For non JR pass travellers. Guide to use JR single ticket, basic rules, validity and stopover

Fare table
This is not a regular JR ticket but a typical JR train ticket looks like this.

I have received many inquiries about Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka one way trip. I always recommend to use a regular ticket for this one way long distance train ride, such as from Tokyo to Kyoto, from Osaka to Tokyo. Because this one way trip is not enough to get the worth of JR Pass 7-day. I have written the post about the fare calculation before.

But I think this post was not enough to explain the fare rule. JR single ticket rule is very complicated for the tourists from oversea. But you do not need to know everything. If you understand some basic rules, single ticket is more useful and it gives you a trip at more affordable rate.

In this post, I will show you some basic rules of the regular ticket for the long distance train ride and how to use and purchase it.

How to purchase it

Simply you can purchase it at the station. If you make a short distance trip in the city or city to just outside city, you can purchase a ticket at the vending machine.

e.g.
Ueno to Tokyo (inside city)
Tokyo to Yokohama (city to just outside place)
Osaka to Universal City (inside city)
Osaka to Kyoto (city to outside place)

If you make a long distance trip, you still can buy a ticket at the vending machine. But the ticket window may be easier to purchase a long distance ticket for the foreign travelers. Especially if you intend to make a stopover on the way, you have to buy a ticket at the ticket window. Because you have to explain your trip plan.

If you want to take a limited express train, you have to purchase a limited express surcharge ticket too. Even if you want to take a non reserved seat on a limited express train, you have to purchase it. You can purchase both a reserved and a non reserved ticket for a limited express (the Shinkansen as well) at “Midori no Madoguchi”. Midori no Madoguchi is the name of JR reservation ticket window. You can purchase a base fare ticket at Midori no Madoguchi too. Please get the detail about reservation at the post below.

In the case of purchasing both base fare ticket and limited express surcharge ticket, you can purchase it in advance. An express surcharge ticket is on sale one month prior to a departure date.

e.g.
Tokyo to Kyoto travel on Dec 1
You can purchase the tickets after Nov 1.

You also can purchase the tickets at any JR stations if you buy both base fare and limited express surcharge at same time. For example, if you start to travel from Tokyo station, you can purchase it at Narita airport station on the day of arrival.

Base fare ticket can be purchased at any JR stations where station staff is on duty. There are many station without station staffs in remote area. In major cities and major stations, there are station staff. Even if you take a train at the station without station staff, you can purchase it from the conductor in the train.

How to get a fare

You can use Hyperdia to get the fare quite easily.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

As you see above capture image of Hyperdia, you can get base fare and seat fare (includes surcharge). In this image, total fare is the following:

Base fare – 9560 yen
Shinkansen Nozomi (Tokyo – Shin-Osaka) – 5740 yen (reserved seat)
Ltd Exp Haruka (Shin-Osaka – Kansai airport) – 820 yen (reserved seat)
Total – 16120 yen

*The above image was captured in 2013. The fare was raised in April l, 2014 because of consumer tax was increased to 8% from 5%. The actual fare is different from the fare in the image above.

The price of Japan Rail Pass 7 days ordinary is 28300 yen. (New price is 29110 yen.) Total single fare is more than 10000 yen cheaper than 7 days pass price. This is the reason why I recommend to use single fare for Tokyo – Osaka one way transfer.

Validity

Please see the above capture image of Hyperdia again. You also can find a distance at Hyperdia. This is a key to use single ticket. Actually long distance ticket can be used in multiple days.

DistanceValid days
101 – 200 km2 days
201 – 400 km3 days
401 – 600 km4 days
601 – 800 km5 days
801 – 1000 km6 days
  • From 1001 km and up, add 1 day every 200 km.
  • If you travel more than 101 km but it is in Tokyo or Osaka zone only, ticket valid in one day only.

So in above capture image, distance is 613.4km. This ticket valid in 5 days.

Stopover

You can stopover as many as you want. Of course you cannot go back. Once you start to travel, you have to go forward. You have to care only one thing. When you depart/arrive to travel at the following areas, you cannot stopover in same areas.

