Guide to plan your trip. Fare Calculation

dentaku calculatorFare table
2010.08.29
a0002_003051

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. Caroline says:
    February 5, 2013 at 12:01 pm

    Hi there

    We will be visiting Japan for two weeks in April, partly to visit our son in Kanazawa.

    My plan is to stay 3 nights in Tokyo, then take the train to Kanazawa on the Sunday, and return to Tokyo on the following Saturday.

    We also want to visit Osaka and Kyoto as day trips from Kanazawa, by train – is it worth getting the JR Pass? Our son will have to pay for the day trips, will that be very expensive?

    Many thanks

    Caroline

  2. Hakiki says:
    January 14, 2013 at 2:23 am

    Kon’nichiwa sir..

    My name is Hakiki, from indonesia, me and my family are planning to explore Japan on April.
    We are planning to arrive in Tokyo, Haneda on April, 12th 2013, around 23:00.
    The places we want to explore:

    Day1 – to Fukuoka (stay overnight)
    Day2 – to Hiroshima (stay overnight)
    Day3 – to Fukuyama/Okayama continue to Osaka
    (Fukuyama/Okayama can be skip if there is not enough time)
    Day4 – Osaka/Kyoto (stay overnight)
    Day5 – Osaka/Kyoto (stay overnight)
    Day6 – Nagoya (stay overnight)
    Day7 – Fuji (stay overnight)
    Day8 – to Tokyo
    Day9 – Tokyo
    Day10 – Tokyo
    Day11 – Tokyo
    Day12 – Tokyo Jakarta

    It’s a reverse of your sample itineraries.
    Will the schedule of 7 days of JR pass will be fit to what we plan ?
    Or if there any one of the places that I have mention above is not really necessary to visit during our tour to Japan. Please give us some advise.

    Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu,
    Hakiki

    • JPRail says:
      January 14, 2013 at 12:48 pm

      Hi Hakiki

      7 days pass will be fine for your trip. Day 8 will not be covered. But Mt. FUji is not much far from Tokyo.

      I just want to mention some points to you.

      1. It will be long trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It takes 6 hours or more. I don’t know what you want to see at Fukuoka. But if I were you, I will expand one more night in Kyushu, Kumamoto or Nagasaki. There are lots of places in Kyushu. May be you can skip Fukuyama and Okayama. You can drop by one of these places on the way to Osaka from Hiroshima.

      2. Nagoya is considerable. How about Takayama or Kanazawa? For me, these places are more attractive than Nagoya.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

      • Hakiki says:
        January 15, 2013 at 6:31 am

        Thank you very much for your suggestions.
        it is really helpful. Will plan our journey from Nagasaki – Kyushu (is it Kitakyushu?) – Hiroshima – Osaka/Kyoto – Kanazawa or Takayama – end up in Tokyo.
        Any suggest links that I should open to make our journey easier, sir? That would be great. Thanks again.

        Hakiki

        • JPRail says:
          January 15, 2013 at 1:00 pm

          Hi Hakiki,

          How about this?
          http://japan-guide.com/

          Cheers,

          Takeshi / JP Rail

        • JAyre says:
          January 15, 2013 at 2:43 pm

          Hi Hakiki,

          I have a few tips for you also about what to do in the places you will visit.

          If you visit Nagasaki, you should definitely visit “Gunkanjima”, and old coal mining island that has been abandoned to the elements for 40 years. You can make the reservation over the phone (in Japanese) or at Nagasaki port.

          I don’t know a lot about Kitakyushu City (the main station is Kokura), but nearby is Mojiko station, which is a lovely old station building and is quite famous.

          Normally, between Takayama and Kanazawa, I would choose Takayama. However if you time your travel (i.e. around 2nd week of April), Kanazawa will be in Sakura (cherry blossom) season. Kenrokuen Garden is a very famous garden, one of Japan’s “Top Three” and will be spectacular if you can visit in this week, but only that week. Otherwise I would choose Takayama, especially if you can visit Shirakawa-go (I suggest you look up these places on Japan Guide that Takeshi suggested).

