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

Fare table
2013.07.04
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.

Guide to plan your trip. Fare Calculation
This post explains you the information about the fare calculation of the trains in Japan.
jprail.com
2010.08.29

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.

How to reserve a seat of Japan Railway trains at the station and online
Japanese train seat reservation is a bit tricky. The online reservation is very limited and you have to book it in most cases. This post explains you how to manage the booking.
jprail.com
2009.12.30

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.

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
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. Sunettra Chongtrakul says:
    January 18, 2018 at 10:11 am

    Please advice best train journeys/fares for my trip which involves the following with local commuting between sights while in Osaka:
    8 Apr 2018: Tokyo to Osaka
    Afternoon visit Osaka aquarium
    9 Apr 2018: all day Universal studios
    10 Apr 2018: more sightseeing in Osaka then night time to Kansai airport

    Thank you

  2. Lauren W. says:
    January 15, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    Hello Takeshi-san,

    Your website has been very, very helpful in my planning for an upcoming 12-day trip to Japan (March 30 to April 10). Thank you for all of the information!

    If possible, can you let me know if my plan is sound?
    After arriving and spending a few days in Tokyo, I plan to travel to Hakone via Odakyu Romancecar (5 days combined). Then, I believe I can travel from Odawara to Hakata using a single JR ticket with stop-overs in Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima over seven days (1091km). I have done the calculations, and I believe that the single ticket (base fare ¥13,180) plus the seat reservation costs for three Shinkansen rides (Reserved Seat Hikari Shinkansen Odawara to Kyoto: ¥5,260, Reserved Seat Sakura Shinkansen Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima: ¥4,820, Unreserved Seat Nozomi Shinkansen Hiroshima to Hakata: ¥3,340) for a total of ¥26,600 is both less than a 7-day JR Pass and will allow me to take a Nozomi.

    Am I correct? I plan to take a non-JR train from Kyoto to Osaka, so I would not be disembarking and re-embarking from the same stop, which I hope will not pose a problem.

    Thank you in advance for your guidance!

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      January 15, 2018 at 8:03 pm

      Hi Lauren san,

      Your calculation is correct. All costs will be slightly cheaper than JR pass. If you are pretty sure that you will not take any JR local trains in Osaka and Kyoto, your choice is right.

      You can get off at Kyoto and enter at Osaka. As long as you don’t go back, you can use same ticket even disemarking and embarking at different locations.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  3. jeff says:
    January 11, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Hi, I fly into Narita (NRT), and then wish to stay in a hotel (1 night) beside Shimbashi. Then move on to Kyoto (2 nights) then finally on to Osaka & finish journey. Am I correct in thinking a one way ticket NRT – OSAKA is best?

    In Tokyo, do I need to buy a Tokyo Station – Shimbashi separate return ticket (so as to avoid backtracking) ? or is this small detour allowed

    If after Kyoto I want to travel to Nara for day trip, then on to final destination Osaka the same day – presumably I can’t using this ticket option? What is best otherwise?

    Thanks!

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      January 11, 2018 at 5:11 pm

      Hi Jeff,

      You can use one way ticket to Osaka from Narita airport. You can make a stopover at Shimbashi. But do not use this ticket until you move to Osaka. Do not make any detour. Your ticket will be issued by the shortest route. You cannot change the route. If you want to drop by somewhere where is not on the route, you need to mention it when you purchase a ticket.

      Regarding a day trip to Nara, you can take Kyoto-Nara-Osaka route. But if you take this route, you need to mention it when you purchase a ticket. Otherwise you cannot take this route and make a stopover. If you make a round trip to Nara from Kyoto, you need to purchase a separate ticket.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  4. Leoni says:
    December 19, 2017 at 4:28 pm

    Hi, We are travelling from Kumamoto on either 4 or 5 January, staying in Hiroshima for 1 night and then on to Osaka next day. Can we use 1 ticket with a stopover or do we need to purchase 2 separate tickets on shinkansen? Can we purchase in advance.