  • Sapporo
  • Sendai
  • Tokyo 23 wards
  • Tokyo Yamanote line
  • Yokohana
  • Nagoya
  • Kyoto
  • Osaka
  • Kobe
  • Hiroshima
  • Kitakyushu
  • Fukuoka

These areas are same as city limit. I show you some examples.

1. Above ticket (Tokyo – Kansai Airport)
You can NOT – Stopover at anywhere in Tokyo 23 wards. For example, after you start to travel from Tokyo, you cannot stopover at Shinagawa.
You can – Stopover at Kyoto, Osaka and anywhere outside of Tokyo 23 wards.
By the way, you can start to travel from anywhere in Tokyo 23 wards.

2. Ticket from Narita airport to Osaka
You can NOT – Stopover at anywhere in Osaka city. For example, you cannot stopover at Shin-Osaka. Once you exit at any stations in Osaka city, your ticket will be expired right away.
You can – Stopover at Tokyo, Kyoto, Nagoya and anywhere outside of Osaka city.
By the way, when you travel through Tokyo downtown core, ticket will be calculated by the shortest route. For example, most typical route from Narita to Osaka via Tokyo, via Tokyo station and Shinagawa station. But if you want to go to Osaka via Akihabara and Shinjuku, you can take this route and stopover.

But in case of using limited express, you have to purchase limited express surcharge ticket for each segments.
ex) Tokyo – Osaka trip, stopover at Nagoya.
You have to purchase two Shinkansen tickets, Tokyo – Nagoya Shinkansen surcharge ticket and Ngoya – Shin-Osaka surcharge ticket.

Sample ideas

Please see above capture image of Hyperdia again. If you use this ticket, you can do the following itinerary.

Day 1 Tokyo – Kyoto (Stopover at Kyoto)
Day 2 Kyoto (no use single ticket)
Day 3 Kyoto – Osaka (Stopover at Osaka)
Day 4 One day trip to Kobe (purchase another single ticket.)
Day 5 Osaka – Kansai airport

When you arrive in Tokyo, you can use other deals, such as Suica & N’ex. And you have 5 days after you finish to see Tokyo. If you add Suica & N’ex one way ticket, total amount is 19620 yen. It is about 9000 yen cheaper than JR Pass 7 days.

I believe this is the perfect solution for Tokyo – Osaka one way travellers.

Comments

  1. Tran says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    I’m planning a trip to Tokyo and Osaka. My trip is Tokyo -> Osaka -> Tokyo -> Canada.

    I haven’t made up my mind on how many days I should stay in each place, or whether I want to go to Osaka right when I arrive in Tokyo’s Airport and then after a few days return to Tokyo for the remaining time. I have 2 weeks of time to stay in Japan. My flight requires me to fly to/from Tokyo, so I have to return to Tokyo eventually. Can you suggest what is the best plan for me? I am not sure to get the 7 day JR pass or to just buy the round-trip shinkansen ticket?

    Thanks in advance.

    Tran

  2. Richard says:

    Hi Takeshi San,

    Thanks alot for your info, been reading them for about a month before i finally made my itinerary. However, please review it and correct me if i made mistake. Also please inform me the best city pass for my needs. Thanks.

    16March arrive at HANEDA at 21.05
    stays at seafort hotel in tennozu isle
    17 Disney resort. At night explore roppongi
    18 explore Odaiba
    19 asakusa and area along yamanote line.
    I plan to buy TOKYO TOKUNAI PASS
    20. leaving for FUJI using single trip ticket
    Buy hakone pass odawara dept.
    21. leaving Odawara to Kyoto.
    Buy tickets ODAWARA -KANSAI AIRP.
    22 kyoto – Osaka
    My hotel is near Osaka Castle jr station.
    Should i exit in Shin Osaka and buy single ticket to osaka castle, or I can exit directly at osaka castle station?
    23. explore osaka and kobe
    24. Leave Japan from KANSAI Airport.

