Japan's railways are fast, highly efficient and cover the majority of the country, making this the transport mode of choice for most visitors. The first and most confusing aspect of Japan's railway system (especially within large cities like Tokyo) that you will encounter is the overlap of several private railway networks with the JR network. Being aware of this one fact will substantially reduce the confusion you experience trying to understand railway maps and find your way around.
Note that most trains do not operate 24 hours, for example in Tokyo they do not run between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM roughly. If you are planning to be out late and are relying on the train to get home, be sure to find out when your train is. Many bars and clubs are open until the first train runs again in the morning, so keep this in mind as another option.
The Shinkansen (bullet train) network, as of 2005. Lines in gray are under construction or planned.
The JR network is extensive as one would expect from what used to be the national rail system (now privately owned). If you have a JR Pass, you will almost certainly figure out that even in large cities such as Tokyo or Osaka, there is a JR station fairly near where you want to go. In the countryside JR also runs bus services to connect places that don't have a rail service. However, the JR network is not a monopoly and particularly within major conurbations there are other private rail networks.
Japan Rail Pass
By far the best option for visitors who plan to do a lot of travelling is the Japan Rail Pass, which allows unlimited travel on almost all JR trains, including the Shinkansen, for a fixed period of 7, 14 or 21 days. The main exceptions are the Nozomi superexpress (not allowed), sleeper seats (surcharge payable) and the rare case where JR trains travel on non-JR track. Whereas a single round trip from Tokyo to Osaka costs almost ¥29,000, the 7-day Rail Pass is ¥28,300. The 14-day/21-day pass is ¥45,100/57,700. This can only be purchased outside of Japan from specific vendors. Upon purchase, you are given a Exchange Order, which can be exchanged at most larger JR stations in Japan, including all of the stations nearest to airports, for the Rail Pass itself. At the time of exchange, you will need to have your passport with you, and know the date upon which you will want the Rail Pass to start.
The JR East Rail Pass also permits essentially unlimited travel on its trains. There are three durations, 5-day pass (¥28,000), 10-day pass (¥48,800) and a 4-day Flex Pass (¥28,000). The 4-day Flex Pass can be used any four days within a one-month window. The JR East pass can be used on Shinkansen north-bound from Tokyo, but cannot be used on the Tokaido Shinkansen to go to Kyoto and Osaka.
JR West has two types of rail passes. The JR West San'yo Area Pass allows essentially unlimited travel in eastern Japan and part of Kyushu, including the Shinkansen. The 4-day/8-day pass is ¥20,000/30,000. The JR West Kansai Area Pass can be used for travel on regular trains only; express trains require the express fee, and cannot be used on the Shinkansen. The 1-day/2-day/3-day/4-day pass is ¥2,000/4,000/5,000/6,000 and can be used in an area which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and the Kansai airport.
Unlike the Japan Rail Pass, the passes for JR East and JR West can also be purchased after you have arrived in Japan. All passes, including the Japan Rail Pass, are only available to people entering Japan with "temporary visitor" status.
The Kyushu Rail Pass offers unlimited travel on JR Kyushu's lines, including the Kyushu Shinkansen but not the San'yo Shinkansen to Hakata. As of 2005, the pass costs ¥16,000 for five days; you'll have to travel quite a lot to make this pay off and most visitors, especially those not flying in directly to Kyushu, will find the ordinary Japan Rail Pass a better deal.
When you make any rail journey, you will need to show the Rail Pass at the manned ticket barrier. This is inconvenient if there is a queue, but it is usually acceptable to flash your pass at the ticket-taker as you slip past the other customers transacting business with JR.
JR Central, which operates the Tokaido Shinkansen does not have a rail pass; the Japan Rail Pass is the only pass which permits travel between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka.
Seishun 18 Ticket
The Seishun 18 Ticket (Seishun jūhachi kippu) is the best deal for travel in Japan, offering five days of unlimited train travel for just ¥11,500. Better yet, unlike the Rail Pass, the days do not have to be consecutive. You can even split a ticket so that (for example) one person uses it for two days and another for three days. The main catches are that tickets are valid only on local trains (no expresses and certainly no Bullet Trains) and that tickets are valid only during school holidays (March-April, July-September, December-January), so you need good timing and plenty of time on your hands to use it.
