyo-Osaka, Osaka-Hiroshima, Nagoya-Tokyo etc. 

How to buy individual shinkansen tickets

As foreigners, we found using a service called SmartEX to be very helpful for buying individual Shinkansen tickets. SmartEX has an English app, and also comes in a desktop website as well. With this service, you search for the date, time, and route you are travelling and it will generate all the available bullet trains which match your search criteria.

When you’re ready to purchase your ticket, you can input a credit or debit card into the app for easy payment, and you will be emailed a receipt. Your ticket info will be available on the app. 

When you arrive at the shinkansen train station, you can enter the ticket gates two ways:

1. Scan the ticket QR code in the SmartEX app

2. Link your ticket to a IC card (Suica, Pasmo etc.) and tap your IC card on the reader at the gate

The gate will print out a paper ticket with your journey info for you to keep and show to train guards if needed.

If you need to amend your ticket (change the date or time), you can easily do so in the SmartEX app at no extra cost. 

Other ways to buy Shinkansen tickets

You can also purchase bullet train tickets at train station booths, or buy face to face from a person inside a ticket office at a shinkansen station.

General shinkansen tips

Reserved/non-reserved seats:

We always went for reserved seats, especially because we had big luggage. But if you don’t have large bags or don’t mind where you sit, a non-reserved ticket is slightly cheaper.

Oversized luggage:

You can reserve oversized luggage tickets for for free, however there are only 5 available seats per car since the oversized luggage goes behind the last row of back seats. If you don’t reserve oversize tickets you run the risk of paying 1000 yen at the train station.

Shinkansen etiquette

Eating is allowed on bullet trains, but make sure to take your rubbish with you especially if you are getting off midway through the route. Someone is more than likely coming to sit in your seat after you get off - you wouldn’t like to be sitting on top of someone else’s rubbish, so don’t do it to other people.

Keep noise down by switching phones to silent and using headphones to listen to music.

Be alert and prepared to get on/off the shinkansen - bullet trains only stop at stations for a short time frame, so make sure you are packed and ready to go so you don’t hold people up when getting on and off the train.