    Is my calculation right to buy ticket from odawara to kix?
    Because it is over 500km so i should valid for 4days.

    Must i exit and enter at Shin osaka station? Or i can exit and enter at osaka castle station?
    Or, i can exit at osaka castle but must enter at shin osaka?
    Very confuse at this matter, please enlighten me.

    Also thinking about buying kyoto bus pass and kaiyukuan pass to explore kyoto and osaka. Are they worth it?

    Hope you could help me since my trip is just 3 weeks away.
    Thanks alot Takeshi san, looking forward to hear your feedback

    • Hi Richard san,

      Overall, your choice is right and the itinerary is feasible. You are ready to depart.

      Regarding single ticket, you can exit at Osaka castle station. After you exit Osaka castle station, don’t use it until you leave for KIX from Osaka castle station.

      Kyoto bus pass and Kaiyu ticket are good choice too.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  3. Brian says:

    Hi Takeshi
    You have an amazing amount of information on your website. Many thanks for sharing so much. Your suggestions have been very useful.
    My wife and I have a simple itinerary as follows:
    Apr 8, 2016 Arrive at Narito at 3:15pm and travel to Tokyo (Ginza).
    Apr 8 – 11 we stay in Ginza, Tokyo
    Apr 12 we go to Kyoto and stay for 3 days
    Apr 15 we go to Hiroshima and stay for 3 days
    Apr 18 we go to Osaka and stay for 2 days
    Apr 20 we go back to Tokyo (Ginza) and stay for 5 days
    Apr 25 we fly out from Narito at 4:25pm

    Reading through your website it seems that one of the best travel options is to purchase a 14 day JR Pass and start using it for our trip to Kyoto on Apr 12th (we can then use it for day trips after we return to Tokyo).
    Do you think we will be able to reserve our seats for our trips in Tokyo on Apr 9th? In order to ensure we get reservations should we spend more for the Green Pass?
    Are there any better options. I looked at the single fares and it appeared to work out more expensive.
    Many thanks in advance for any help and guidance you can give.
    Kind regards
    Brian

  4. Azi says:

    Hi Takeshi san

    Thank you for this great info. I have the following questions on this single ticket stopover.

    I plan to go from kobe to kyoto, most prob gion shijo on keihan. In between, i would like to stop in nara and uji. I checked with hyperdia that this route will be slightly over 100 kms.

    1. Is this journey permitted since it is not the most straightforward journey?
    The route is sannomiya – osaka – nara – uji jr – uji keihan – choshojima – gion shijo.

    2. This means i can complete this journey in 2 days right?
    D1 kobe – osaka- nara- uji (i can have unlimited stopover on any stations except within kobe and kyoto area right? )
    D2 uji kyoto uji (will pay for train back to uji)

    3. How to buy this route? I need to specify the stops when buying at counter? Can i just show hyperdia screengrab?
    4. If i buy at counter, should i pay cash or is there any discounts using icoca?

    5. Do we need to specify dates and time of the journey? All the train will be local so i wont be paying surcharge.

    6. How to go in and out of the station using this ticket? Anything i must tell the officer?

    Thank you in advance for your help!

    • Hi Azi san,

      Unfortunately you cannot use one single ticket. You have to purchase a ticket one by one. Because this condition applied to JR only. You cannot include Keihan’s distance because JR and Keihan are completely different companies.

      And also though I did not mention, this condition does not apply to the trip within major city areas, like Kansai area (Kobe-Osaka-Kyoto-Nara), Tokyo and surrounding area. Even if you make 100 km or more trip in the cities, you cannot make stopover. I did not expect that readers use this rule for the trip in the city area. Sorry but you cannot do it.

