Passes, Tickets or IC?

Best ways to get around by train in Japan.

Bullet Train aka Shinkansen

If you have done some research online you've noticed that Japan is the land of trains. Quite possibly the most convenient and cheapest way to see the Land of the Rising Sun, trains and by proxy busses can be easily paid for in a multitude of ways but, what's the easiest for you? We're going to break down the three best methods of payment during your train adventures in Japan and with the best hope that you will find a method that works best for you.

While not everywhere will have the on-time accuracy of Tokyo or any other major metropolitan area of Japan after living in the rural parts of Tohoku I can easily tell you be prepared for anything. Most of Japan is covered by JR or Japan Railways Group, whether it be West, East or any number of the other regions covered by this once government owned and now privatized railway system. Each region in Japan will also be covered by other companies, for example Osaka Metro, a system of subways connecting much of Osaka or even the Keihan line in the same area. The cover-all solution to this multiple company competition as a consumer is the IC (Integrated Circuit) card. Although it's the umbrella solution to this multi-layered and confusing railway war it may not be the only method, read on for more details.

IC Cards

The simple solution to tickets.

Pros

• Convienent

• Accepted at nearly all metropolitan stations, busses too!

• Reloadable

• App available for Apple and Android

• Solid exchange rates

Cons

• Can't buy/ride Shinkansen with them (until late 2025 or early 2026)

• Limited to ¥20,000 maximum balance

• In very short stock for physical cards

• No discount on fares

In days past it was really convenient for tourists and locals alike to go to any store and pick up a IC card. It was like a reloadable bank card, you get one at 7-Eleven, reload at Lawson and use almost anywhere. The only draw back was when there was a chip shortage from 2020 almost no one had one available to pick up. Luckily there was multiple carriers, PASMO, ICOCA and SUICA. Each of those could be used fairly interchangeably but their use is limited. Not every store or station will take these and your maximum balance is limited to ¥20,000. Seems like enough, right?

Well, you can't easily buy a Shinkansen or Bullet Train ticket with them, even if you have the app, credit card loaded on it and enough balance to cover ¥20,000 worth. Unless, things have changed since this article was written you have to buy your tickets separate of using an IC card at the gate. The absolute best use for IC cards is in the cities where you have multiple train lines and multiple companies running them. For example, say you're staying in Shibuya and you want to get to Maihama (where Tokyo Disneyland is) you will have to go from Chiyo Line, transfer to Keio Line at Nijubashimae and then on to Maihama where Disneyland operates their own monorail. Amazingly, it's only two transfers BUT you JR pass won't work on it and then you have to purchase tickets for each transfer. Fun, right? IC card, bypasses all of that. What I mean is, you still have to find each line, transfer and jump lines but you won't have to worry about waiting in line to buy tickets for each, pulling out your wallet each time or if you bought a Metro Pass, which metro pass to use (yes, there are multiples in Tokyo). Simple, right? One payment method, three lines.

The downside? Well, there's the the chip shortage, limiting the amount of places where they are sold, but you could always download the app on your mobile device. With the max limit of ¥20,000 you can run out of money pretty easily, especially since you can use it for making purchases at convienent stores or vending machines. If you get the physical card you can reload at ticket terminals or Lawson's, while there are many of them if you are trying to leave a station and your physical card runs out while transfering you have to call an attendant, which may take a while at larger or rural stations. By having the app you can reload almost instantaneously and be on you way. So while this is our favorite method, it does have it's limitations especially with a physical card.

Passes, specifically, JR Rail Pass

Best way to save money traveling throughout Japan.

Pros

• Easy way to pay one fee and get unlimited rides

• Children's passes are half the price of adults

• Available in 7 all the way up to 21-day and the discounts grow

• Travel Agencies provide exclusive discounts

• Online seat reservation (with Green Car)

Cons

• Have to pick seats every time, will get time consuming

• Only available for pick up at limited locations, cannot have sent to you

• You will need to be traveling a lot to make use of JR's Rail Pass

• Huge upfront cost (especially for families)

Shinkansen Tickets & Receipts

If you are a planner, get these, no question. Passes, whether it be Metro, JR, Kansai Thru Pass or any other regional card will provide you nearly unlimited rides. Found on websites like Klook or official city/region tourism sites these passes generally are reserved only and picked up locally. If you are looking into a certain region to travel make sure to check these websites as there could be a pass. Available to tourists only these lovely magnetic passes will save you a ton of cash. There are a few caveats to this discount but if you are a master manager these will be a godsend.

Let's start at the obvious big topic, JR Rail Pass. Is it worth it? Yes, and No. The pass will run you a whooping ¥50,000 for a ordinary (regular car) 7-day pass, ¥80,000 for a 14-day pass and ¥100,000 for a 21-day pass. Depending on exchange rate to your home country this is a very large exercise of any wallet. You can find discounts on various websites but despite what you pay for it the value comes at around 5-6 one way rides. If you blitz thru the attractions in a seven day period (not including travel time to Japan) that means at an average of ¥7000-10,000 (one-way trips) you would need to be traveling between cities every day to start seeing the savings. Granted if you could pull that off, I would applaud you as there is no rest for the wicked but we are a family of travelers and unless I want to hear, "are we there yet?," I am not about to do that.

