Super fast bullet trains, always exact on time. An excellent railway network. Looking for tips on transportation when visiting Japan? Then read this blog to get the most out of your trip to this fascinating country.
How to get to Japan?
It’s very easy to travel to Japan, just hop on an international flight. Several airlines offer direct flights or, alternatively, with one or to stopovers, depending of course of where you depart.
We choose for LOT, a Polish airline, with a stop in Warshaw. Easy and smooth flight with a good price-quality. The only minor issue was the change in connection time, after we booked, so we ended up with a stopover of 9 hours in Warsaw airport flying to Japan.
So, here go my tips for flights to Japan:
- If you book flights with a stopover, pay attention to the connecting times. If you want to really make a stopover in the city of connection, foresee sufficient time.
- Be aware of the fact that some airlines don’t fly out to Japan on an every day basis. In our case, there were only a couple of flights per week, so we didn’t want to miss our connection.
- Flights with a stopover tend to be cheaper than direct flights. Up to you to decide which one you prefer.
- In any case, flights seem to be cheapest around 10 months before departure. So if you can, book well in advance
- Before booking, make already an outline of your travel plan. Do you want to make a circular trip Tokyo-Tokyo or start in Tokyo, explore the country and fly out from Osaka, Sapphoro or one of the islands? All options are possible, at a cost.
- If you book your international flight, it might be cheaper to immediately book domestic flights. It’s worth checking this beforehand.
- Take into account the weight of your luggage. Some smaller domestic airlines don’t allow the same luggage weight as international flights or ask for an additonal fee.
Transportation in Japan – how to get around?
Japan is know for its bullet trains, the Shinkansen, fast trains connecting all major cities, complemented by an intricate and vast network of other regional trains between smaller cities and subway in the cities itself. On top, there are bus services, which are more popular in some areas such as Takayama. And often, you take a ferry to an island. Lastly, car rental seems an option, at least in the more rural areas.
Shinkansen & other trains
Trains are in the easiest way of exploring the country, complemengted in cities by the subway.
Trains & subways
There are nine Shinkansen lines in Japan, connecting all major cities, meaning you easily get to Tokyo, Oasaka, Hiroshima or Sapphoro by taking one of these.
From Tokyo to the south runs the Tokaido Shinkansen line, connecting the capital with Osaka. The Sanyo Shinkansen line connects Osaka with Fukuoka and, from there, the Kyushu Shinkansen line runs through the island of Kyushu from north to south.
The Shinkansen bring you at a speed between 240 and 320 kilometers/hour at your destination.
Sometimes they only stop at the main stations, sometimes there are more stops or even a stop in each station. For instance, on the Tokaido Shinkansen line (which links Tokyo to Osaka) the fast train makes 6 stops, the semi-fast train makes between 7 and 12 stops, and local trains stop at all 17. In less than 4 hours, you travel from Tokyo to Hiroshima.
All trains we took, Shinkansen or smaller, are super convenient, easy, comfortable, clean and always exact on time.
Where to buy tickets?
You can buy train tickets, whether these for Shinkansen or other, in each train station, at the counter or at a ticket machine. At the counter, you are helped in English. Most ticketing machines also have an English version.
In the Shinkansen stations, there is a specific Shinkansen counter. The price of a basic Shinkansen ticket is made up of base fare and limited express fee (Shinkansen supplement). Additionally, it is possible to add a seat reservation fee and Green car fee, if you wish.
Most tourists however opt for the Japan Rail Pass, a multi-use rail ticket giving tourists unlimited access to all Japan Rail National trains, bus services, ferry services, and airport transfers in a specific period of time (7/14/21 days).
Prices raised significantly end of 2023, but JR Pass holders apparently are also be able to enjoy discounts at some of Japan’s popular tourist attractions from October 2023.
My tips
- Explore the cities you want to visit upfront and map your itinerary. Sometimes it takes some time to figure out which trains to take, in particular if you need to combine Shinkansen with a locat train or subway.
- Take a Shinkansen to travel between Japan’s major cities. Not only is taking the bullet train an experience in itself, it is super convenient. These trains are easy, comfortable, clean, exactly on time and even have wifi. On top, you mostly have several an hour. Most Shinkansen are covered by the JR Pass.
- Pay attention to your luggage. Since you mostly take it along with you on the train , make sure it’s sturdy and handy. In the Shinkansen, most luggage fits in the luggage storage above your seat, we never had problems with our 4 big bags (maximum weight of 30 kg- maximum size of 250 cm). If you have oversized luggage, you need to make a reservation.
- Calculate whether a JR Pass is the best option costwise, in particular since the costprice has increased significally end of 2023. It all depends on your itinerary and the time you need it. For a trip of 3 weeks visting all major cities and the Japanese Alps, it was definitely worth it. You can also for example take a pass for 7 days, excluding Tokyo and take separate tickets there. However, take in mind that the Narita express, connecting Narita International Airport and Tokyo, is included in the JR Pass.
