Which JR Pass Should You Buy? A Stress-Free Guide For First-Time Travellers

After we had booked plane tickets for our first trip to Japan, the next thing we did was to book four Japan Rail (JR) passes.

We knew that these would be essential for helping us to travel up and down the country as we planned to visit Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima during our trip. We LOVED riding the shinkansen – it was like an exciting activity in its own right. For our last trip we spent our full 2 week stay in Tokyo, and didn’t need a Japan Rail pass (JR Pass) and the boys really missed their long train rides.

But now we’re planning another trip to Japan for next summer, and city hopping is on the cards. Which inspired me to look at the Japan Rail passes again and decide which would work best for my family (and for yours!) The JR pass is a great scheme that allows you to see as much of Japan as possible.

Here’s everything you need to know:

1. Why You Might Need a JR Pass
2. Types of JR Passes Available in Japan
3. Best JR Passes for Families
4. Why Booking Online Via Klook is Easier
5. What’s Included With The JR Pass?
6. Our Family’s Experience of Using the JR Pass
7. Further Reading

Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!

Why You Might Need a JR Pass

The first thing you need to know is that you CAN’T Buy a 7, 14, or 21 day whole of Japan JR Rail pass when you arrive in Japan. These are special passes that are only available for overseas travellers, so it’s worth doing your research and deciding whether or not this is the right choice for your trip NOW.

Once you have your JR Pass (Japan Rail Pass) it gives you unlimited travel across Japan. And not many people know this, but you can use your pass on more than trains too! You can use the JR Pass on JR trains, buses, ferries, and even monorails. (more on that later!)

👉 Click here to check prices and to book your JR Passes

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Other benefits of choosing to buy the JR Rail Pass before you land in Japan are that you can use it to get free seat reservations in the Ordinary or Green Car at no extra cost.

And something that’s changed since we last used a JR Pass in Japan, that will make using the pass even easier? You can now scan your JR pass at the automatic ticket gates and hop on a train anytime. Where we had to queue to use our JR Pass to book physical tickets!

Travelling with young kids? Then the JR Pass could be a great, budget friendly choice! Kids aged 0-5 can travel for free as long as they don’t occupy their own seat. Which means if you’re happy to have your kids on your lap, you could save a fortune!

Our boys are older than this, so they had their own tickets and their own seats. But that did mean they were able to really relax and enjoy the journey. We even got them special bento boxes (ekiben) shaped like Shinkansen trains to eat as we travelled. (I’ve seen pictures of Hello Kitty ones that I HAVE to try next time!)

Types of JR Passes Available in Japan

You can buy JR Passes for single journeys or single regions in Japan. But if you want to travel around as much of the country as possible, then the whole Japan Rail Pass is the best option.

Now I will admit that the prices of the JR Passes have increased considerably since we last used them. I was slightly shocked by the prices in comparison to what we paid in 2023! But I still think these are good value, provided you are planning to tour as much of Japan as possible.

If you just want to travel to Osaka and then back to Tokyo (so one return train journey) then it would be much cheaper to buy a ticket for that single journey. But for trips on the golden triangle (taking in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, as well as Tokyo) they are still good value. We are planning to see some more rural locales in Japan this trip, meaning this is going to be the best value for us.

I’ve broken down the prices for the three types of whole Japan JR passes here:

Type of Pass	Price Per Adult (12+)	Price Per Child (6-11)	Check Availability and Buy
7 Day JR Pass	£256.75	£128.39	👉 Check availability
14 Day JR Pass	£410.79	£205.39	👉Book now
21 Day JR Pass	£513.49	£256.75	👉Buy tickets here

Best JR Passes for Families

So how can you get the best value from your JR Pass? What are the best JR Passes for families? Unfortunately there aren’t special family passes available. If you’re travelling as a family you’ll have to buy a separate pass for each adult and child over 5.

But the technique we adopted to get the best value from the passes (and save some money!) was to put all our travel days together, so that we only needed a 7 day pass. We then spent a chunk of time in Tokyo before we travelled south, and a chunk of time in Tokyo afterwards.

Organising your itinerary so that you have your longer (and most expensive) train journeys are within a 7 day period of each other is ultimately the best way to save money on your JR Passes. And this is the technique i’ll be adopting again for our next trip: the amount we’d save as a family of four buying a 7 day pass instead of a 14 day pass is considerable!

KLOOK SHINKANSEN TICKETS ARE NOW FULLY AMENDABLE! Meaning there’s no better place to buy your tickets: Read my post all about this big change here.
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Why Booking Online Via Klook is Easier

You can ONLY book your JR Pass in advance and from your home country – you can’t book this type of ticket when you arrive in Japan, so if you’re thinking of booking this then this is one of the things you should be prepared and plan ahead for.