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      December 19, 2017 at 4:46 pm

      Hi Leoni,

      You can use one base fare ticket with stopover at Hiroshima. But you need two separated Shinkansen seat tickets.
      You can purchase all tickets in advance at any JR stations’ reservation window which is called “Midori no Madoguchi”.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  5. Tan Chye Suan says:
    December 16, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    Takeshi San
    Hi! We are in Osaka for 2 days n plan to visit the following places.
    Day 1: Arashiyama Bamboo, Nara Deer and Kyoto Railway Museum.
    Day 2: Universal studio
    Day 3: Kansai Airport
    We’re staying near Ashiharabashi Station.
    Which pass is the most convenient and worth it?
    Arigato gazaimazu!

  6. Alina says:
    December 11, 2017 at 4:44 am

    Hello Takeshi-san

    I am travelling from Tokyo to Hakodate on a single journey ticket. Can I stopover in Shin Aomori without paying extra? If so, when I exit at the station, do I just show the station staff the ticket and not let the machine take the ticket?

    Thank you very much for your help.

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      December 11, 2017 at 6:20 am

      Hi Alina san,

      Yes, you can. As you think, don’t slot your ticket into the machine gate. You will lose the ticket and need to buy again.
      You can use a base fare ticket only again. You need to purchase a Shinkansen seat ticket separately for each segment, Tokyo to Shin-Aomori and Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto.

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  7. Xtrocious says:
    December 3, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    Thanks for the great write up

    I have a question here if you could help answer, that would be awesome.

    I am flying into Haneda on 18 Jan, staying in Shinagawa and head out to Osaka on 23 Jan before I fly out from Kansai on 26 Jan.

    I plan to buy tickets from Shinagawa to Osaka or should I put my end point as Kansai?

    • Takeshi / JPRail.com says:
      December 3, 2017 at 10:15 pm

      Hi Xtrocious,

      You can purchase a ticket for Tokyo to Osaka only because there are lots of deals available from Osaka to Kansai. Please see the link below:
      jprail.com/sample-itineraries/airport-access/kansai-kix/how-to-choose-the-deals-for-access-tofrom-kansai-airport.html

      Cheers,

      Takeshi / JPRail.com

  8. Miss D says:
    November 24, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    Hi,
    I’ll be going to Japan next month during the holiday season. I will arrive on December 25th.

    I have the following itinerary:
    Day 1: arrival in Osaka (morning), exploring Dotonbori & Shinsaibashi
    Day 2: day trip to Kyoto
    Day 3: exploring Osaka
    Day 4: day trip to Kobe
    Day 5: exploring Osaka
    Day 6: Osaka to Tokyo (preferably with Shinkansen)
    Day 7: Sanrio Puroland
    Day 8: exploring Tokyo
    Day 9: Disneyland / Disney Sea
    Day 10: Disneyland / Disney Sea
    Day 11: Disneyland / Disney Sea
    Day 12: exploring Tokyo
    Day 13: Fujiko F Fujio museum
    Day 14: exploring Tokyo
    Day 15: Yokohama / exploring Tokyo
    Day 16: Tokyo to Singapore via Haneda (night)

    Will you be able to help me by telling me whether it’d be better to buy a JR Pass or to buy a JR single ticket or is there any specific regional pass that’s a better option?
    (FYI, in Osaka I’ll be staying quite a distance from the JR station; and in Tokyo I’ll be staying near JR Omori).

    Thank you so much for your help.

  9. rachel says:
    November 24, 2017 at 12:08 am

    Hi! I will be arriving Japan through New Chitose and will depart in Osaka Kansai. I have four to five days to spend and I might book a hotel in Sapporo. This is in January next year. I just really wanted to try out the bullet train and drop off to some good destination (ideally near airport). What can you recommend using the single journey/ticket.

  10. Nadzwan says:
    November 21, 2017 at 12:27 am

    Dear Takeshi San,

    I’m planning to go to Japan in the middle of March 2018 with my wife. My plan is to go to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. I plan to stop over at Kyoto when taking Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. From your explanation above, I can stopover at Kyoto using the one way Shinkansen ticket without any additional charges. Is it correct? Do i need to do reservation fro Kyoto to Osaka?
    Thank you

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