Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass National) Price Increase 70% from Oct 2023

TanedaR on 15/04/2023 - 01:37
Last edited 15/04/2023 - 05:24

JR Group has just announced (in Japanese) a significant price increase of JR national pass from Oct 2023.
https://japanrailpass.net/pdf/JRP_pressrelease_230414.pdf

Exact date has not confirmed yet but very likely to be on Oct 1 or 2.

Below pricing is for adult ticket, take 50% off for children.

Regular tickets (JPY)
7 days, Until Sep 29,650 —> From Oct 50,000 +69%
14 days, 47,250 —> 80,000 +69%
21 days, 60,450 —> 100,000 +65%

Green tickets (JPY)
7 days, Until Sep 39,600 —> From Oct 70,000 +77%
14 days, 64,120 —> 110,000 +72%
21 days, 83,390 —> 140,000 +68%

Other changes:
Until Sep: Buying from overseas travel agent is cheaper than buy from JR's website.
From Oct: All price will be the same, no matter inside or outside Japan, online or offline.

From Oct: Pass holders may get on Nozomi or Mizuho Shinkansen, but with an extra fee, yet to be announced.

IMO, this is the end of JR pass.
It's been 20 years since I purchased my very first JR pass.
A lot has changed and transport within Japan has be a lot more foreigner friendly.
With a 70% price increase, it just makes the national pass worthless.
It's cheaper to take a domestic flight, or rent a car, unless you are having an intense 21 days trip.
i.e. traveling from Hokkaido to Kagoshima in 21 days.
If you book your car rental ahead, generally speaking it's around 7,000-9,000 JPY/day insurance included,
except peak like Golden week or New Year holiday of course.
So yeah, good luck if you don't have a driver license…

Worth to note that JAL/ANA has a foreigner special fare on some domestic flights with a price range of 5,500 to 11,000 JPY.
i.e. Tokyo to Osaka 7,700JPY
They cover major cities so that will be much cheaper and faster than JR pass but I doubt if they will keep that price after Oct.

Also there are many regional JR passes with a much more reasonable price.
e.g. West Japan Pass, Hokuriku Arch Pass, JR East Tohoku Area Pass etc
Get well use of them. :)

Given there is a 3 months allowance between the purchase date and exchange date,
and another 1 month allowance between the exchange date and the first day of use,
In theory, the last day of purchasing JR national pass at a cheaper price will be on 30/Sep/2023,
and the last day of exchanging the certificate to the actual pass will be somewhere like 29/Dec/2023,
given you are physically in Japan,
and the last day of start using the pass will be somewhere like 29/Jan/2024.

Travel Japan Railways Group Rail Pass

Comments

  • Starcraftmazter on 15/04/2023 - 02:11

    Will individual route tickets also be increasing in price around the same time, or why?

    • plague69 on 15/04/2023 - 02:31

      I'm guessing so. If they up the price this much, it means they're in the red and looking for quick wins to save their skins. I'm guessing the money grab will be across the board. Might have discounts for locals because that's the only complaints that would theoretically matter

      • chickens on 15/04/2023 - 10:44

        there's no way the japanese population would be okay with a 70% increase on shinkansen tickets - it's likely this increase is only for the JR pass itself

    • deme on 15/04/2023 - 10:57
      +1
      Ticket Type Duration Price Until Sep (JPY) Price From Oct (JPY) Price Increase (%)
      Regular 7 days 29,650 50,000 69
      Regular 14 days 47,250 80,000 69
      Regular 21 days 60,450 100,000 65
      Green 7 days 39,600 70,000 77
      Green 14 days 64,120 110,000 72
      Green 21 days 83,390 140,000 68
  • plague69 on 15/04/2023 - 02:30
    +1

    Crazy…

  • MurahMeriahOy on 15/04/2023 - 05:11

    Worth to note that JAL/ANA has a foreigner special fare on some domestic flights

    How do we get this?

    • Chillman123 on 15/04/2023 - 10:18

      I was there in Feb and used the JAL Website under the JAL Japan Explorer Pass and the fare was automatically discounted/it showed the lowest price between Tokyo - Sapporo and Sapporo to Osaka.
      It's only on some routes.

      https://www.jal.co.jp/aul/en/world/japan_explorer_pass/lp/

      -Reservation and purchase of domestic flight sectors must be completed through the JAL website.
      -Only individuals residing outside of Japan with an international air ticket to and from Japan are eligible to purchase JAL Japan Explorer Pass Fares.
      We never had to show any proof of this though.

      Hope that helps.

