Hi All, we'll travel to Japan for 2 weeks this mid April arriving at Tokyo then will travel to Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.
There will be 5 of us, me, my husband, 5yo son, 3.5yo daughter and my mother in law. All first time in Japan.
As far I understood my son doesn't need to buy JR pass as he can travel with us for free.
But we considering to buy him a JR pass so he can get his own seat when we travel on Shinkansen, we don't want him has to sit on our lap for the journeys that will be uncomfortable for everyone including him self. He doesn't normally need a nap but when we travel a long journey he might need/want one.
We planning to reserved our seats before boarding, but will it make any different in finding empty seats in reserved seats carriages to non reserved?
Based on your experiences, is it necessary to buy him a child JR pass under our circumstances?
Any inputs are appreciated, thanks in advance.
Should I buy my 5yo son (20kg) JR pass so we able to travel comfortably?
Comments
I used shinkansen a lot when i travel there last year and never full always empty seat - ask them to reserve your seat in emptier carriages.
your experience might be different for late april due to sakura seasonConsider what time of the day you are travelling. The Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto sections are the most heavily used, so if travelling at peak times they are likely to be full.
If using a JR pass you won't be on the Nozomi, but on the cheaper Shinkansen (Hikari/Kodama) which are likely to be more used and slightly longer travel times.
The other consideration is cost, how many trips are you doing using the Shinkansen? If your travelling only once or twice during peak it may be more beneficial just to buy a ticket on those days. Hyperdia is a great site for working out trips and costs. You really need to be doing multiple trips on the Shinkansen to make the passes worthwhile.Thanks for point out the peaks hours, didn't thought about it.
We'll spend our first week at Kyoto, and do day trips to Osaka and Hiroshima then back to Tokyo on last day JR pass still valid, we only want to buy 1 week JR pass as we'll use pasmo/suica for public transportation in Tokyo.
So yes we'll be traveling during early hours and come back to Tokyo at night or late afternoon. As far I know peak hours is 8-9am, so either we leave before 8am or after 9am then we should be fine right?
Hey how was your trip? did you buy JR for your 5 yr old? I have 4 yr old and our japan trip is in second week of June so have same question, shoudl i buy JR for son or not?
Hi, sorry for late reply, just read this.
Our trip was good. We didn't buy the JR pass for him. We had no problem with letting him sit at empty seat but as soon as someone came he gave up the seat and move to another empty seat :)
Enjoy your trips and have fun in Japan!@Petite: Any suggestion/recommendation re travelling with a 5 y.o.? We are leaving this Friday with ours.
@cynvero: depends on what sort of suggestion you need? Maybe like bring light weight stroller if you didn't plan to bring any. They get tired easily as lots of walking involved.
@Petite: Thanks! Yes, I bought one second hand just to use in this trip.
What about places you/your son specially enjoy during the trip? Anywhere not worth going?@cynvero: Our kids enjoy Osaka aquarium, whale shark is the highlight for them and Tokyo disneyland.
We found everywhere in Japan is fascinating :)
Enjoy your time there! Wish we could go back soon hehe
Not sure about child rules but long time ago when I was back packing and used shinkansen every day for two weeks, most seat are empty. Not many local can afford it. Too expensive.