Buying a ticket
If you do not have a JR pass then buying a ticket is probably the most complicated thing you can do. If you are travelling long distances and you are at a major station then there will be an obvious travel section where you can buy your ticket from a human being — look for the little green sign of a figure relaxing in a chair or ask for the midori no madoguchi (literally "green window"). Since you probably need to know the train times and may want to reserve a seat as well this is a good thing. Generally speaking you can make your desires known by means of handwaving and pointing at destinations if the staff are unable to speak English. Writing down information helps as most Japanese have a much easier time reading English than hearing it.
On the other hand if you are at a local station (or a subway station) you will have more difficulty as you nearly always have to buy it using a machine whose instructions are in Japanese (although newer machines have an English mode). These machines do not take credit cards. Fortunately this is exactly the place where looking utterly bewildered is liable to lead to some nice Japanese offering to help. If they do then you are in luck, if not then here are some hints.
Firstly there is usually a big map above all the machines which shows the current station in red, often marked with "tōeki". Around it will be all other stations you can get to with a price below them. The nearer stations have the smaller numbers (e.g. the closest stations will probably be about ¥140, more distant ones rising to perhaps ¥2000. If you recognise the characters of the station you want to get to then make a note of the amount you should pay and place that amount (or more) into the machine using coins or notes (most machines take ¥1000 notes, some also take ¥5000 and ¥10000 notes) the price you want will show up as one of the buttons to press. Note that some machines have large black buttons with nothing written on them. These are for different fare levels. Press the buttons until your fare level shows up, insert the money, and take your ticket. If you can't figure out the price then buy a minimum fare ticket and pay when you arrive at your destination. You can either present your ticket to the staff at the gate, or pay the balance at the "Fare Adjustment" machine. Look for a small ticket vending kiosk near the exit, but still inside the gate. Insert your minimum fare ticket and pay the balance indicated on the screen.
At bigger stations, you will probably have the choice of more then one train line, or more than one company operating the lines. Therefore, always first find the line you want to use, and then get your ticket from the nearest machine, instead of jumping on the first ticket machine next to the station's entrance. Otherwise you might end up with a ticket for a different company and/or line. While you can usually choose your platform after going through the gate, and thereby activating your ticket, at smaller stations this might not be the case. If you notice too late that you need to get to another platform, you might not be able to get out anymore without invalidating your ticket. So always have a good look at the signposts at every station.
Express train to Shibuya
JR pioneered the famous Bullet Train, known in Japanese as Shinkansen, and with speeds nudging 300 kilometers per hour these remain the fastest way to travel around the country. On the most-traveled Tokaido route between Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka, there are three types of shinkansen, reflecting the number of stops that the train makes:
- Nozomi - the fastest and most expensive type of Shinkansen. 13 cars (including 2 first class cars) out of 16 reserved seating. Small surcharge on top of the Shinkansen fare required, and the Japan Rail Pass is not valid.
- Hikari - the next fastest, but still pretty fast, and Rail Pass is OK.
- Kodama - makes more stops, and generally only covers small stretches of the Shinkansen lines.
Other JR services, particularly suburban ones, use the following generic labels:
- Regular (futsū or kakueki) - local service, stops at every station
- Rapid (kaisoku) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 stops, no surcharge
- Express (kyūkō) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 stops, requires a surcharge
- Liner (rainaa) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 kyuko stops, requires a surcharge
- Limited Express (tokkyū) - skips approximately 2 out of 3 kyuko stops, requires a surcharge and usually a reserved seat as well
Express services may offer first-class Green Car seats. Given that the surcharge of almost 50% gets you little more than a bit of extra leg room, most passengers opt for regular seats. However, if you really need to ride a particular train for which the regular seats are full, the Green Car is an alternative.
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