What you need to know about Japan Rail Pass @ JR pass

Japan being train – centric, next on the list is to get the JR pass @ Japan Railway pass exchange voucher, especially if you are planning to travel extensively across Japan. It saves a LOT of money. A long - distance one - way shinkansen ticket can cost you at least 9000 Y, but a JR pass allows FREE unlimited shinkansen uses within a time frame. 

When you order a JR pass, you will receive an exchange voucher which takes roughly about 2 weeks to be delivered to your address. This is how an exchange voucher looks like (above). You have the option of 7 / 14 / 21 days, Ordinary or Green. Note that you can only buy the exchange voucher while you are outside of Japan.

For myself, I was using an ordinary one since I was going during an off - peak season and the JR tracks that cover my places mostly do not have Green cars. Ordinary cars are comfortable enough with ample leg space. After agonizingly planning my itinerary, I decided to take the 7 – day pass, since most of my time is spent in one local area. Also, there are many special discount cards and passes available for tourist covering transport and attractions so if you do a thorough research, you pretty much can cut cost and decide on the best JR pass duration that you may need. And yeah, most of the websites are in English. 

You can buy it from travel agencies approved by Nippon Travel Agencies or from the following websites:
- Explore Japan  @ http://www.jrpass.com/
- Japan Rail Pass by Nippon Travel Agency @ http://jrpassworld.com/en/
- Japan Rail Pass by Japan Experience @ http://www.japan-rail-pass.com/

See the types and price list for JR pass here:
- JR pass info @ japan-guide.com
- Main JR pass website

 This is how a JR Pass looks like after you have exchanged in your exchange voucher at a Midori no Madoguchi (ticket window @ MnM). Not all MnM can process your exchange voucher and God knows how many MnMs there are in a station, especially the major city stations. Here is a list of stations with the MnM that can process your voucher.

At the back of your JR pass, there will be the date and time of activation. You can only use the pass at the manned - ticket gates. When passing through, just show the attendant the back of your JR pass because it's the activation date and time that they are looking at. 

Understand Japan's train because you will be relying on Hyperpedia a lot. JR pass is applicable on most type of trains, some will require additional charge though. More info here.

- super express @ bullet train @ shinkansen (fastest; most expensive. JR pass does not cover the Mizuho and Nozomi ones)

- tokkyu @ limited express train

- kyuko @ express train

- kaisoku @ rapid train

- kakueki – teisha or futsu – densha @ local train (slowest; cheapest)

Seats available are reserved, non - reserved and Green, and the seat you can get depends on the JR pass that you are using. If you are using ordinary JR pass, look at the LED board display at the platform, the board will lists down the car numbers for un - reserved seats e.g. Car 1 - 3. Unreserved seats car are pretty limited on certain shinkansen. 

For long distance train, I usually go to the MnM the night before travel to reserve my seat. This was in summer, an off peak season. I read somewhere that during the peak seasons like autumn and spring, it can be difficult to get an un - reserved seat so best is to get a reserved seat. Reservation is free. Some trains are compulsory for you to get a reserved seat e.g. NEX train to Narita airport. Upon receiving the reserved seat ticket, show it with the JR pass when going through the ticket gate.  

To reserve a seat, provide the following information: 

- No. of passengers, adult and children (<12 years old)

- Date and possibly time of travel
- Departure Station
- Destination Station
- Ordinary or green car
- Preference of smoking or non - smoking seat
- Preference of window, middle or aisle seat (most of the time, they'd assumed you'd want a window ticket)