Good Day Everyone,
If you are ever planning on travelling around Japan then I
would definitely recommend getting the Japan Rail Pass. The only time I
wouldn’t recommend the JRP is if you are staying in just one city, as it may
not be the best value for money. For us, the JRP was definitely worth it as we
had planned to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe.
The JRP is a train pass that you can buy prior to
visiting the country. You cannot buy the JRP once in Japan and it is only
available for tourists. The JRP is valid on all bullet trains (shinkansen)
except for the Nozomi train and the Mizuho train which are bullet trains that
tend to stop at fewer stations, thus getting you from A to B more quickly.
Whenever we travelled on the bullet train it was the one called Hikari. You can
make seat reservations for free either at the train stations or online. The
pass is also valid on some JR train lines and even some JR buses. In addition,
it is also valid on the NEX (Narita Express) which is the train that takes you
from Narita airport to central Tokyo.
When you purchase the JRP you are given an exchange voucher.
Once you arrive in Japan you then swap the exchange voucher for the actual
JRP at designated outlets. You can order the JRP online (website here) and
you will be sent the exchange voucher in the post. In Singapore, the JRP is
available from various authorised sales agents on this website.
The JRP is valid for 7, 14 or 21 days and there are two
types available for purchase; green which is like business class and ordinary
which gives you access to standard train seats only. We opted for ordinary as
the standard seats are very comfortable and spacious. An ordinary adult 7 day
pass costs ¥28,300 (approx. $350SGD / £165 / $275USD) and a 14 day pass costs
¥45,100 (approx. $550SGD / £260 / $440USD). Traveling by bullet train isn’t
cheap. Just to give you a rough idea, a one way ordinary ticket on the Hikari
bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka costs around ¥14,200. So a return journey from
Tokyo to Osaka would cover the cost of a 7 day JRP.
Initially we were thinking of buying the 14 day JRP as we
were going to be in Japan for 11 days. We’d planned to start our trip in Tokyo
where we would spend four nights, followed by four nights in Osaka with day
trips to Kobe, and end with two nights in Kyoto. The 14 day JRP would cover all
of our bullet train journeys from Tokyo to Osaka to Kobe to Kyoto and back to
Tokyo as well as the return journey from Narita airport to Tokyo.
However, after
some research I came to the conclusion that this was not the best value for
money. The four nights that we would be in Tokyo, we would not be able to use
the JRP as Tokyo has a subway system and not many JR train lines. The JRP is
not valid on the subways. Also, as we are only going to be in Japan for 11 days we are
automatically losing three days of the 14 day pass. Consequently, I rejigged
our itinerary so that we did most of our travel from city to city within the
first 7 days and made Tokyo our final city as it is the closest to Narita
airport. This way, we got away with buying a 7 day JRP and then just paid
for a one way trip from Tokyo to Narita airport.
Our revised itinerary consisted
of 4 nights in Osaka, followed by two nights in Kyoto and ended with the last 4
nights in Tokyo. When we left Tokyo we got a coach shuttle service from our
hotel to Narita airport which cost ¥3,100 per person. Re-organising our
itinerary meant that we only spent ¥31,400 on our bullet train and NEX travel,
rather ¥45,100 if we had bought the 14 day JRP, thus saving money for shopping
:o).
Once we landed at Narita airport we made our way to the
basement where we swapped our exchange order for the actual JRP and used this
to travel on the NEX from the airport to Tokyo station. The journey took about an hour. The NEX train is very
comfortable and spacious with reclining seats, ample leg space and little pull
down tray tables in the back of the seat in front. There are luggage racks at
either end of the carriages where you can store your suitcases. The luggage
racks have numerical padlocks so that you can actually lock your suitcases onto
the rack and have peace of mind that no one is going to walk off with your
suitcase by mistake.
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| NEX train seats |
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| NEX train luggage racks with locks |
From Tokyo station we got the Hikari bullet train to Osaka which took around 3 hours. The
bullet trains were absolutely amazing to look at. We travelled on the Tokaido
line which runs from Tokyo to Osaka and on that line the bullet trains reach an
operating speed of 270km/h! There’s something very magical about these long,
sleek, sophisticated pieces of engineering. My hubby would get very excited
every time a bullet train would pull in/out of a train station, but you don’t
have to be an engineering geek to admire their beauty. Even I couldn’t suppress
my inner geek from rising to the surface and staring in awe. I don’t know
whether it’s their sleek, long rounded noses or them being one of the most
iconic symbols of Japanese engineering, but there was something very moving and
inspiring about these modern wonders. If you pop over to my Instagram account,
which is GlisteningSheen, there is a short video clip of the bullet trains :o)
However, as much as they are captivating on the outside, the
bullet trains are incredibly functional on the inside. Given their grandeur the
inside might be a little disappointing to some but it serves its purpose.
Unlike trains in England, the bullet train seats all face the same way. This means that there are no seats with tables but you do
have the little pull out tray tables and the seats recline. The bullet
trains do not have as much leg room as the NEX train. Also, there are no
luggage racks at the end of the carriages and so the only space to store your
suitcases is on the racks above your head or by your knees.
The bullet trains and indeed all of the trains were
incredibly clean and tidy. Whenever we travelled by bullet train, it was very
common to see Japanese passengers having their lunch (or breakfast or supper)
on the train. Most people bought their food with them, although there is a
refreshment trolley that does the rounds. Whenever the staff member would leave
or enter a train carriage with the refreshment trolley he/she would bow to
greet the passengers and I absolutely love that about the Japanese culture… it
is very respectful and courteous. Whilst it is very common for passengers to
have their meal on the bullet train, every single passenger disposes of their
own rubbish and we never once saw anyone leave their rubbish behind. Passengers
also return their seats to the upward position when leaving the train. In fact,
when we were getting of our first bullet train journey at Osaka, a Japanese
gentleman moved my seat from the reclined position to upright. As this was my
first time on the bullet train I hadn’t realised that this was the done thing
and when I looked around everyone was ensuring that their reclined seat was in
the upright position. I thanked the gentleman and apologised explaining that
this was my first time in Japan and he was very understanding. Needless to say after
that, I always made sure I left my seat in the upright position.
When you get the JRP it states that you should always carry
your passport along with the pass itself, just in case a ticket inspector asks
to see it, but we were never once asked to show our passports. We did however
have to show our JRP to the ticket inspector at the ticket counter at the start
and end of every journey, as well as on the bullet trains themselves.
On a clear day, when you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto you can
actually see a snow capped Mount Fuji in the distance. We missed it the first
time round but managed to see it when we were travelling from Kyoto back to
Tokyo.
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| A snow capped Mount Fuji in the distance |
Traveling by bullet train was something that my hubby had
always wanted to do and whilst it was never on my wish list, I am incredibly
happy to have had the experience and it’s definitely something I would
recommend. From our experience, we would
recommend making seat reservations as this way you are more likely to get a
window seat which is a great way to see more of this wonderful country.
Have you travelled by bullet train? What was your
experience? If you are planning a trip to Japan then I would recommend the
following websites that were most useful to me when I was preparing for our
trip;
Love Sheen xxx