          Enjoy your trip,

          Jonathan Ayre

  3. edward says:
    January 12, 2013 at 12:22 am

    Hi I am planning the following atm from 12 – 23 april, can you please advise

    12: arv Osaka (base here til 15th morning)

    13: explore Kyoto

    14: explore Kobe

    15: fly to Sapporo from Osaka (with Peach)

    15 -16: stay at Ryokan somewhere away from Sapporo, probably more southern

    17 – 21: travel around Hokkaido but based at Sapporo

    22: fly to Tokyo ( i chose flying b/c it’s faster and it’s reasonable price within Qantas / JAL Express)

    24: fly back home to Australia

    Questions:
    1) Is it cheaper to purchase individual tickets while I am in Osaka (going to Kyoto and Kobe

    2) When I am in Hokkaido, I want to get the 7 days JR Hokkaido Rail Pass, can i use it on all the trains. I read somewhere that it can use on all the trains, but is there any limitation like the JR East Pass that you can’t travel on certain trains?

    3) I have been to Tokyo a few times, but I just want to venture out to Sugamo and adjacent stations on the Yamanote line.. so i just get the individual ticket.. is there another option so i don’t have to get a new ticket everytime i hop on and off the stations on the Yamanote line?

    thanks

    edward

  4. Lionel says:
    January 12, 2013 at 12:05 am

    Hi,

    I’ve planned the following for travel later this month,

    24th – Tokyo
    25th – Tokyo
    26th – Mt Fuji (Self-drive)
    27th – Self drive to Shizuoka and take the Tokaido line to Kyoto
    28th – Kyoto (and maybe Osaka)
    29th – Tokyo
    30th – Tokyo – Maihama

    I’ve been looking at the JR pass for the past few days and must admit is getting confused with how much I can use them within Tokyo, on what’s included and not. It’s gonna be my first time in Japan… .

    Hopefully you can help me out if the JR pass is worth while?

    Cheers
    Lionel

  5. michelle says:
    January 3, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    Hi,

    A group of friends and I (total 6 people) are planning on coming to Japan for a week near the end of May.

    This is our tentative itinerary

    21: Arrive in Tokyo; either fly to Osaka or take the shinkansen to Osaka
    22: Go to Himeji (day trip) from Osaka
    23: Go to kyoto (day trip) from Osaka or possible overnight stay at a ryokan
    24: Go to Mt. fuji area, possible overnight stay around the fujigoko area at a ryokan if we did not stay at one in kyoto
    25: Go to tokyo from mt. fuji area
    26: tokyo
    27: depart from tokyo/airport near tokyo

    Do you think it will be worth it to get the JR 7-day pass? If we take the shinkansen to and from Osaka from tokyo, it looks like it’s a good deal to me already.
    I think we can also get a Pasmo or Suica card for other transportation while we are in Tokyo

    Thank you!

  6. Thuong says:
    January 2, 2013 at 4:21 am

    Hi!

    I am going to Japan from 19-30 April. So my plan is:

    19th-22nd: Tokyo
    23rd-27th: Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima

    27th : take a night train to Hokkaido
    29th: take a night train from Hokkaido to Tokyo
    30th: back to Germany ( my flight will be at 12 AM 30.4 from Tokyo Narita airport)

    Therefore I plan to purchase a 7-day JR pass and active this JRP from 23rd.

    Do you think that would be enough to purchase a 7-day JR pass?

