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. I think this site is most convenient site. But this site may be too many functions and options for you. You may be overwhelmed to use this site.
In this post, I will show you all functions of Hyperdia to understand using this site. I hope you will be a good friend of this site after reading this post.
How to use Hyperdia by movie
You may learn how to use this by the movie below if you like.
Basic search
Please access Hyperdia.
You see several fields. If you look for the simple timetable and route, such as Tokyo to Shin-Osaka, just type station’s names at “From” and “To”. Then select your trip date and time. At the last dropdown menu, you can choose one of those, “Departure”, “Arrival” and “Average”. In most of cases, you will use “Departure”. But if you want to arrive somewhere by the certain time, you may select “Arrival”. “Average” gives you some results between Arrival and Departure. But I have not used this mode many times.
e.g.
If you fly from Narita Airport terminal 2 on December 15. You will leave Tokyo station and you want to be Narita by 15:00. You will type “Tokyo” and “Narita Airport terminal 2”. And then select “December 15”, “15:00” and “Arrival”.
Search with some conditions
When you use JR Pass, you can’t take Nozomi on the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen. And most kinds of the pass that are issued by JR Group do not cover most of the private railway lines and the subways. On the other hand, some non JR railway’s deals, such as Kansai Thru Pass do not cover JR train. You can sorth the schedule and the route with these conditions.
Please see the bottom at the entry fields. You can find “Search Details”. Just click it and you will find many choices.
Via 1, Via 2 and Via 3
When you search the route and the schedule, sometimes the multiple routes are shown. If you want to fix the route, put the station name on the way to your destination at Via 1.
e.g.
If you want to get Takayama via Nagoya from Tokyo, input Tokyo at “From”, Takayama at “To” and “Nagoya” at Via 1. You will get the timetable of Tokyo-Nagoya-Takayama route.
You may input maximum three station names at Via 1, 2 and 3.
Order
You can choose the order of result. If you do not touch, the best departure time will be shown. If you choose “Transfer”, the fewest transfers route will be shown on the top. If you choose “Money”, the route of the lowest cost will be shown at the top.
Check box
You can check or uncheck to get the right schedule for your trip.
e.g.
If you use JR Pass and try to find the route from Shin-Osaka to Hakata, you should uncheck at “NOZOMI / MIZUHO / HAYABUSA (SHINKANSEN)” because Nozomi and Mizuho are not covered by JR Pass. But if you travel by the Shinkansen to the north, such as Shin-Aomori, Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto, you will take Hayabusa. Hayabusa is categorized at same train type as Nozomi and Mizuho. But Hayabusa is covered by JR Pass and other JR deals.
Private Railways are not covered by JR Pass either. So you may uncheck at this field too. And also you should uncheck at “Airplane” and “Airport Shuttle Bus”. Hyperdia shows you the domestic flight schedule as well. As long as you use the rail pass, any result of the flight schedule is not required.
You can make some changes for these above conditions at the result page too.
Advanced function
When you get a result, you can see more detailed information.
Train timetable
If you click this link, new window is opened. It shows all station’s departure and arrival time of the train. If you travel with you friend. He/She will join you on the way to your destination, you can tell the time to join.
Interval timetable
Actually this function is very useful. Click this line open new window. You will see all other trains in same segment. If you want to compare earlier or later train, this function works very well.
Station timetable
If you click this link, new window is opened and show you all train’s departure time. There are links on all trains. You can click it to get detailed information of the train.
When you cannot find station’s name
This is tricky to use this site. Sometimes you cannot find the station name that you want to depart or arrive. There are several cases.
Hyphen in the name
Some station names have a hyphen in the name.
The station name which contains “Shin”
If you look for the name that starts from “Shin”, you may have to put hyphen (-) after “Shin”.
e.g.
Shin-Osaka, Shin-Kobe, Shin-Yokohama, Shin-Aomori
These names are seen on the Shinkansen lines very often. Because “Shin” means “New”. These stations are built for just the Shinkansen lines near the major cities.
e.g.
Osaka and Shin-Osaka, Kobe and Shin-Kobe
However some station’s names does not have hyphen between “Shin” and name.
e.g.
Shinsapporo (means New Sapporo)
Shinimamiya (means New Imamiya)
And also the names itself include “Shin” do not have any hyphens.
e.g.
Shinsaibashi
The station name which contains the cardinal directions
When you look for the name that is started from “Higashi”, “Nishi”, “Minami” and “Kita”, you may have to put a hyphen after these words. These four words mean East, West, South and North. These types of stations are located near major cities too.
e.g.
Minami-Chitose (means south Chitose)
Nishi-Akashi (means west Akashi)
But in this case, some station names do not have any hyphens even though the name contains the cardinal direction.
e.g.
Nishiumeda (west Umeda)
The station name which contains the historical domain name
In Japan, these are still many names remaining the historical domain name from Edo era.
e.g.
Aizu (inland of Fukushima prefecture), Kaga (near Kanazawa)
We see this type of name at the station too. You may have to put a hyphen when you look for the name which consist of the domain name.
e.g. Aizu-Wakamatsu, Omimaiko
Again some names have a hyphen and others do not have.
