Japan Rail Pass: How to get one + worth getting or not

Before R and I decided to buy our Japan Rail Passes, we asked several friends and acquaintances who’ve been to Japan before if they thought the passes were worth buying or not. I actually don’t remember getting a concrete answer (haha), but most of them advised us to go for it. I became convinced that it was a good idea when my cousin Steph said that she regretted not getting it when she went to Japan.

A Japan Rail Pass is a train pass that can only be used by foreign tourists and offers unlimited rides on all train and bus lines run by the Japan Railways Group, for a certain period of time. Even though R and I were going to be in Japan for 10 days, we decided on getting the 7-day passes rather than the 14-day ones, mostly because the cost of the 14-day pass was way out of our budget.

Assuming for now that you DO want to get a Japan Rail Pass, what are the steps?

1. Purchase a Japan Rail Pass exchange order. The Japan Rail Pass website offers a list of accredited agencies and sales offices all over the world who are authorized to sell these exchange orders. There are 3 agencies listed in the Philippines, but sale of the JR pass on one of them is only available to passengers on JAL flights. H.I.S. PhilippinesTravel Corp. and Universal Holidays, Inc. are the other two. Universal Holidays have two offices, but both had either unhelpful answers to my questions or their lines cannot be reached. So I ended up inquiring with H.I.S. instead, and eventually bought my (and R’s) exchange order from them too. All you have to do is to go to the H.I.S. Philippines’ office at the 2nd floor of the Serendra Shopping Arcade in Bonifacio Global City, present your passport with your Japanese visa, and pay (haha). The 7-day ordinary Japan Rail Pass costs 28,300.00 yen. It depends on the current exchange rate how much you’ll pay in Philippine peso. Click here to see other JR Pass types and prices.
2. Turn in your exchange order for a Japan Rail Pass at a Japan Rail Pass exchange office. JR Pass exchange offices can be found inside certain JR stations all over Japan. Click here for a list of the JR stations with JR Pass exchange offices. Make sure to bring your passport. Bringing your passport wherever you go in Japan is pretty mandatory anyway, in my opinion. I’ve read several forums that some foreigners get stopped on the streets and asked for identification, though thankfully that never happened to me and R.

 

Those are the only steps, basically. XD

Yay 😀

So is getting a Japan Rail Pass worth it or not? R and I didn’t really calculate our train costs when we were in Japan, figuring it must have been worth it since we were able to ride the bullet train twice, haha. But for the sake of actual fact, I recalled all the train rides we took and looked up the price of each via Hyperdia:

November 7

• Osaka~Shinimamiya – 170 yen
• Shinimamiya~Osaka – 170 yen
• Osaka~Shin-osaka – 160 yen
• Shin-osaka~Kyoto – 2,730 yen (bullet train)

November 8

• Kyoto~Inari – 140 yen
• Inari~Kyoto – 140 yen

November 9

• Kyoto~Tokyo – 13,220 yen (bullet train)

November 10

• Tokyo~Ueno – 150 yen
• Minami-senju~Suidobashi – 160 yen
• Suidobashi~Harajuku – 160 yen
• Harajuku~Minami-senju – 290 yen

November 11

• Minami-senju~Shinjuku – 210 yen
• Shinjuku~Nakano – 150 yen
• Nakano~Akihabara – 210 yen
• Akihabara~Minami-senju – 160 yen

November 12

• Minami-senju~Shin-yokohama – 690 yen
• Shin-yokohama~Sakuragicho – 160 yen
• Sakuragicho~Minami-senju – 610 yen
• Minami-senju~Shinjuku – 210 yen

November 13

• Osaka~Shinimamiya – 170 yen
• Shinimamiya~Osaka – 170 yen
• Osaka~Shinimamiya – 170 yen

Adding everything up amounts to 20,230.00 yen. Since a JR pass costs 28,300.00 yen, we clearly weren’t able to get our JR passes’ full worth. We would have been able to if we also rode the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, but we booked a sleeper bus instead to supposedly skimp on hotel accommodations (but on hindsight we actually spent more haha). But we don’t regret getting JR passes because nothing beats being waved through ticket gates without any hassle or being able to switch trains at any time if you happen to be riding the wrong one (which happened to us a couple of times because R and I fell asleep haha and/or we just really had no idea where we were supposed to go). Also worth it: riding the bullet train. (Details will be saved for another post, though!)

However, I wouldn’t recommend getting a JR pass if:

1. You’ll be travelling for less than 5 days in Japan
2. You’ll be staying in mostly one place during your time there. The JR pass is mostly worth it if you’ll be traveling long distances on bullet trains.

I especially wouldn’t recommend getting a JR pass if the majority of your stay will be in Kyoto, even if you’ll be traveling somewhere far later on (e.g. Tokyo), because majority of the transportation you’ll be using in Kyoto are their buses. In other words, getting a JR pass depends largely on the length of your trip plus your itinerary. 🙂

Visit my Japan page for more of my misadventures (and information, of course)!