Japan Rail

Japan’s railways are fast, highly efficient and cover the majority of the country. Japan Rail - JR NetworkThe JR network is extensive as one would expect from what used to be the national rail system (now privately owned). If you have a JR Pass, you will almost certainly figure out that even in large cities such as Tokyo or Osaka, there is a JR station fairly near where you want to go. In the countryside JR also runs bus services to connect places that don’t have a rail service. However, the JR network is not a monopoly and particularly within major conurbations there are other private rail networks. Japan Rail PassBy far the best option for visitors who plan to do a lot of travelling is the Japan Rail Pass, which allows unlimited travel on almost all JR trains, including all but the fastest class of Shinkansen, for a fixed period of either one, two or three weeks. Rail Passes can only be purchased outside of Japan, from specific vendors - at the time of purchase, you will need to have your passport with you, and know the date upon which you will want the rail pass to start. Upon purchase, you are given a receipt, which can be exchanged at JR Offices at most stations in Japan (including all of the stations nearest to airports), for the Rail Pass itself. When you make any rail journeys, you will need to show the rail pass at the manned ticket barrier. This can be an inconvenience, as the manned barriers are often busy with other travellers paying for their tickets, particularly at central Tokyo stations. Buying a ticketIf you do not have a JR pass then buying a ticket is probably the most complicated thing you can do. If you are travelling long distances and you are at a major station then there will be an obvious travel section where you can buy your ticket from a human being. Since you probably need to know the train times and may want to reserve a seat as well this is a good thing. Generally speaking you can make your desires known by means of handwaving and pointing at destinations if the staff are unable to speak English. Writing down information helps as most Japanese can read English much more easily. On the other hand if you are at a local station (or a subway station) you will have more difficulty as you nearly always have to buy it using a machine whose instructions are in Japanese (although newer machines have an English mode). These machines do not take credit cards. Fortunately in my experience this is exactly the place where looking utterly bewildered is liable to lead to some nice Japanese offering to help. If they do then you are in luck, if not then here are some hints. Firstly there is usually a big map above all the machines which shows the current station in red and perhaps with the symbols 当駅. Around it will be all other stations you can get to with a price below them The nearer stations have the smaller numbers (e.g. the closest stations will probably be about Y140, more distant ones rising to perhaps Y2000. If you recognise the characters of the station you want to get to then make a note of the amount you should pay and place that amount (or more) into the machine using coins or notes (most machines take Y1000 notes, some also take Y5000 and Y10000 notes) the price you want will show up as one of the buttons to press. Press it and take your ticket. If you can’t figure out the price then buy a minimum fare ticket and pay when you arrive at your destination. You can either present your ticket to the staff at the gate, or pay the balance by machine. Look for a small ticket vending kiosk near the exit, but still inside the gate. Insert your minimum fare ticket and pay the balance indicated on the screen. (Article from/based on Wikitravel article and may be copied freely) |