- The JR Pass covered most of our train rides, except the Fujikuyu Railway to Mt. Fuji, the bus from Takayawa to Matsumoto and subway tickets in Tokyo. The ferry to Miyajima island in Hiroshima for example was covered.
- In Osaka, you need to go to Sin Osaka to take the Shinkansen, there is no Shinkansen from Osaka.
- Book your JR Pass upfront, via the website. Don’t go for a voucher, immediately pay the pass. Most websites offering passes speak of a voucher – which you can pay upfront and which then will be send to you – but honestly, I don’t see the need. You can as well book and pay it yourself, directly on the JR Pass website. You still have to get the paper tickets, but you can immediately reserve your seats online. I understand you otherwise – with a voucher, do this at the ticket machines in the stations itself, which may be a bit of a hassle.
- When booking online, you receive a digital receipt of your payment and pass number. Once in Japan, you exchange that for a real, paper ticket at the JR counter in the first station where you want to use it. Keep this at hand all the time and, in particular, don’t lose it! You indeed need to use the ticket all the time when entering the train station. No mobile apps here to scan!
- Reserve your seats upfront. Although we had the impression there was plenty of space, planning upfront gives you a piece of mind, in particular when you are travelling with a family. On top, reserved seats make you can sit together, which was not always the case when we had to change last minute. Cancellation works the same way: if you want to change last minute, you can do so too, through the same website, as we did a couple of times.
- It’s polite to indeed cancel the reserved seats upfront if you can’t make it. In the train, green lights indicate a free seet, red lights a taken one an orange lights a reserved seat. If you cancel, people know the seat is indeed free.
- Buy the correct subway ticket. There are different tickets for various lines. You pay the ticket upfront and use the ticket when leaving the station. Should the ticket not cover the trip you made – you paid not enough – you pay up at that moment by using the ticket machine again.
- Experience some scenic trains, such as the Hida Limited Express, a scenic regional train to Takayama, with expansive windows, offering a panoramic view of the passing countryside.
- Enjoy the various ‘special trains’: Hello Kitty, Thomas Train (Fujikyu Railway), deer (region train Narita, leaving from Kyoto).
- Take sufficient time to get to the station and, more importantly, to the correct track. Tokyo and Osaka stations are huge and just walking from one to the other side can already take you 15 minutes ….
- In for some quick shopping or eating? Or do you want to take someting to eat on the train? Then do so in the stations. There are major shopping malls undeground where you can find everything you want: supermarkets, cloths, toys, books and in particular, good eateries and takeaways.
Interesting websites
There is a variety of websites on Shinkansen, trains and train routes. Below some of the ones I found interesting to start with.
JR pass website with types and prices and online purchase options:
JR Pass (general information, with information on destinations)
Narita express on the JR pass
Compare the full price of train tickets in Japan with the price of the JR pass on the JR pass website or the Japan Rail Pass Calculator.
Hida Limited Express, a scenic regional train to Takayama
Japanese Alps: Nagoya lines
Mt. Fuji (Shinkansen from Tokyo & specific train ‘Fujikyu Railway‘ to Mt. Fuji)
Buses
We didn’t take a bus very much, only in theTakayama region.
Reaching Takayama per train is convenient. Takayama is the starting point for further adventures in the Japanese Alps, such as Kamikochi, or more remote traditional villages, such as Shirakawago, Gokayama or Kamikochi. To get there, you are dependent on public or private bus companies. The first bring you to your destination, the latter organise full tours.
We took one semi- private tour, to Shirakawago, since the hours of the public bus didn’t really match our itinerary.
The same around Magome/Tsumago. To reach Magome, you take a bus from Nakatsugawa – very convenient – or just hike there from Tsumago, which is reachable per train. You can find more information here.
We also took a direct bus between Takayama and Matsumto, passing a mountain pass. It only takes about 1.5 hour, instead of a long train ride. The trip itself was rather disappointing. Although we made a stop in Hirayu to visit the Hirayu no mori onsen, the further trip in the Alps merely existed out of tunnesl. Not a lot of mountain views …
Ferry
Sometime, you can also take a ferry too. We took a short ferry once, to visit the Miyajima island near Hiroshima, where you can find the splendid Itsukushima Shrine or the ‘Floating Torri gate’. The price of the ferry was covered by the JR Pass, but this moght not be the case for all ferrries.
Car rental
We didn’t do it, renting a car, but when looking around, we think it is definitely feasible in the Japanse Alps. Also, it seems a good way to explore the countryside, up to the small villages.
In the area around Takayama, a smaller city, you depend on busses or regional train connections to get around, in particular if you want to visit Shirakawago, Gokayama or Kamikochi. Having a car there might make travelling around easier.