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A staple of travelling in Japan is to get around by train. From experiencing the shinkansen—Japan’s famous bullet train— to travelling along the country’s many scenic regional lines, train travel in Japan is a classic element of visiting.
Travellers planning to travel by train in Japan tend to immediately go for a Japan Rail Pass to help them get about. While it can work for some trips, sometimes it’s just not worth the cost. However, Japan Rail regional passes can provide a very useful alternative to the JR Pass if you know how to use them.
I speak from experience, as a mistake I made on my trip was not getting the Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass for my trip to Kanazawa and Takayama. Only too late did I realize I could have saved money had I got one. So learn from my oversight and find out whether a JR regional pass will work for your next trip to Japan.
Not as Expensive
One of the most meaningful perks of getting a regional pass is that they’re cheaper than the full JR Pass. Obviously, this is because they don’t include everything that the nation-wide one does. You pay less because the pass does less. And since train travel in Japan can be expensive, any money saved is a blessing.
Doing the math for rail passes is a big part of deciding whether they’re worth getting. Usually the cost of the JR Pass makes sense if you’re doing frequent long train trips, particularly when travelling by shinkansen. This is because shinkansen tickets are expensive and their prices quickly add up with frequent trips.
However, if you’re taking slower regional trains, you’ll find that the JR Pass likely won’t be a cost-effective solution. For my trip to Japan, it no longer made sense to get one once I decided not to travel out to Hiroshima. The cost of all my regional trips never came close to the JR Pass.
As regional passes are cheaper, the threshold for saving money with them is much lower. I found that if you do more than a few trips with them, there’s a decent chance it will pay off. This will be even harder to do with JR Pass after the incoming price increase. Check this rail pass calculator to work the math out for yourself.
Focused Regional Coverage
Since they’re called regional passes, I’m sure you have an idea what they cover. But the term “region” here is used a little loosely, so it’s worth digging into.
In some instances, regional passes are designed to cover an entire island, such as the ones for travelling in Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Others are designed for a specific administrative region, like Kansai or Chugoku. But many of the most useful ones ignore government boundaries and instead focus on common collections of train routes and prefectures. It’s these ones that best take into account how tourists are actually likely to travel.
The most likely scenario where these passes are useful is if you’re doing more targeted trips. For instance, you could use a regional pass from Osaka to do several day trips to other regional cities in the Kansai and neighbouring regions.
The tighter coverage of regional passes also makes their short duration much more appropriate. While the JR Pass starts at 7 days duration, regional passes are often between 1 and 7 days long. But since you won’t be travelling as far, it’s easier to make more frequent and cost-effective use of the pass.
They Don’t Just Cover Trains
An understandable assumption with the JR Pass is that it only covers train travel. And while it does cover high speed and regular trains on the JR network, it does work for other things too. The same can be said for regional passes.
Rail passes in Japan often can cover other means of transport, depending on the region. Passes include travel on the JR bus networks in their respective regions, such as taking the bus to Shirakawa-go from Kanazawa or Takayama. You’ll want to reserve a seat on the bus much like with trains, but the ticket itself will be free.
And corresponding regional passes also work for the ferry to Miyajima from Hiroshima, just as the JR Pass does. These added benefits mean that regional passes provide just as much value in a certain geographic region, without including coverage for areas where you won’t be going.
Lots of Useful Variations
While I explained earlier that there are different passes for different regions, regional passes are even more complex than that. Rather than have one pass per “region”, many of the passes actually overlap in where they cover.
The best example of all this, is if we focus on the Kansai region around Kyoto and Osaka. For Kansai, the most basic pass is the Kansai Area Pass that focuses on the most popular parts of the region. I actually used one for my trip to Himeji from Osaka and also to visit Nara from Kyoto.
One level up from the Kansai Area Pass is the Kansai Wide Area Pass. This expands the borders of the pass by including more of the region, such as the Kii Peninsula and Amanohashidate.
But then there are two further passes that let you expand your pass, depending on your itinerary. One is is the Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass, which extends farther to Hiroshima and Miyajima. The other is the Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass, which stretches over to Kanazawa and Toyama.
All of this customisability isn’t limited to Kansai. There are similar options for the area around Takayama and Hokuriku, as well as over near Hiroshima. These options let you get the most value possible from the pass, by scaling it to include only as much as you need. You just need to do your research to find the best fit for you.
They’re Easier to Get
Probably the trickiest part of the JR Pass is managing the logistics of getting one. It isn’t that the process is necessarily tricky, you just need to plan ahead.
After you’ve bought the rail pass, you’ll be mailed an Exchange Order which you need to use in Japan to collect your actual rail pass. While the mailing process typically only takes up to a week, it’s still a variable you need to plan for.
However, this is less of a problem with regional passes, as many can be bought in person while already in Japan. It will typically cost more to purchase them in Japan rather than online, but that flexibility can be very useful. This option is perfect for last minute decisions or changes to your itinerary.
The requirements for who can use regional passes are also lighter than those for a JR Pass. With a JR Pass you need to be travelling with a foreign passport and have a certain temporary sightseeing visitor visa.
Regional passes however, don’t always have this visa requirement, meaning many can be used while travelling long term, as a student, or as a permanent resident. Make sure to read the eligibility requirements for any regional pass you plan to use before making your purchase.
Why You Still Might Want a JR Pass
There’s a reason that the Japan Rail Pass is the go-to solution for some tourists. As a national pass it’s the most comprehensive product, giving you the most flexibility and possibilities for your Japan trip.
It’s also been created solely for the use of tourists. Many visitors to Japan are operating on limited time and want to fit in as much of the country as possible. But places like Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Hokkaido couldn’t be farther apart. If your fitting in several long train journeys like these into a short amount of time, that’s where the JR Pass shines.
Regional passes can also have the same limitations as a JR Pass. A good example is the Tokaido Shinkansen, as the Nozomi service is not included for the JR Pass, while none of the Tokaido Shinkansen services are available for the Osaka-Tokyo Hokuriku Arch Pass.
I say this to make it clear that regional passes aren’t automatically a better or worse transport solution. But they are an alternative to the JR Pass with a lot of potential.
Have you ever used a JR regional pass rather than a Japan Rail Pass? What was your experience travelling by train in Japan like? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
