JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass user guide. Perfect deal for the travelers who visit Tokyo and Sapporo by train.

This pass covers Narita airport, Greater Tokyo, Gala Yuzawa, Nikko, whole part of Tohoku region, Hakodate, Otaru, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya and Sapporo. You also may use this pass to get Lake Kawaguchi and Hakone even though this pass covers these trips partially. You cannot use this pass to get central, northern and eastern Hokkaido, such as Furano, Asahikawa, Shiretoko, Kushiro. JR Pass is better choice if you intend to visit these places.

In this post, I would like to share the information of this pass with you. And I will show you some sample rate and compare the pass value and single fares. You may find that JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass suits your plan or not.

Prices and valid period

JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass Flex 6-day

*Child who is 5 years old and younger is free but you have to share the seat with child. If you want to have a seat for child too, you have to purchase child pass for even younger than 5 years old.
*If you want to purchase this pass in advance at the authorized agent, you may see the list of JR Pass travel agent. You can purchase it at same travel agents as JR Pass.

JR Pass official site

This pass is valid for a consecutive 6-days only. There is no Green pass choice.

One day means midnight to midnight, technically 0:00 to 23:59. Even if you start using the pass at 23:00. you spend one full day for just one hour. So try to start in the morning. It does not make any senses to start to use in the evening.

Coverage area

This pass covers eastern part of mainland of Japan, such as Tokyo, Kanto region, Tohoku region, and southern part of Hokkaido. Please see the coverage map in the link below:

Official site of JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass

This pass covers the following major spots in the area.

• Tokyo
• Yokohama
• Nikko
• Kamakura
• Gala Yuzawa
• Otsuki (gateway to Lake Kawaguchi)
• Odawara (gateway to Hakone)
• Izu peninsula (Atami, Ito, Shimoda)
• Kusatsu
• Karuizawa
• Sendai, Matsushima
• Akita, Kakunodate
• Aomori, Hirosaki
• Gono line (the route of Resort Shirakami)
• Hakodate
• Toya, Date-Monbetsu (gateway to Lake Toya)
• Noboribetsu
• Otaru
• Sapporo

The following places are not located in the coverage area. You CANNOT use this pass to access these following places.

• Nagano
• Kanazawa
• Takayama
• Toyama
• Shirakawago
• Matsumoto
• Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route

Of course western part of mainland, like Osaka, Nagoya, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Shikoku and Kyushu are not covered either.

Valid trains and lines

All JR trains that run in the coverage area are covered by this pass except Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Atami. But I would like to show you major trains.

• Narita Exress between Narita airport and Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Yokohama
• Hokuriku Shinkansen between Tokyo and Saku-Daira
• Joetsu Shinkansen between Tokyo and Gala-Yuzawa
  *Gala-Yuzawa is open for winter time only. You can get only Echigo-Yuzawa when Gala-Yuzawa is closed.
• All segments of Tohoku, Hokkaido, Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen
• Limited Express Super Azusa, Azura and Kaiji between Tokyo, Shinjuku and Kofu, Kobuchizawa
• Limited Express Super View Odoriko and Odoriko between Tokyo, Shinjuku and Atami, Ito, Izukyu-Shimoda
• Limited Express Hitachi, Tokiwa between Shinagawa, Tokyo, Ueno and Katsuta, Iwaki
• Limited Express Tsugaru between Aomori and Akita
• Limited Express Super Hokuto and Hokuto between Hakodate and Sapporo
• Limited Express Suzuran between Muroran and Sapppro
• Local and Rapid train in downtown Tokyo area
• Rapid Resort Shirakami between Akita and Aomori via Gono line
• Hakodate Liner between Hakodate and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto

I have checked the press release several times. I could not find any other express trains in coverage trains list. But in my understanding, the following express and rapid trains are covered.

JR deals covers basically JR trains only. But Tokyo-Osaka Hokuriku ArchPass covers some “NON JR” railway trains. The following railways are NON JR companies but those are covered by Tokyo Wide Pass.

• Tokyo Monorail (Haneda-Airport – Hamamatsucho)
• Izu Kyuko Railway (Ito – Izukyu-Shimoda)
• Limited Express Nikko and Kinugawa between Shinjuku and Tobu-Nikko, Kinugawa-Onsen
  *The trains from Asakusa station are not covered at all.
• Aoimoi Railway
• IGR Iwate Galaxy Railway
• Sendai Airport Trains

If you arrive in or depart from Haneda airport, trip by Monorail is fully covered by this pass. You can exchange your pass at JR East Travel Service Center Haneda.

You may not be able to exchange or purchase your pass at Haneda from early arrival and late departure. As of February 2016, the window at Haneda is open between 7:45 and 18:30 only.