To help make this process as easy as possible for you, I’ve broken down the steps of booking and then using your JR Rail Pass.

1. Order your JR Pass. You can do this via Klook (link here) or whoever your chosen provider is. You can’t order this pass more than 90 days before you intend to exchange it in Japan BUT your JR pass exchange order will need to be posted to your home address, so I recommend ordering it at least 7 days before you travel – we can’t always trust the mail to be quick!
2. Exchange your JR Pass Exchange Order when you arrive in Japan. We did this at Tokyo Station, but you can do this at ANY JR train station. This will give you a physical ticket you can use on your travels: you can also pre-book sets on any trains you want to use at this stage.
3. Activate your JR Pass! You’ll usually do this automatically when you get on your first train, but you MUST do this within 30 days of exchanging your order and collecting your pass.
4. Travel around Japan. Use the pass as often as you like within its valid period, and enjoy every minute of being in the best country in the world!

I’ve tried to break this down as clearly as I can, but it’s really not complicated. When you use Klook you’ll get confirmation within minutes, and if you’re a type A Planner, you can even reserve your pass ahead of that 90 day limit (it just won’t be sent to you until 90 days before you travel).

👉 Ready to book your JR Pass? Save time and money – use our exclusive Klook link here.

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What’s Included With The JR Pass?

I mentioned above that most people think that the JR Pass is a train pass (which would make sense, given it’s literally called the Japan Rail pass!) But the reality is that you can use the JR Pass on any of the transport owned and operated by the JR network. This includes:

• JR Trains You can ride almost all JR trains across the Japan Railways Group—including JR East, JR West, JR Central, JR Hokkaido, and more. This includes local, rapid, Shinkansen (except for Nozomi and Mizuho), and limited express trains.

• Airport Transfers Your JR Pass covers travel to and from major airports, including the Narita Express (Narita Airport), the Tokyo Monorail (Haneda Airport), and the Haruka Limited Express (Kansai Airport).

• Local JR Highway Buses Your Japan Rail Pass also covers local JR buses. These buses are operated by JR Hokkaido, JR Tohoku, JR Kanto, JR Tokai, JR Shikoku, JR Kyushu, Nishinihon JR Bus, and Chugoku JR Bus.

• JR Ferry JR Pass even includes access to the JR Miyajima Ferry, which takes you to the famous Miyajima Island.

Our Family’s Experience of Using the JR Pass

I know that what people want most is first hand experience from people who have actually been there, and done that! So as one of those people, let me reassure you that we found using the JR Pass really easy – exchanging our voucher for tickets and booking all the seats we needed throughout our pass period was simple, straightforward, and only took around half an hour in the ticket office at Tokyo Station.

We booked all of our trains and reserved all of our seats at Tokyo Station at the point of exchanging our order for our voucher. But you don’t have to do this! Once you have your pass you can add and reserve train tickets when you like (even on the day if they’re available!)

I also strongly recommend that you reserve a spot for your luggage if you’re travelling with oversized bags. We didn’t do this and ended up with our enormous suitcases on our legs: big mistake for one leg of our journey to Osaka! I’ve written a step-by-step guide to pre-booking luggage on the shinkansen here.

Finally, if you’re planning on taking the train from Tokyo to Osaka (one of the most popular JR routes) then sit on the right hand side of the train on your journey to Osaka and the left hand side on your journey back to Tokyo. This will give you the best chance of seeing Mount Fuji from the train window! Mount Fuji is still around 90km away from the train tracks, so a view isn’t guarenteed. We got a glimpse of it on one journey, but cloud coverage wasn’t on our side! (Very grainy photo of the peak below)

Further Reading

Are you researching shinkansen tickets as part of a wider trip to Japan? Wondering if the JR Pass is worth it for families? Planning to visit Japan with kids and looking for the best activities, itineraries, and things to see and do? Here’s a list of further reading to help you with your planning:

🎫 A step by step guide to pre-booking luggage on the Shinkansen

🌴One day in Odaiba with Kids: The Ultimate Itinerary for Families in Tokyo Bay

🎴 The Ultimate 14 day Japan itinerary for First Timers

🗼 The Ultimate 5 Day Tokyo Itinerary for Families: Full Guide for Travelling with Kids

Have you used the shinkansen in Japan? Did you buy a JR Pass and was it good value for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and please share any other tips you have too!

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Heads up! This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click and make a purchase, I might earn a very small commission – at no extra cost to you. This helps to keep the blog going. Thanks for the support!