      So your choice is single ticket. You may use ICOCA card to make your trip be easier.
      http://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/pass/icoca-haruka/pdf/ICOCA_en.pdf

      But ICOCA does not give you any discount. Just make your trip be easier.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  5. Beverly says:

    Day 1: Narita – Hotel Sunroute Odaiba (Airport limousine)
    Day 2: Tokyo Disneyland (free shuttle bus)
    Day 3: Tokyo Disneysea (free shuttle bus)
    Day 4: Shinjuku shopping/Robot Restaurant/Kabuchiko
    Day 5: Tokyo sight-seeing
    Day 6: Harajuku/Omotesando/Shibuya
    Day 7: Ginza/Ueno/Akihabara
    Day 8: Hakone + Mount Fuji day trip (JR Pass + Hakone free pass)
    Day 9: Tsukiji/Karuizawa Prince Outlet (JR Pass)
    Day 10: Kyoto check-in/Uji (JR Pass)
    Day 11: Kyoto full day tour
    Day 12: Kyoto
    Day 13: Osaka check in/Dotonbori (JR Pass)
    Day 14: Universal Studio
    Day 15: Osaka sightseeing
    Day 16: Kansai Airport

    Hi Takeshi, I’ve planned a new itinerary for my coming trip to Japan in March. If I use a JR Pass from Day 8 to Day 14, would it be cheaper? I’ve calculated via Hyperdia (Hakone return = ¥7480, Karuizawa return = ¥11820, Tokyo one-way to Shin-Osaka = ¥14140, so total = ¥33440). Please correct me if there’s any mistakes. I planned on using day passes if possible, e.g. Tokyo metro, Hakone free pass. Please let me know if you have other recommendations.

    Thank you so much for your time and effort. Can’t wait to visit Japan!

    Kind regards,
    Beverly

  6. Margaret says:

    Hello

    Thanks you for this excellent website / blog – it has been very helpful.

    We have added up the fares by using hyperdia and double checking with our travel guide book – and it looks like buying individual fares is cheaper than the JR Pass for us because we have more time and are just travelling one way.

    If you could please review our itinerary and provide some feedback?

    Day 1 Mon 29-02-2016 ¥920.00 OSAKA AIRPORT – OSAKA-NAMBA : Nankai Airport Express (non JR)
    Day 3 Wed 02-03-2016 ¥2,040.00 OSAKA-NAMBA – KOYASAN – Train / Cable Car
    Day 4 Thu 03-03-2016 ¥2,600.00 KOYASAN – NARA
    Day 6 Sat 05-03-2016 ¥1,130.00 NARA – KYOTO
    Day 11 Thu 10-03-2016 ¥10,580.00 KYOTO – TAKAYAMA
    Day 13 Sat 12-03-2016 ¥15,830.00 TAKAYAMA – TOKYO
    Daytrip Tue 15-03-2016 ¥8,160.00 Tokyo – Kawaguchiko return
    Day 20 Sat 19-03-2016 ¥3,020.00 Tokyo – Narita International Airport

    Can you please advise :
    1. Is there a JR Pass that is economical for this route? Or is it best for us to buy individual fares?
    2. Since we are going to Koyasan and Takayama – which are off the main Tokyo to Osaka line – does your discussion on long distance ticket used in multiple days apply to us?
    3. Do you have any other suggestion?

    Any assistance you could provide would be very much appreciated.
    Thank you!!

  7. Stephanie says:

    Hi,

    Thank you so much for this advice, I have been very confused by the rail system and would love some help regarding what suits my itinerary (price and simplicity!)

    So far our main plans are:

    May 7th: Arrive in Tokyo (Hotel Century Southern Tower – transfer pre organised)
    May 9th: Shinjuku Station -> Ryogoku Kokugikan (for Sumo)
    May 10th: Shinjuku Station -> Ueno Station (for Zoo & Museum)
    May 11th: Shinjuku Station -> Maihama Station (Disneyland)
    May 13th: Tokyo -> Kyoto
    May 17th: Kyoto -> Osaka
    May 19th: Osaka -> Okinawa (via plane then back to tokyo via plane)

    Thank you very much in advance!

    Then we will most likely be using the train every other day for short trips such as shinjuku -> shibuya/akabanebashi and were also thinking of doing a trip to hiroshima either from kyoto or osaka.

  8. Kelly says:

    Wow. I have been so confused about the trains and your blog has been so much more helpful than anything else I have looked at. Thank you for doing what you do.