If you have two weeks, the discount will start showing sooner and you could have a breather every 1.2 days or more if you stretch out the distance or do short trips like Osaka to Kyoto, etc. Now, that being said, It does save you a ton of money on children tickets coming in at ¥25,000 for a 7-day Ordinary pass it's half the price and therefore you need to spend half the amount to gain the optimal value from it's purchase. Deals, am I right? Take the same math and the value is extraordinary. We could go on forever debating the value of a Rail Pass but you want to know about the other passes, so read on.

City, Metro or Regional Passes

Sticking around one area for a while? Select for savings galore!

Pros

• One price, unlimited rides

• Order online

• Very inexpensive

• Good for Buses & Trains

• Can provide exclusive discounts at parks & museums

Cons

• Physical pick-up locations/times can vary

• Card is thin, can be lost or bent

• Can be regionally or line locked

2 Day Kansai Thru Pass

If you are planning a trip to one city or region you should definitely consider getting a city/metro/regional pass. Typically these have to be ordered online ahead of time and require a passport to retrieve but for about ¥4200 (at max, half of that for children under 12yo) these passes are a lifesaver. Say you are traveling on a budget, in Kyoto, the Kansai Thru Pass will get you to every major tourist site and beyond.

We stayed in a AirBnB close to Kawamachi, now granted the closest train station was 10 minute walk (with kids), from that home in Nakagyo we could get to Fushimi Inari, Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji and the huge shopping arcade and pay nothing more. Typically you would pay ¥150/pp/one-way from the AirBnb to Inari Station, thats ¥1200 round-trip. Since you will only stay there part of the day you may want to go another heritage site after, thats another ¥1200-1800 you would spend to get there and at that point, one pass has been paid off.

The Thru Pass is the most expensive example of these passes, however, consider this pass covers all the way to Osaka. While it won't be on the famous Bullet Train it is an express or limited express (less stops), this ride from Kyoto, round-trip will cost ¥830/pp/one-way or ¥6640 total. This trip, including transfers, is completely covered by the pass. These are just a few examples of where and how it could be used. There are local city only passes that are available to tourists that will be less costly than the Kansai Thru Pass but will have less versatily.

Probably the most perplexing complication of having these passes is that it is one per person. While that doesn't seem like the worst thing that could happen, traveling with children we've learned to expect the worse. If you are not traveling with children this may not present a challenge but I am telling you, trying to collect the passes from the kids can be fun. They've often left the tickets in the machine (you have to retreive after it scans it, which means they've ducked under the gate arm), kept them and bent them in pockets or straight up lost them in the room. We found writing their names on it helped, but if we collected them and then redistributed at every gate, we lost the efficiency of them having it themselves. So, if this is you, our suggestion, get a lanyard with a clear plastic slip for a IC Card and a soft slip for passes on the otherside. You can find these on Amazon or get at a cute accessory store when you get to Japan.

Second, this applies to Tokyo, there are multiple passes you need to make this beneficial like in Kyoto. You'll need a JR Wide Pass, Metro Pass, Toei Subway Pass and Tokunai to cover all areas since many of them are separate from the other. I would do further research if you are trying to use the pass in Tokyo as this is where we gave up and started to use IC cards exlusively.

Conclusion

Game faces everyone, it's decision time.

I will say that the hardest part about having Passes versus IC cards is that you have the availability to download app to manage balance and use. Since our kids have phones and linked checking accounts the IC card app is the easiest since they are very unlikely to be deattached from their devices. If this is not your family or your situation and are ok with dealing with floppy, physical tickets shoot for these passes. The biggest downfall to IC cards and buying Tickets is that you pay full price. Keep in mind you will need a eSim in each phone or a pocket Wifi to reload.

• If you are not spending a whole lot of time in one area IC cards are the way to go, no contracts, no terms, no limits.

• If you are in one area the whole time, passes save a ton of money and time.

• If you are traveling all over Japan for one thing per city, JR Rail Pass is your friend.

JR Rail Pass is really for the road warrior, especially when staying under 7-days, it's benefits really max out at 14-day passes.

An alternative to JR Rail Pass is the JAL Travel Pass. This is a program to discount domestic plane tickets to foreign nationals. Obvious caveat is that you have to get on/off planes but the discount on average we found was about 30-40% domestic flights.

For the Traveler on a budget we recommend, besides heavy planning:

• Passes

For the Traveler on a tight schedule, use:

• IC Cards

For the Road Warrior:

• Passes and JR Rail Pass/JAL Travel Pass

For Families:

• Passes and IC Cards (especially with apps and devices)

Any way you decide to travel throughout Japan, it will be a great time. We feel that you will enjoy the efficiency of the travel system regardless of method. As a tourist in Japan we have many options to save money or make quality of life a priority so mix, match and really find what makes it easier for you to enjoy the country. We've found if you hyper fixate on trying to devise the cheapest method you will more often times than not stress out about how very burecratical their society is, especially when it comes to just following the rules and paying a fee. Their mindset, for typical citizens will not change just because we are touring there. Be intentional, flexible and compromising is the best advice we can give you when traversing train stations or riding buses. Also, Google Maps is very helpful, especially when figuring out prices and travel paths.