Guide to Regional Rail Passes in Japan

While the Japan Rail Pass has gone up in price and is now no longer a viable option for most travellers, regional rail passes are still a fantastic option and excellent value for money. Here are a few I would recommend and how I used them.

While the passes themselves are often good value, do make sure to check to see whether they fit your plans as there are different restrictions and allowances on each pass, including who can purchase them (tourists, foreign residents, everyone). Also, check for extra costs, such as limited express costs or any public transport connections that may not be covered. Be aware that the JR passes only run on JR lines (plus any extras they choose to include) and other passes will only run on their own lines, you can’t mix your routes unless stated.

The majority of passes are for consecutive days of travel, meaning if you have a 5-day pass it will run out 5 days from the first use, so you can’t take gap days. Also, make sure to check the purchase and collection requirements for your passes. Some passes you can purchase directly at the station, but some must be bought online first and then collected at specific spots. And make sure you reserve any seats that must be reserved in advance. These can sometimes be done online too, but otherwise you can make them at ticket machines or counters.

Here are a few I would recommend and how I used them.

Hokuriku Arch Pass

The Hokuriku Arch Pass is a great alternative to taking the normal route between Tokyo and Osaka if you want to do it at a leisurely pace as you have 7 days to use the pass. Instead of running via Nagoya on the Tokaido Shinkansen line towards Osaka, you can take the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo up to Nagano, then across to Kanazawa via Toyama, down to Tsuruga via Fukui, where at the moment you have to change to a JR train the rest of the way to Osaka. I think this is a fantastic route to take and I highly recommend! There are many other destinations to visit along the way and plenty of beautiful rural locations to explore from each city.

Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass / Kansai WIDE Area Pass

These are my favourite passes on the list as they gave me enormous value for money and allowed me to experience so much in Western Japan. I chose the Kansai-Hiroshima pass originally as it was basically the same price as a return from Osaka to Hiroshima, but as it’s a 5-day pass, I was able to make day trips to a few other locations at no extra cost. Even if you weren’t doing return trips every day it would almost certainly still be worth it. The second and third time I chose the Kansai WIDE, which only took me as far as Kurashiki on Honshu (a wonderful day trip), but on both passes you are also able to transfer over to Shikoku to visit Kagawa (home to many many Slowpoke and the beautiful Ritsurin Garden).

I’ve used these passes to visit Hiroshima & Miyajima (the ferry is included in the pass) Kinosaki Onsen, Tottori Sand Dunes and Kurayoshi, Onomichi to ride across the Shimanami Kaido, Himeji, Lake Biwa (for Otsu and Hikone) and Wakayama (to ride the cat train). Closer to Osaka I’ve used the pass to visit Uji and Kobe too, plus the Loop Line around Osaka city for connections. There’s a huge selection of JR-West passes, so I recommend having a browse to find one that suits your trip!

Kintetsu Rail Pass

Kintetsu Rail Passes are much cheaper than a lot of the JR ones, but they’re not always cheaper than purchasing the individual journeys, so it’s definitely worth calculating. They come in 1-day, 2-day, 5-day and 5-day plus options, each increasing the distance you can travel. If you’re visiting for cherry blossom season and plan on visiting many different spots in the Kansai region, I do recommend this pass.

While you do have to pay extra for any limited express trains you take, this pass will take you all the way out to Mt. Yoshino for the amazing sakura covered hillsides there. In fact, a couple of them will actually take you all the way out to Mie and Nagoya, but it’s worth checking if you’ll need to take limited express trains and whether the base fare would still work out more expensive without the pass. I did a 5-day pass so that I could visit Mt Yoshino, Hasedera, Nara and Kyoto and it worked out to be the cheaper method. I’ve also used it to visit Akame 48 Waterfalls in Mie (before riding the ninja trains on the Iga railway) and Mt Katsuragi’s stunning azalea covered hillsides, plus you can use it to ride the cat and dog cable cars in Ikoma up to Ikoma Shrine.

Nankai Passes

I used their old 2 day pass for exploring Koyasan and another day of journeys, but that pass no longer exists! However, Nankai also offers a good value Koyasan Day Pass, which would most likely be better value for most and includes the cable car and one-way on the faster direct train. They also offer tickets for exploring Wakayama (you can ride the Medetai sea bream trains) and a couple of other areas too.

Day Passes

Other rail providers offer all inclusive day passes for transport to certain destinations or combination tickets that work out best. Some of them give you discounts to local restaurants and attractions too. I used one for visiting Mt Takao from Tokyo and I know there are offers for Nikko and Hakone too (plus multi day). It’s always worth looking to see if there are any passes to save you money! Even the metro and other city lines offer day passes, so if you’re planning on doing quite a lot of metro hopping on one day of your trip, check those out for another money saving option.

While I don’t think I’d ever make good use of a full Japan Rail Pass, I’ll definitely continue to use the regional ones to explore sections of the country instead. I’m planning to use a different one up in Northern Japan this year which should allow me to visit Aomori and Sendai using the Tohoku Shinkansen line and also allow me to visit other locations in between using JR lines. I’ll definitely make use of the Kansai-Hiroshima pass again (and try to check out any themed shinkansen on the route), as that is such a wonderful one to use, and I’ll be on the lookout for more useful day trip passes too.

Would you use any of these passes?

We have lots more useful guides for kawaii fans in our Japan section including: