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

Fare table
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.

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.

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.

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. Alert says:

    Hi, thanks for this useful website.

    I planned a travel from Kansai Airport to Tokyo and stopover in Nagoya for two days.

    I suppose it’s valid to buy a Single ticket but i’m not sure if in the ticket there is a seat reserved in the 3 trains that I need to take: Haruka Express > Shinkansen to Nagoya > Shinkansen to Tokyo.

    Thanks!

    • JPRail says:

      Hi Alert,

      As you think, you can use one base fare ticket. But you must reserve three different trains and you will have three different reserved tickets. When you purchase a base fare ticket, you can book all three trains at same time.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  2. Marina says:

    Dear Takeshi san,

    I am a first time visitor to your website. I am very impressed by your generosity in sharing your knowledge with travelers.

    My husband and I are traveling to Japan in May. My husband has never been to Japan. I visited Tokyo many many years ago.

    We fly from Portland, Oregon to Narita. Our friends who live in LA will fly into Osaka. We plan to meet them in Osaka, then travel to Kyoto (for the festival), then to Miyajima (for the hot springs), Takayama, Hakone and finally to Tokyo, for a total of 2 weeks.

    My friends plan on getting the 7-day JRP for getting from Kyoto onward. Is that a good deal?

    What do you suggest for me and my husband? We need to get from Narita to Osaka, then onward. That’s longer than 7 days. Should we also buy a 7-day JRP for the Kyoto to Tokyo legs, and just buy single tickets from Narita to Osaka, Osaka to Kyoto? Too bad there is no 10-day JRP.

    Thank you in advance for your help.

    Marina

  3. stela faskalia says:

    Hi Takeshi,
    On 12 Feb 2013 – 22 Feb. Arrival and leave from Osaka. Me and my hubby will go to Japan for 9 days. Here is my itinerary :

    Stay at Osaka 1 day – Go to Kyoto – Kobe (day trip then back stay at Kyoto) 2 days –
    heading to Shirakawago ( which way more cheaper TAKAYAMA OR KANAZAWA ) –
    Next day go to Hakone Mt Fuji (day trip )
    – go to Tokyo stay for 2 days – Then Back to Osaka

    My question is :
    Which way / routes more easy and cheaper ?
    Which way more easy from Osaka to Shirakawago ? go to Takayama or Kanazawa?
    Which ticket I should take ( Kansai Thru Pass, JR Line 7 days , ICOCA) ?

    Because kinda confused which way I should go first and more easier.
    Thank you 🙂

  4. Shameel Musthafa says:

    Takeshi San,
    I am coming to Japan with my wife and 3YR old daughter. My itinerary is roughly given below and is basically from tokyo to kyoto and fly out from kansai airport.

    Day 1- Arrive Narita Airport- 1630hrs
    Day 2- Ueno, Akihabara
    Day 3- Mother farm in Futtsu
    Day 4- Asakusa, Odaiba
    Day 5- shinjuku, roppongi
    Day 6- Jigokudani snow monkey park- Nagano
    Day 7- Disney land
    Day 8- tokyo to odawara by shinkansen- hakone one day trip, Odawara to kyoto at 7pm by shinkasen
    Day 9- Kyoto sightseeing
    Day 10- Sightseeing Kyoto- Arashiyama
    Day 11- One day trip to Nara, back to kyoto and then to Kansai Airport

    So here are my queries
    will a 7day JR pass benefit me since i am goin to futtsu, disneyland and jigokudani from tokyo?
    or if i purchase a tokyo to kansai airport one way ticket on day8, can i stopover at odawara, do one day sightseeing at hakone, travel to kyoto at 7pm, stay in kyoto for 2 days and then travel to airport on 4th day?

  5. Traveller says:

    Hi Takeshi san,
    I intend to buy single ticket from Osaka , Shinimamiya to Tokyo but I want to stop over at Kamakura and then will proceed to Tokyo.Can I stop over at Kamakura ?
    Thanks .

