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

Fare table
2013.07.04
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.

Guide to plan your trip. Fare Calculation
This post explains you the information about the fare calculation of the trains in Japan.
jprail.com
2010.08.29

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.

How to reserve a seat of Japan Railway trains at the station and online
Japanese train seat reservation is a bit tricky. The online reservation is very limited and you have to book it in most cases. This post explains you how to manage the booking.
jprail.com
2009.12.30

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.

Hyperdia perfect guide, train timetable and route search engine
If you want to build your itinerary by yourself, Hyperdia will help you a lot. This site is transportation search engine. You can search the timetables and routes of all trains, flights and airport shuttle bus. But this site is a bit tricky and too many functions and options to you. This guide will help you to find the way to use this site.
jprail.com
2013.11.26
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. LS says:
    September 10, 2016 at 3:01 am

    Hi Takeshi

    My Preferred itinerary:
    Osaka (3days) > Kyoto(2days) > Takayama(2days) > Tokyo(3days)
    Should i get the One way pass or JR pass ?

    I plan to get the KTP for kansai area and maybe one day pass in Tokyo

    Please advise,
    Thank you.

  2. joseph says:
    September 7, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    Hi Takeshi
    how are you? u’ve been such a big help with so many people, i’m hoping you can do me a favour as well.
    I’m travelling from tokyo to shizuoka on 27 sept then shizuoka to kyoto on 28 sept.
    My understanding is i will need to buy base fare ticket and seat fee to ride on shinkansens. Is it correct that i will need to buy 1 base fare ticket which is for tokyo-kyoto then buy 2 seat fee ticket?
    If yes, is it possible to buy the tickets online? I will be travelling with an elderly on a wheelchair, is it better to get reserved seat or unreserved seat will do fine.

    Thanks
    Joseph

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      September 7, 2016 at 11:03 pm

      Hi Joseph,

      You are right. You need to have one base fare ticket and two Shinkansen seat ticket.
      Unfortunately there is no way to book online. You haver to book and purchase after you arrive in Japan. You can purchase at any major JR station. In downtown Tokyo, you can purchase at almost any stations. You can also purchase it in advance too. So you can purchase all tickets at once.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  3. Dina says:
    September 4, 2016 at 1:54 am

    Hi Takeshi,

    We are planning to go to Japan for 8 days on March 2017.
    Our itinerary will be 4 days in Tokyo and 4 days in Osaka.
    We will be arriving at Haneda Airport (Tokyo) and flying back from Osaka to Sydney.

    Can we use single ticket from Tokyo to Kansai airport (Osaka) for stopover in Kyoto in next day? So, we will be travelling from Tokyo to Osaka with single ticket Tokyo to Kansai Airport and the third day, we will go to Kyoto. Is it possible to go to Osaka first and Kyoto later?

    Thanks

    Dina

  4. Aleksandra says:
    September 4, 2016 at 1:52 am

    Dear Ms Chan,

    Amazing tips. It is very helpful.
    Now I am trying to find information regarding single ticket : KYOTO-NARITA AIRPORT , travelling dates 19.11.16 – 23.11.16. The distance showing on HyperDia is 581,4. We would like to have two stopover in MISHIMA and in TOKYO. Counting days as 24hour day, the ticket should be valid till 23.11.16 but I am not sure if it is not regarded as calendar days.
    I would appreciate your advise

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      September 4, 2016 at 8:27 am

      Hi Aleksandra,

      Unfortunately it’s calculated by the day, not 24 hours period. So the ticket is valid until 22,11,16. You cannot use it on 23rd.

      PS. I don’ know Ms. Chen is but I think she is just a reader and she may not respond you.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

      • Aleksandra says:
        September 4, 2016 at 11:14 am

        Hi Takeshi,

        Now only I understood my mistake, Im so sorry.
        Regarding the number of days calculation, I came with an idea to buy a ticket starting from Osaka that gives me over 600km. We then may consider extra visit to Osaka but in case we do not have enough time, can we board the train only in Kyoto?

        Thanks again for your prompt reply

        A

        • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
          September 4, 2016 at 2:07 pm

          Hi Aleksandra,

          You don’t need to purchase Osaka to Narita. Even if you purchase Osaka-Kyoto and Kyoto-Narita separately, the difference is around 100 yen. It’s not a big deal.

          Technically you can use Osaka to Narita ticket to board the train at Kyoto. But you may be asked a few questions by station officer when you enter the station. It may be stressful.

          Cheers,

          Takeshi / JPRail.com

      • Aleksandra says:
        September 4, 2016 at 12:20 pm

        Hi,

        The whole of our trip goes as follow:

        15.11 Nagoya Intl Airport to Kyoto,
        19.11 Kyoto to Mishima or Odawara
        20.11 Odawara to Shinjuku
        23.11 shinjuku to Narita

        My plan was to buy sngl NGO to Kyoto Station on 15.11 and then on 19.11 Osaka to Narita(boarding only in Kyoto) with stops in Odawara and Shinjuku.
        HyperDia calculations for both gives around 20000. Do you think it is a good plan budget-wise?