Anyhow when you cannot find the name, try to put a hyphen.
Same location but different names
In major cities, especially in Tokyo and Osaka, there are so many railways. We sometimes find the lots of station names in same area. The most well known case is JR Osaka station area. There are JR lines, Hanshin railway, Hankyu railway and three Osaka metro lines.
- Osaka (most of JR line)
- Kitashinchi (JR Tozai line)
- Umeda (Hanshin railway)
- Umeda (Hankyu railway)
- Umeda (Osaka Metro Midosuji line)
- Higashiumeda (Osaka Metro Tanimachi line)
- Nishiumeda (Osaka Metro Yotsubashi line)
This area is usually called “Umeda by the local residents. Osaka is the city name and the prefecture name. It is not the name of this area. But JR station is “Osaka”. This is very complicated but these all stations are located within the walking distance. We can find this type of the case at many places.
e.g.
Hamamatsucho (JR and Tokyo monorail) and Daimon (Tokyo subway)
Namba (Nankai and subway), JR-Namba (JR) and Osaka-Namba (Kintetsu and Hanshin railways)
The station name which contains the company’s name and the location name
This is very tricky. In case that there are multiple railway stations in same area, the railway company put their name in the station name.
e.g. Kintetsunara (Nara), Kintetsunagoya (Nagoya), Seibu-Shinjuku (Shinjuku), JR-Namba
In this case, you can never find these names if you put the location name. Especially the major private railway companies, like Kintetsu, Seibu have this type of names. You may use Google map to find the exact name if you do not know an exact name.
I hope this post helps you to understand how to use this train search.
Comments
Hi
we are going to be in japan on 17/12
our plan is:
Osaka (17/12-20/12)
Kanazawa (21/12)
Shirakawa go (22/12)
Takayama (22/12) and Alps
Tokyo (23/12-01/01)
how can we maximise out 7 day pass
thanks
Hi Mai,
I think you meant JR pass 7 days but it does not work. I recommend you to use Takayama Hokuriku area pass and other deals/tickets.
You may use Takayama Hokuriku area pass to visit Kanazawa, Shirakawago and Takayama.
https://jprail.com/travel-informations/other-rail-passes/rail-pass-for-visitors/takayama-hokuriku-area-pass-perfect-deal-to-get-takayama-kanazawa-toyama-shirakawago-from-nagoya-or-osaka.html
If you take a route to Tokyo via Nagoya, you can use this pass until you get Nagoya. You have to add a regular fare ticket for Nagoya to Tokyo.
You may add other deal for staying in Osaka and Tokyo.
https://jprail.com/travel-informations/other-rail-passes/rail-pass-for-residents/how-to-choose-the-best-train-pass-for-sightseeing-in-osaka.html
https://jprail.com/destinations/kanto-area/tokyo-kanto-area/guide-to-take-trains-in-tokyo-how-to-choose-the-best-deal-and-the-best-route-by-train-to-get-the-major-spots.html
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi
Thanks for your reply
I forgot to mention we will be coming from tokyo on the 17/12 and returning to Tokyo on 23/12
Therefore would that make sense to use the Jr 7 day pass.
As i have checked the tickets from tokyo to osaka are around £100 each way.
Thanks
Mai
Hi Mai,
Okay. 7 days JR pass will work for your trip as you think.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
I plan to take a trip from Tokyo to hakata over 10 days period. I plan to stop in Lake Biwa 2 nights (katata station) , Osaka (4 nights), Hiroshima (2 nights) and then hakata.
How can I optimise the train fare without buying many passes and still use the tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen
Thanks.
Hi Tan,
Even if you use a regular ticket, you have to purchase several tickets. You need Tokyo to Katata, Katata to Osaka, and then Osaka to Hakata with stopover at Hiroshima.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi,
I plan one day trip from Nagoya to Gero and I have found that there is a Ltd. Exp(WideView) Hida that is the easiest way to do so. My questions are the return ticket can be sold at the station directly or I have to book beforehand.
Thank you
Tide
Hi Tide,
You can purchase it at the station on the day of travel or in advance. It’s up to you. If you take a non reserved seat, you don’t need to decide which train you will take. You can take any trains in same day. But your seat is not secured. In worst case, you have to stand up. Please see the link below to find the info about non reserved seat in the link below:
https://jprail.com/travel-informations/travel-tips/reserved-seat-vs-non-reserved-seat-how-to-get-a-seat-on-non-reserved-car.html
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi,
Thank you for your very useful website.
I have looked around to try to find information on ticket prices for children and toddlers, but it is very difficult to be certain.
I know that children under 6 years old are free with an adult on the Metro lines in Tokyo. What about if I am booking a ticket on a JR service from Kichijoji to Kamakura, for instance? I am travelling with 2x adults, 1 child (8 years old) and 1 toddler (3.5 years old). Do I need to buy tickets for the toddler then?
Sorry to ask, but I really can’t find this information anywhere and HyperDia doesn’t appear to have Child fares (that I can see).
Hi Piers,
As long as you take a loca train or rapid train, you don’t need to pay for 3.5 years old. You have to pay half amount of adult fare for 8 year old.
