Japan Rail Pass: 7, 14 and 21 days, prices and seat reservations

Add up the fares for the trains and routes you actually plan to take, especially if you will make several long journeys between regions. Compare a regional pass too if most of your trip stays within one area.

Foreign visitors must meet the Temporary Visitor requirements and show the required entry stamp or sticker in their passport. If you use an automated immigration gate, check how to obtain the proof needed for exchange.

Japanese nationals living abroad have separate eligibility rules: they need their original Japanese passport and specified documents proving at least 10 consecutive years of overseas residence, and must use the overseas exchange-order purchase route. The rules for household members and children under 12 depend on the documents provided; check the official guidance before buying.

For Japanese nationals living abroad, the specified consular residence documents must have been issued within six months before buying the exchange order and show the qualifying continuous residence. The same required documents and original passport are needed for purchase and exchange. A child under 12 with less than 10 years abroad may qualify when the permitted household record establishes that they live with the qualifying person and they travel together. The 28 August 2025 guidance currently lists overseas sales through 31 December 2027 and exchange through 30 March 2028; later availability will be announced separately.

Overseas-agent prices changed for purchases from 1 October 2026, using the local time at the place of purchase. Official website prices are being retained for a limited period; the end date will be announced separately. The tables below give the official JPY prices checked on 6 October 2026.

These are the Ordinary and Green Car prices when you buy directly through the official JAPAN RAIL PASS Reservation website (JRPR).

These are the official Ordinary and Green Car prices for purchases through designated overseas JR agents. Check the seller’s actual amount and currency separately before paying.

Child prices apply to ages 6–11, assessed on the payment date for official website purchases or the exchange-order issue date for overseas-agent purchases. Up to two children aged 1–5 may travel free with each adult or child pass holder, but a child needs a child pass to occupy a separate reserved seat or travel alone. Infants under one year do not count towards that two-child limit. The third or any additional child aged 1–5 needs a child pass.

Choose 7, 14 or 21 days. An exchange order issued by an overseas agent must be exchanged for the actual pass within three months of issue. The official example is an order issued on 15 April that must be exchanged by 14 July. Exchange is available from one month before the chosen start date: for a 30 May start, exchange can begin on 30 April. The type shown on the exchange order cannot be changed. Allow time for queues and check the individual office’s opening days and hours.

An overseas-agent exchange order is not the pass you use to board a train. Take it and your own original passport to a designated exchange office to collect the actual pass. For a direct JRPR purchase, bring the reservation number and the original passports of every traveller included in the booking. Every traveller collecting a JRPR pass must attend in person with their own passport; one person cannot collect the group’s passes using the others’ passports.

The pass covers eligible JR railways, BRT and the Tokyo Monorail. Non-JR sections generally require separate fares and charges; some through routes have conditional exceptions. A private railway included in a regional pass is not automatically included in this national pass. The official English nationwide route map is dated April 2026. Red station names mark exchange locations at that time; check current counter hours separately. Other operators’ lines drawn on the map are not all covered. For Nozomi and Mizuho, buy the dedicated supplementary ticket before boarding and use it together with a valid pass.

Private-railway coverage has narrow conditions. Aoimori local or rapid journeys between Aomori · 青森, Noheji · 野辺地 and Hachinohe · 八戸 are covered only if you do not get off at other Aoimori stations. IR Ishikawa between Kanazawa · 金沢 and Tsubata · 津幡, and Ainokaze Toyama local services between Toyama · 富山 and Takaoka · 高岡, require the qualifying JR through journey and no intermediate stopover. An Ainokaze Liner ticket is extra. Hapi-Line Fukui local travel is limited to Fukui · 福井 and Echizen-Hanando · 越前花堂 for the qualifying JR connection; do not extend it along other Hapi-Line sections.

The Shinkansen map connects Tokyo · 東京 with Shin-Osaka · 新大阪 and Hakata · 博多, and shows the separate Kyushu branch to Kagoshima-Chuo · 鹿児島中央 and Nishi Kyushu line from Takeo-onsen · 武雄温泉 to Nagasaki · 長崎. Northern branches reach Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto · 新函館北斗, Akita · 秋田, Shinjo · 新庄, Niigata · 新潟 and Tsuruga · 敦賀. This is a route diagram, not a list of stops for every train or a promise of a through train across disconnected sections. Choose an eligible service and check the actual timetable and seat class.