    • JPRail says:

      Hi Traveller,

      Yes, you can.
      But if you drop by Kamakura when you travel from Osaka to Tokyo, you have to transfer the train at Odawara.
      I think you will take Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo. There is no Shinknansen station at Kamakura. You have to get off Shinkansen at Odawara and transfer to local train there to Kamakura. After you visit Kamakura, take local train to Tokyo from Kamakura. You can’t go back to Odawara if you want to use one single ticket from Osaka to Tokyo. Kamakura is located in Tokyo urban area of JR East. Even if you want to take Shinkansen after you visit Kamakura, the nearest station is Shin-Yokohama. It doesn’t make any sense to take expensive train for such a short ride. Rapid service is available from Odawara-Kamakura-Tokyo. This is okay to go to Tokyo.
      https://jprail.com/trains/rapid-train-on-tokaido-line.html

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  6. lucky says:

    hi my plan is buy shinkansen ticket from kyoto to tokyo (513km,4 days), ill stop over at nagoya 1 night and odawara 1 night. my question is when i buy the ticket, must i inform the ticket seller that i’ll make a stop over? and must i take the same train every i time continue my journey?, or i can change train ex: kyoto-nagoya by hikari 526, nagoya-odawara by hikari 512, and odawara-tokyo kodama 650.
    thanks for the info.

    • JPRail says:

      Hi Lucky,

      You don’t need to mention. You can make a stopover whenever you want. And also you can take any trains as long as you purchase limited surcharge ticket.

      If you want…
      kyoto-nagoya by hikari 526, nagoya-odawara by hikari 512, and odawara-tokyo kodama 650
      you can purchase one base ticket. But you have to purchase Shinkansen surcharge ticket one by one for those above 3 trains. That’s why you can change any trains.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  7. Simon says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    Thanks for the info and understand that I can use the base fare for 4 days and need to buy
    the seat fee for additional stop is that right?
    From Tokyo station to Shin-Osaka station with one way Shinkansen ticket, the ticket is valid to travel to Osaka station too is that right as long don’t exit at Shin-Osaka station. Just do a transfer.

    Thanks

  8. nalin says:

    Dear Takeshi San,
    We as a group of 4 plan to visit Fuji and stay at Fuji Station Hotel for 1 night. We’d to know the round trip fare from Tokyo to Fuji Station and the most convenient train. Thanks for your kind attention.
    Nalin.

  9. Simon says:

    Hi Takeshi,

    For one way Shinkansen ticket from Osaka Station to Tokyo Station, the ticket is
    valid for 5 days. So from Osaka Station, then change to Shinkansen at Shin-Osaka Station,
    then stopover 1 day at Kyoto Station, stopover 2 day at Nagoya Station and finally at Tokyo Station.
    Am I right?
    If I stopover at Shinagawa Station and transfer to Meguro Station or Shinjuku Station, is it ok?

    Best regards
    Goh

    • JPRail says:

      Hi Goh,

      First of all, Osaka-Tokyo ticket is valid for 4 days because the distance is less than 601 km. So as long as you complete your trip in 4 days, you can make a stopover at both Kyoto and Nagoya. But this is only base ticket. If you take Shinkansen, you have to purchase Shin-Osaka to Kyoto, Kyoto to Nagoya and Nagoya to Tokyo separately. I don’t think it’s a good idea to use Shinkansen for Shin-Osaka to Kyoto. It’s too short trip.

      You can transfer the JR local train at Shinagawa. But you can’t exit at the ticket gate. Once you exit a ticket gate at any station in Tokyo, your ticket will be expired.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JP Rail

  10. Kiva says:

    Takeshi san,

    I am looking to travel to Tokyo from Nagoya but would like to make a stop near Mt. Fuji for a day/night. If I buy a one way to Tokyo from Nagoya and stop in Odawara can I use the same single one way to Tokyo the next day?

    Thank you,

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