If you take limited express train or bullet train and if you want to get one seat for 3.5 years old, you need to pay child fare too. But the trip from Kichijo to Kamakura, you don’t need to take any express trains. Rapid train or local train is okay. But these trains are commute trains. You cannot book a seat. It’s same as subway.
https://jprail.com/travel-informations/tips-for-japan-rail-pass/rapid-service-network-in-greater-tokyo.html
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi,
I am planning to take Hida 3 from Nagoya to Takayama in early July. As mentioned in the webpage that the train will be combined with the train from Osaka at Gifu. If so, do I need to change to another train when arriving Gifu.
Thanks,
Hi Terry,
You don’t need to. Just stay on your seat and you will get Takayama.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi again,
Sorry, I’ve got a new question.
When I see in Hyperdia “Total:¥ 5,780(TicketFare:¥ 2,590 Seat Fee:¥ 3,190)” and if I have de JRP Should I pay the extra fee 3.190Y or this amount is included in JRP?
Thanks.
Hi Ricard,
No, you don’t need to. JR Pass covers seat fee too.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
I’m interested in taking a Wakashio train from Tokyo to Onjuku. The prices listed are a little over 3000 JPY. Are these round-trip prices or one-way?
Thanks,
Scott
Hi Scott,
Hyperdia shows only one way fare.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi,
I am confused about the fare like Joanne’s question.
Hyperdia shows the total fare( basic fare+ seat reserved fare). So my question is that I have to pay the total fare or only the basic fare?
Thanks.
hoa
Hi Hoa,
If you will use single fare ticket and take limited express trains, you have to pay total fares.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi,
Could you please show us if there is a way on Hyperdia to differentiate the lines which are covered by JR pass and the private line?
For example I want to travel from Kyoto to Hakone with JR Pass, I tried to uncheck the private line box, and there was no result also happen when I uncheck the JR line box.
Thank You your expertise is very much appreciated 🙂
Jeje
Hi Jeje,
The reason why hyperdia did not show any results is that you need to take both private line and JR from Kyoto to Hakone.
Actually it’s very complicated because you have to know which lines are covered by JR or not before searching.
In this case, you need to check Kyoto – Odawara by JR and Odawara – Hakone by private line separately.
Please see the link below to find the coverage in Hakone area by JR pass.
https://jprail.com/destinations/chubu-area/fuji-hakone-access-guide-by-train-and-bus-from-both-tokyo-and-osaka-kyoto-nagoya.html
By the way, you can find Shinkansen timetable from Kyoto to Odawara in the link below. It’s easier to find the train that stops at Odawara.
http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info/timetable/_pdf/eastbound.pdf
Train from Odawara to Hakone runs very frequently, like every 10-15 minutes and you don’t need to check the time.
https://jprail.com/travel-informations/basic-informations/station-information/odawara-station-guide-how-to-transfer-to-the-train-to-hakone.html
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Hi Takeshi,
I used hyperdia to find the cost of taking a shinkansen from Hakata to Kagoshima. It said that total fare is 7000 yen ( 3500 yen basic fare + 3500 yen seat reservation). Does it mean that seat reservation is compulsory? If I do not want to reserve a seat, is the fare only 3500 yen or I MUST have a reserved seat on the shinkansen.
My 2nd question is, if I purchased Northern kyushu JR pass but I wanted to get from Hakata to Kagoshima ( my last stop and no more trains after that) , does it mean I have to get off at Kumamoto and purchase another train ticket from Kumamoto to Kagoshima?
Thanks for your patience.
Hi Joanne,
Are you sure that it costs 7,000 yen for Hakata to Kagoshima-Chuo by Shinkansen? I think it costs around 10,500 yen altogether.
Anyway you can choose reserved seat or non reserved seat. Reservation is not required at all. If you want to take non reserved seat, you still need to pay non reserved seat fee on top of base fare. But non reserved seat fee is around 500 yen cheaper than reserved seat fee.
If you want to get Kagoshima by Northern Kyushu Rail Pass, you can purchase a ticket for Kumamoto to Kagoshima-Chuo in advance. However base fare and seat fee by Shinkansen for Kumamoto to Kagoshima-Chuo is almost 7,000 yen. All Kyushu Rail Pass is cheaper than Northern Kyushu Rail Pass + Extra 7,000 yen.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
I have Takayama Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass. I will go to Kanazawa from Nagoya directly. In order to shorten the time of travelling, I plan this way:
(1) Nagoya to Gifu by Shirasagi using Pass
(2) Gifu to Tsuruga by Shirasagi paying extra fee
(3) Tsuruga to Kanazawa by Shirasagi using Pass
Can I take Shirasagi using Takayama Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass in (1&2)?
Can I take the same train from Nagoya onward without transferring train?
Hi Elisa,
You can take this route with paying extra charge for Gifu to Tsuruga by Takayama Hokuriku area pass. When you exchange the pass, tell the staff that you want to take Shirasagi from Nagoya to Kanazawa, and you are okay with paying the extra charge for Gifu to Tsuruga. You can purchase a ticket for this segment at this time and you can get Kanazawa directly from Nagoya.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com