    After reading through some of your sample itineraries and your single ticket guide I think I’m starting to understand, but was wondering if you could confirm my thinking for me and maybe tell me which of 2 options we are thinking about would be the cheapest. This is our current itinerary.

    Day 1 – Arrive at Narita late afternoon. (Spend night in Tokyo)
    Day 2 – Explore Tokyo (Spend night in Tokyo)
    Day 3 – Travel from Tokyo to Osaka with maybe a pit stop in Hakone for a few hours (Spend night in Osaka)
    Day 4 – Day trip to Kyoto and then back to Osaka (Spend night in Osaka)
    Day 5 – Day trip to Nara then back to Osaka (Spend night in Osaka)
    Day 6 – Spend some time in Osaka before late afternoon flight from Kansai airport.

    After looking at some of your blog post however it looks like it might be better if on Day 3 we stop in Kyoto instead of going straight to Osaka and not travel to Osaka until late afternoon on Day 4. We were thinking it would be nice not to change hotels and to base ourselves in Osaka, but if we do that we would have to buy a separate train ticket to get to Kyoto correct? If we spend the night in Kyoto on Day 3 then we could just do a stopover there on our way to Osaka using a Tokyo – Kansai ticket and we would not have to purchase a separate ticket to go to Kyoto. Am I thinking about this correctly?

    So we would need to purchase:

    Ticket from Narita to Tokyo
    Local Tokyo day ticket
    Tokyo – Kansai
    Local Hakone ticket (if we stop here)
    Local Kyoto ticket
    Local Nara ticket
    Ticket from Osaka to Nara and back
    Ticket from Osaka to Kyoto and back (if we stay in Osaka all three nights)

    Is this right? Sorry for all the questions and thank you so much!!

  9. Kelvin says:

    Hi

    I found your site by chance and it is interesting to find out the tickets can work with stopover. But is it cheaper than single ticket for each stop? Example from Shinjuku to Kansai airport
    base ticket with stopover in Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka.
    And if I buy single ticket Shinjuku to Hakone, then Hakone to Kyoto, Kyoto to Osaka and finally Osaka to Kansai airport will there be difference in price? (4 single fare)

    I am not very sure on the pass system in Japan and it seems very confusing. Is it possible to ask for some advice from you regarding my itinerary?

    Day 1 Reach Narita
    Day 2 Asakusa, Odaiba
    Day 3 Disneyland
    Day 4 Skytree/Shinjuku/Harajuku
    Day 5 Tokyo to Hakone
    Day 6 Hakone to Kyoto/Nara
    Day 7 Kyoto
    Day 8 Osaka
    Day 9 Day trip to Himeji/ back to Osaka
    Day 10 Kansai Airport around 2pm

    I noticed that 400-600km allows only 4 days, and 600-800 is 5 days. For my trip, leaving tokyo from day 5 and departing on day 10 makes 6 days, so I cannot use your method? What will be the best way to purchase the tickets for my trip?
    Also I want to go Ramen museum, there is 1 in Yokohama and 1 in Osaka. Which one should I go to make my trip easier?

    Thanks
    Kelvin

  10. Philippa says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    What a great blog. I would be so grateful if you could help me with my train problems. I have used Hyperdia to calculate the cost of my trip, including the reservation fee for all tickets.
    I am planning to travel from Kansai airport to Hakuba on Feb 2nd. What I would like to know is:
    1. Can I buy all the tickets for my journey at Kansai airport station?
    2. Do I have to go to a special part of the station to buy Shinkansen ticket, or will the Shinkansen ticket be given to me as part of all the tickets I buy at the ticket counter?
    3. Do I have to go to a special part of the station to reserve seats for trains? Most of the trains I have found are Ltd Express trains for different parts of the journey.
    4. As I will be travelling back from Hakuba on Feb 9, would I be able to buy all the tickets for my return journey (including SHinkansen tickets) at the station in Hakuba, including seat reservation where needed?

    Many thanks for all your help!

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