    Thank you very much

  7. J Hau says:
    January 1, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Hi,

    I am visiting Japan at the beginning of April for two weeks as follows:-

    Day 1 Flight arrives in Osaka
    Day 2 Mount Koya (day trip – return to Osaka)
    Day 3 Nara (day trip – return to Osaka)
    Day 4 Kyoto
    Day 5 Kyoto
    Day 6 Takayama
    Day 7 Takayama
    Day 8 Tokyo – explore Asakusa and Odaiba
    Day 9 Tokyo – explore Western Tokyo
    Day 10 Kamakura (to attend a wedding)
    Day 11 Kamakura
    Day 12 Tokyo
    Day 13 Tokyo

    Please can you advise whether it is worth getting a 14 day pass

    Thanks

  8. Catherine Murchie says:
    December 23, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Hi – My husband and I plan to visit Japan in the spring for two weeks. Is it better to buy a 2 week Japan Rail ticket or buy the tickets for each segment when we get to Japan? Here is our current itinerary:

    Days 1-3: Tokyo
    Days 4-5: Takayama
    Days 6 – 8: Nagano
    Days 9-11: Kyoto
    Day 12: Tokyo

    Thank you.

    • JPRail says:
      December 23, 2012 at 10:57 pm

      Hi Catherine,

      14 days pass is too expensive. If you can squeeze Takayama, Nagano and Kyoto in 7 days, that is the best and cheapest way. If you cannot, put Nagano in the last part of your trip before you come back to Tokyo. Because Nagano is the closer to Tokyo than Kyoto and Takayama.

      Start to use JR Pass 7 days on day 4
      Day4-5 Takayama
      Day6-8 Kyoto
      Day9-11 Nagano

      You need to pay a single fare to Tokyo from Nagano. You can find an exact fare at Hyperdia.
      http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  9. Mai Panc says:
    December 22, 2012 at 4:08 am

    Hi!

    My family wants to travel in Japan in April as follows:

    Plan A

    Day 1: Tokyo
    Day 2: Tokyo
    Day 3: Disney Sea
    Day 4: Mt. Fuji
    Day 5: Osaka
    Day 6: Osaka
    Day 7: Kyoto
    Day 8: Kyoto
    Day 9: Takayama
    Day 10: Tokyo

    Plan B

    Day 1: Tokyo
    Day 2: Tokyo
    Day 3: Disney Sea
    Day 4: Mt. Fuji
    Day 5: Osaka
    Day 6: Osaka
    Day 7: Kyoto
    Day 8: Kyoto
    Day 9: Takayama
    Day 10: Nagano: Ski
    Day 11: Nagano: Ski
    Day 12: Nagano: Ski
    Day 13: Not sure yet
    Day 14: Not sure yet
    Day 15: Tokyo
    Day 16:Tokyo

    Should we buy 7-day JR pass for Plan A and 14-day JR pass for plan B? Would it be the cheapest way to travel?

    Thank you very much.

    • JPRail says:
      December 22, 2012 at 3:38 pm

      Hi Mai Panc,

      If you take plan A, I recommend you to use 7 days pass for Day 4 to 10. If you take plan B, I still recommend you to use 7 days pass for Day 4 to 10. Don’t purchase 14 days pass. It is too much. Simply purchase a single ticket from Nagano to Tokyo. This way is cheaper than 14 days pass.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  10. wm says:
    December 4, 2012 at 7:05 pm

    Hi Sonja,

    We are travelling into Osaka this Sat (8 Dec) arriving Kansai airport at 7am, we have booked hotel in Shin osaka for 7 nights. We plan to buy the Icoca & Haruka package so that we have return trip covered from KIX to Shin Osaka.

    Here’s our itineary:
    Day 1 & 2: Osaka ( we plan to get the Osaka Unlimited 2 days Pass)
    Day 3 &4: Osaka – Kyoto – Osaka
    Day 5: Osaka – Nara – Osaka
    Day 6: Osaka – Kobe – Osaka
    Day 7: Osaka/Namba
    Day 8: KIX morning 10am flight.

    May I know what is the best rail pass & most worthwhile pass we should be getting for Day 3 – 6 please?

    thank you very much.

12345…33
Copied title and URL