Guide to plan your trip. Fare Calculation

dentaku calculatorFare table
2010.08.29
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This website shows you a lot of the train passes. But some of you plan to buy a regular ticket. Even if you will use the rail pass, you may have to compare the price of the pass and the regular fare to make sure that you can get the worth of it or not.

In this post, I would like to share the information about the fare calculation with you.

Hyperdia

You can get a fare very easily. (click to view larger image)
You can get a fare very easily. (click to view larger image)

This is the easiest way to get the fare and the timetable of most trains in Japan. Please refer the link below to learn more:

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

Google map

Google map can show you the train and the public bus routes. It also shows you the fare.

JR’s rule on passenger’s ticket

JR companies have the biggest train network in Japan. If you travel between major cities, you will take JR train in most cases.

The fare rule is so difficult to understand for the tourists from overseas. Even some travel agents in Japan do not understand the rule completely.

I wrote about this rule as simple as possible in the post below. You can learn the rule of purchasing and using a regular ticket.

For non JR pass travellers. Guide to use JR single ticket, basic rules, validity and stopover
The train ticket rule is very complicated in Japan. But you may have to use the regular fare ticket because it is cheaper than the rail pass. This post explains you the basic ticket rule as easy as possible.
jprail.com
2013.07.04

JR company’s official site

Some JR companies have the timetable and fare search engine in their official sites.

JR Hokkaido official website

This website offers you the fare and timetable search of most JR trains.

JR West English website

This website offers you the fare and timetable search of most JR trains.

JR Shikoku English website

This website shows you the fare table of most of JR Shikoku lines.

Comments

  1. Daisy says:
    September 7, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    We will be flying into HND and will be staying near Yoyogi in Tokyo the first couple days. Our itinerary is below:

    Day 1-2: Arrive at Haneda – Tokyo
    Day 3: Take Romance car or JR to Hakone
    Day 4-6: Kyoto
    Day 7-9: Osaka, day trip to Nara
    Day 10-15: Tokyo

    My questions:
    1. Would it make sense to get a 7-Day JR Pass or pay for individual tickets? Or, would another pass work better?
    2. If we get the JR pass, should we start the pass on our trip from Tokyo to Hakone or Hakone to Kyoto? Or, would it be better to take the Romance car to Hakone and start using the pass on our trip to Kyoto? Not sure if the pass starts and ends at a specific time from when you use it or just the day.

    3. Should I get a Hakone Pass pass as well? Is it worth it? I read it can be used in combination with the ticket to Hakone.

    Thanks in advance for your reply!

  2. Zed Ef says:
    September 4, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    Hi,
    I have the following Itinerary Sept 28-Oct 8:
    Day 1: Kansai airport – Okayama
    Day 2: Naoshima Day trip (from Okayama)
    Day 3: Kurashiki day trip (from Okayama)
    Day 4: Okayama to Kyoto
    Day 5: Kyoto
    Day 6: Kyoto
    Day 7: Kyoto to Tokyo (Asakusa)
    Day 8: Tokyo (Kamakura day trip)
    Day 9: Tokyo (Fuji day trip)
    Day 10: Tokyo
    Day 11: Tokyo – Narita airport

    My research say the best combination is JR west Kansai Wide pass for the first 5 days then individual tickets after that. Can you please confirm, or advise a better pass?
    Thank you,
    Zed

  3. Isa says:
    August 26, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    Hi Takeshi-san,

    This is my itenary plan, to go with my wife and kids in next month trip:
    Day 1 : arrive at Narita in the evening, stay somewhere in Tokyo
    Day 2~4 : Tokyo – Nagano – Kurobe to Tateyama (Apline Route) – Toyama – Takayama – Shirakawa~Go – Kanazawa – Kyoto
    Day 4 : Kyoto
    Day 5 : Osaka (USJ)
    Day 6 : Osaka – Tokyo
    Day 7 ~ 10 : Tokyo area sightseeing
    Day 11 : Tokyo – Depart from Narita

    My question :
    a. What is the best ticket combination should I take?
    b. In where should I spent a night on the first day, so I can catch up easily on early morning train the next day?
    c. If I choose to have a one day trip to Nikko in someday around the day 7~10, any other ticket option do you recommend?