In Tokyo, subway is not covered by this pass. You have to add single fare or city deal. Please see the coverage in Tokyo at the link below:

Guide to take trains in Tokyo. How to choose the best deal and the best route by the train.

There are so many train lines and subway lines in downtown Tokyo. It is hard to find the route and the coverage of many deals. This guide shows you the train system, how to find the route and how to choose the deals.

jprail.com

2016.01.24

Compare single fare and JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass

When you think about purchasing this deal, you must know that you can get the worth or not. I show you some sample rates.
*All rates are approximate and it is based on the base fare and the reserved seat limited express supplement in regular season. The fare may be varied by the season.

Trip from Tokyo to Sendai

Total fare is 11,500 yen for one way. You need to have some more trips if you want to use this pass.

Trip from Tokyo to Sapporo

Total fare is 32,000 yen for one way. One way trip is enough to be paid off.
*Single ticket may be cheaper because JR East and Hokkaido will sell some discount ticekt. But I believe this trip is still enough to use this pass.

Trip from Narita airport to Tokyo

The fare is around 4,000 yen.

Trip between Karuizawa and Tokyo by Shinkansen

Total fare is about 6,000 yen for one way. This is not enough to use this pass by only this trip.

Trip to Nikko or Kinugawa-Onsen from Shinjuku or Ikebukuro by the limited express train, Nikko or Kinugawa

Total fare is 4,500 yen for one way to either Nikko or Kinugawa-Onsen. You have to use the pass more to get the worth of this deal.

Trip to Nikko from Tokyo by the Shinkansen and a local train

If you stay at east side of Tokyo, like Shinagawa, Tokyo, Ueno, this route may be faster than direct express from Shinjuku. Total fare is around 6,000 yen for one way.

Trip to Gala Yuzawa from Tokyo by the Shinkansen

Total fare is about 7,000 yen for one way. You can get the worth of this deal easily by only this trip.

Trip to Odawara, Atami or Izukyu-Shimoda from Tokyo by the limited express train, Odoriko or Super View Odoriko

Total fare is 2,940 yen to Odawara for one way by Odoriko and 3,190 yen for one way by Super View Odoriko.
Total fare is 3,800 yen to Atami for one way by Odoriko and 4,180 yen for one way by Super View Odoriko.
Total fare is 6,260 yen to Izukyu-Shimoda for one way by Odoriko and 6,640 yen for one way by Super View Odoriko.
If you visit Shimoda, this pass is cheaper.
*Shinkansen runs from Tokyo to Odawara and Atami. But this Shinkansen line, “Tokaido Shinkanse” is not covered by this pass because Tokaido Shinkansen does not belong to JR East but JR Central that is different company.

Trip between Narita Airport and Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shinjuku or Yokohama by Narita Express

Total fares are 3,020 yen for Tokyo, and 3,190 yen for Shinagawa or Shinjuku.

Trip between Haneda Airport and Hamamatsucho by Tokyo Monorail

Single fare is 490 yen for one way.

Fares in downtown Tokyo

You can take any local trains, like Yamanote line, Chuo line by this pass. But the fares in downtown Tokyo is quite reasonable. If you take a local train from Tokyo to Shinjuku, the fare is 200 yen. When you calculate the fares and compare this pass and single fare, you can ignore the fares in downtown Tokyo. It does not help to get worth very much.

Assessment

If you travel from Tokyo to southern Hokkaido, like Hakodate, Otaru and Sapporo by train, this is a good deal. You may add trip to Nikko, Izu, Fuji and Hakone , Gala Yuzawa, any places in Tohoku region. If you use this pass, you must be sure that you do not visit outside coverage area, such as, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Hiroshima, Kyushu, Takayama, Kanazawa and Nagoya. This pass does not cover eastern and northern part of Hokkaido either, such as Furano, Asahikawa, Kushiro, Shiretoko, Abashiri and Wakkanai.

You may be wondering which one is better, this deal or Japan Rail Pass (a.k.a. JR Pass). JR Pass 7 days is sold at 29,100 yen. But you have to use this pass in 7 consecutive days.

On the other hand, JR East-South Hokkaido Rail Pass Flex 6 days is sold at 26,000 yen. Price is a bit cheaper and you can pick any 6 days in 14 days valid period. But the coverage area is much smaller than JR Pass. JR Pass covers throughout Japan.

If you want to visit Kansai area, such as Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and/or Kobe, this deal does not suit your trip plan. If you visit both Kansai area and Hokkaido from Tokyo, even 14 days JR pass is way cheaper than single fare.

I hope this post will help you to pick up the right deal for your trip!