        Im also concerned abt seat fare that Osaka-NRT is abt 7k and in case of stopovers will it be more? Should I buy for each part separate seat fare?

        Many thanks again

        Aleksandra

        • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
          September 4, 2016 at 2:19 pm

          Hi Aleksandra,

          I misunderstood what you meant in your previous inquiry. Now I see whole picture of your plan.
          Actually you don’t need to purchase one way ticket to Narita from Kyoto. The following ticket that you need and recommended.

          Kyoto to Odawara (or Mishima) one way ticket and Shinkansen seat fee.
          *Even if you use one way ticket to Narita, you can use one base fare ticket but you have to purchase seat fee ticket by segment, Kyoto-Odawara, Odawara-Tokyo, Shinjuku-Narita)

          Odakyu railway one way ticket from Odawara to Shijuku
          I think you will stay in Hakone. You can take direct train from Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku that is Odakyu railway. It’s faster and more better choice.
          http://www.odakyu.jp/english/romancecar/charges/

          If you take limited express “Romancecar”, you can get Shinjuku from Hakone-Yumoto directly without changing train at Odawara. You can take ordinary train by base fare. But you need to change the train at Odawara.

          You can purchase single fare from Shinjuku to Narita. But the most affordable choice is budget bus. You can take local train from Shinjuku to Tokyo and then catch this bus.
          https://jprail.com/sample-itineraries/airport-access/narita/the-list-of-deals-for-access-to-downtown-tokyo-from-narita-airport.html#The_Access_Narita

          I think you are trying to save the cost and thinking about using one way base fare ticket. But these above combination gives you more saving and more time efficient.

          Cheers,

          Takeshi / JPRail.com

  5. Pete says:
    August 30, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    Hi,

    Going to Japan for the Moto GP in October and need to get to Utsunomiya from Tokyo and then to the Motegi track from Utsunomiya. Would a single bullet train ticker be alright for that and can I purchase from the station on the day?

    Thank y ou.

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      August 30, 2016 at 11:04 pm

      Hi Pete,

      You can purchase it at the station before taking Shinkansen. But you can purchase it in advance at any major JR stations. In downtown Tokyo, you can purchase it at almost all JR stations in advance.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  6. Eli says:
    August 21, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    Hello, we are planning on skiing in Hakuba, around 4 January 2017. We will be coming from HK, and flying into Tokyo Haneda around 27 December 2016. We intend on spending 6 days in Tokyo and 6 days in Osaka, and maybe a side trip to Kyoto. Then fly back to HK via Osaka Kansai.

    Logistically, I would like your advice, on whether we should be arriving in Tokyo and departing from Osaka. Trying to ski in Hakuba around 4 Jan due to availability. But after skiing in Hakuba, is it easy to get Train to Kyoto-Osaka, or better to go back to Tokyo, then Osaka. What train pass do you recommend? Thank you

  7. Khris says:
    August 20, 2016 at 4:49 am

    Hello Takeshi,

    I am planning to visit Japan in March 2017. My flight will be Manila to Osaka then Tokyo to Manila. I will spend 4 days in Osaka and Kyoto and the remaining 4 days in Tokyo. Will it be just fine to take shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo? Or would you suggest to maximize the time and do some stopovers along the way?

    Thank you.

    Khris

  8. Jac says:
    August 12, 2016 at 12:42 am

    Hi Takeshi

    Can you advise if I am able to use the single ticket in this way?

    Preferred itinerary: Tokyo > Kamakura > Odawara > Kyoto

    Can I buy the single ticket as Tokyo to Kyoto and made stopover in Kamakura and Odawara for 4days?

    Please advise, thank you.

    Regards
    Jac

  9. Zanzi says:
    August 1, 2016 at 10:41 am

    We are going to Japan next month. We plan Tokyo to Kyoto, Osaka then on to Hiroshima then directly back to Tokyo. How would you recommend we do this? Thanks

  10. TW says:
    July 14, 2016 at 8:02 am

    Hello Takeshi,

    Thank you for the very informative website.

    I would like to travel from Kyoto to Tokyo. And I would like to take the Shinkansen which says 513.6 km which gives me 4 days. I would like to visit Nagoya and Hakone (which I would get off from Odawara) for a day each.

    There is a base fare and seat fee. From I understand the base fare is valid for 4 days. Do I have to reserve and pay for the seat fee again every time I board? Or do I choose the unreserved seats?

    Thank you

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      July 14, 2016 at 12:55 pm

      Hi TW,

      You have to pay seat fee separately even if you take non reserved seat.
      You can use one base fare ticket from Kyoto to Tokyo with stopover at Nagoya and Odawara. But you can purchase base fare ticket from Kyoto to Odawara with stopover Nagoya. After visiting Hakone, you can take Odakyu railway from Hakone-Yumoto to Shinjuku directly. Total base fare is not much different between JR only and JR/Odakyu combination.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

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