    Thank you for your advise..

  4. Kath says:
    August 22, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    Hello! I will be traveling to Japan from Oct 17-28. Coming in from Narita anf exiting in Kansai airport. I will be staying in Saitama (Asakadai). My plan is to visit Tokyo from Oct 17-23 and then travel to Osaka. I will be visiting Osaka/Kyoto/Nara from Oct 23-28. Is JR pass recommended for this trip? Or should i just avail Tokyo Metro Pass? What should i purchase when i’m in Osaka?

  5. Vickie Do says:
    August 10, 2017 at 7:04 am

    Hi,
    I am arriving Kansai airport 7.30 am then going to Nara and back to Nippombashi station in the evening. Would you please suggest the best way and fare for this trip? I dont have JR ticket.
    Thanks
    Vickie

  6. Ellie says:
    July 31, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    Hi Takeshi,

    Thank you for the info here – extremely helpful! We are traveling to Japan in September – flying in/out of Nagoya but plan to spend most of our time around Osaka/Kyoto. Here is our planned itinerary:

    Day 1: Arrive at Nagoya Airport, train directly to Osaka
    Day 2-4: Osaka and day trip to Himeji
    Day 5: Train from Osaka to Kyoto
    Day 5-8: Kyoto and day trip to Nara
    Day 8: Train from Kyoto to Nagoya
    Day 8-9: Nagoya
    Day 10: Fly home

    Is there a rail pass that makes sense for us or are we better off buying individual tickets based on our itinerary?

    Thank you in advance for your help!

  7. Vivienne says:
    July 13, 2017 at 7:40 am

    Hi Takeshi,

    I will be staying near Nishitanabe Station and will go to Kyoto for a day trip, would JR West Kansai day pass, Hankyu Tourist day pass or Kintetsu Rail pass be better? Would be visiting Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine and the Bamboo Groves.

    Also from Nishitanabe Station to Universal Studios, which train to use and is it better to buy a day pass or pay for single trips to and from. We are most likely to spend the day there.

    Thanks in advance.

  8. Shirley Tan says:
    July 4, 2017 at 10:57 pm

    Hi Takeshi
    I will travel from sapporo to hakodate by limited express train on 9/10/17.
    Do i need to purchase ticket in advance ?
    If yes, how many days in advance?
    If not necessary, can just buy tickets at train station when i’m in sapporo or on the day of departure ?
    Thank you
    Shirley

  9. RR says:
    May 27, 2017 at 10:07 am

    Im going to Osaka next week. I will only be in Kansai region. Is thr JR West rail pass helpful.? Or I do not need it at all. And Im also a bit confused. When the line on the map says JR, are passengers without JR pass allowed?

  10. Chee Wai says:
    April 11, 2017 at 8:31 am

    Hi
    I have a question on the JR Rail ticket.

    If I am from SAPPORO(JR) and to HAKODATE (JR).
    Total:¥ 8,830(TicketFare:¥ 5,720 Seat Fee:¥ 3,110)

    Which mean i only need to pay ¥ 5,720? Then what is ¥ 3,110 for?

    The Unreserved seat is ¥ 2590 and reserved seat is ¥ 3,110.
    If i take the Unreserved seat, what is the total cost for Sapporo to Hakodate?

    Thanks

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      April 11, 2017 at 4:11 pm

      Hi Chee Wai,

      If you take limited express train, you need to pay both. If you take non reserved seat, seat fee is usually 500 yen cheaper than reserved seat fee. It’s varied by the season. When you check the fare at hyperdia, you can check unreserved seat fee too. When you see “Seat Fee” section. it’s drop down menu. You can choose unreserved seat fee and find the seat fee.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

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