A JR train name does not make its entire route eligible. Buy the separate fare and train charges for the private section, even if you stay on the same train. These examples come from the official coverage list; check your complete itinerary.

Eligible local JR buses are covered, but highway buses and some other routes are excluded. The JR-West Miyajima · 宮島 Ferry is covered; you must pay the separate JPY 100 Miyajima visitor tax when entering the island.

An Ordinary pass covers eligible Ordinary Car seats. To take a Green Car, pay the full Green Car charge and the limited-express or express charge, rather than just the difference between pass prices. A Green pass includes eligible ordinary Green accommodation; it does not include every premium cabin. Sleeping cars, DX Green, Premium Green and GranClass require their full accommodation charge plus the express charge. Private compartments require the compartment’s express charge and, for Green accommodation, the Green charge. Local trains with a seating or liner ticket need that separate ticket. TRAIN DESK, cars designated for passengers travelling with children and S Work cars are excluded.

Check the official location table for your purchase method: collecting a direct website purchase and exchanging an overseas-agent order are separate services. A passport-reading ticket machine listed for official website collection may not accept an agent’s exchange order.

Holding a pass does not secure a reserved seat. Obtain the reserved-seat ticket before boarding. At a compatible machine, scan the actual pass’s QR code or enter its reservation number; then enter your passport number, then select the train and seat. Check the reservation requirements for trains with no unreserved cars.

JRPR and ticket-machine bookings have a 110-train reservation limit, not a limit on journeys. Changes or cancellations do not restore that count; use a JR ticket counter after reaching it. Overlapping reservations on the same day are not permitted. JRPR and machines also restrict repeating the same departure and arrival stations on the same day. Match the reservation number on each seat ticket to that traveller’s pass.

Advance JRPR seat reservations are available only if you bought the pass directly through JRPR. Sign in, choose “Reserve a Seat” for your pass, and enter the departure and arrival stations, date and number of travellers. Check the train and seats, confirm the reservation, and collect both the actual pass and the reserved-seat tickets before boarding. This advance booking process does not apply to travel-agency exchange orders.

JRPR seat reservations normally open at 10:00 Japan time one month before travel and close six minutes before the train’s departure. A different opening date applies when the preceding month has no corresponding date. One pass purchase can cover the lead traveller and up to five companions: six people in total.

The JRPR website operates from 04:00 to 23:30 Japan time. Pass purchases open at 04:00 one month before the start date and remain available through that date, subject to the site’s operating hours. Individual collection locations have their own hours; these are not the same as the website hours. Collect the actual pass and seat tickets before boarding.

Before collecting a JRPR pass, you may change the start date or the number of companions online by 23:30 Japan time on the day before the start date. You cannot change Ordinary to Green or change its 7-, 14- or 21-day duration. The site allows up to 20 pass changes within its original-payment three-month window. Adding or removing companions cancels all existing seat reservations; removing a companion also incurs the refund fee. Once issued, the pass type and validity dates cannot change.

Change or cancel a reserved train before its departure. For seat tickets not yet collected, JRPR handles the whole reserved itinerary within its 04:00–23:30 hours: changes must be before the first train departs and at least six minutes before the new train’s departure. After collection, ask a JR ticket counter before the booked train leaves.

Cancel every issued reserved-seat ticket before requesting a pass refund. In principle, apply before the pass’s start date. An uncollected JRPR pass must be cancelled on the website by 23:30 Japan time the day before its start date; JPY 560 is deducted per pass. Simply leaving it uncollected does not complete a refund request.

For a collected, valid and unused JRPR pass, apply at a designated distribution office. The fee is JPY 560 per pass. Bring the actual pass, all issued seat tickets and the original physical credit card used to pay. This refund cannot be processed with a virtual card or a card without a physical version.

For an overseas-agent exchange order that has not been exchanged, contact the original seller; its fees apply. For an exchanged pass, the domestic exchange office handles eligible refunds with a fee of 10% of the JPY selling price. These operator rules do not approve a seller’s separate cancellation contract.

After use begins, the pass cannot be extended or refunded, including when trains are cancelled or delayed or a natural disaster disrupts services. JR does not reimburse replacement transport or accommodation under these pass conditions. Lost or stolen passes cannot be reissued. A separate Nozomi/Mizuho supplementary ticket has its own refund rules; ask JR staff about that ticket if its train is disrupted.