      • MurahMeriahOy on 15/04/2023 - 12:42

        Thanks mate.
        I wonder if we buy the JR Pass like now and travel next year January. Will that work?
        Cheers

        • petestrash on 23/04/2023 - 10:43

          As the OP wrote: Given there is a 3 months allowance between the purchase date and exchange date,
          and another 1 month allowance between the exchange date and the first day of use,
          In theory, the last day of purchasing JR national pass at a cheaper price will be on 30/Sep/2023,
          and the last day of exchanging the certificate to the actual pass will be somewhere like 29/Dec/2023,
          given you are physically in Japan,
          and the last day of start using the pass will be somewhere like 29/Jan/2024.

  • JordanM on 15/04/2023 - 06:35
    +1

    Disappointing for sure, and will definitely be looking more at domestic flights when I return.

    Looks like I should be fine for my trip this late oct/November.

  • vice on 15/04/2023 - 07:14
    +3

    Thank you OP for this - I’m going in early Dec and was going to buy national passes in Nov but will bring forward.

    A pity they are taking this approach- I wonder if it had become too successful with Japan being more popular as a destination now than 20 years ago.

  • Clear on 15/04/2023 - 08:00

    Thanks for the heads up. I calculated my traveling would be about $1100 so after the price increase it'd be about the same.

  • ForkSnorter on 15/04/2023 - 08:18
    +4

    Unless you are travelling the full length of Japan, it would probably be much cheaper to just buy individual tickets on local trains. Takes longer, but if you’re only travelling every 2 or 3 days it wouldn’t be too bad.

  • Plentiful3271 on 15/04/2023 - 09:44
    +1

    Ahhhh that's a shame. I'll be in Japan during Dec/Jan so I'll probably just scrape in if these timelines are right. Hopefully the regional passes don't rise by the same amount or Japan suddenly becomes a much less desirable location to go to.

  • payless69 on 15/04/2023 - 09:46

    Finally a proper bargain!
    Back to hitch hiking then?

  • Chillman123 on 15/04/2023 - 10:27
    +1

    Cheaper the Fly and Drive yourself and you get the freedom and experience of seeking places of Japan you don't typically see.

    At least in our case we had 4 people in our group when we weren't in February.
    We had 20 days in total in the country and when you take into account four 21 day JR passes totalling around $2600 AUD at the time and a rental car being only $95 per day with Toyota rental car even when we included the cost of fuel and some of the ETC charges (we tried to avoid most of them) we only spent around $2100 in total to drive and fly ourselves around Japan.

    To me it was a far better experience getting off the main tourist train routes. We seen so much more this time around.

    Just my experience…

    • grrrrr on 15/04/2023 - 10:42

      Do you read Japanese ? How did you go with parking/signs etc if they are not in English ?

      • Clear on 15/04/2023 - 10:59

        I'm not sure about else where but when I rented a car around Tokyo there were signs in English and the road rules are pretty much the same.

      • Chillman123 on 15/04/2023 - 11:11

        I don't read Japanese but the vast majority of all direction signs are in both Japanese and English.
        All the warning signs are symbols rather than written words too.
        Road Signs in Japan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Japan

        I've rented many cars in Japan over the years and I have resorted to using the in car navigation system.
        Google and Apple Maps just seem to have issues in Japan for some reason.
        It is mostly in English and I've only had minor issues.
        In some cases it got me to the street but not the hotel for example so I had to use say google maps or a picture of the building/front door to make sure im in the right spot.

        Parking can be tricky as some of the signs aren't always in English.
        Like this one for example: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/osaka-japan-january-time-sig…
        Parking signs are always written in this fashion no matter where you are in the country, it may be a standard or something.

        Google Translate is your friend in that case to clarify what the sign says.
        In this case the sign is saying
        Between the hours of 0800 (8AM) and 2200 (10PM) it will cost you 200 JPY for every 40 minutes up to a maximum charge of 1600JPY
        Between the hours of 2200 (10PM) and 0800 (8AM) it will cost you 100 JPY for every 60 minutes up to a maximum charge of 400 JPY

        For the first 30 min it was terrifying but after I realised the signs are written in English the car navigation is in English and is easy to follow and everything like speed signs and traffic lights ect work in the same way it was easy and enjoyable.

        In general with navigation try to to do some research like google street view to get a sense of the were the building or carpark is as this can help you get around.

        I forgot to add the only real thing that there me off is that Stop signs look like a give way sign. Japan is the only country that the stop sign does not look like stop sign… https://cdn-japantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/n-stop…

        • grrrrr on 15/04/2023 - 11:18

          Thanks.

          So are you flying between the major cities, then picking up a car at each location ?

          Eg Hiroshima to Kyoto appears to be a 4h+ drive, vs 1.5h on Shinkansen…

          I had just spent days pricing up JR passes, travel route options etc, and then this curveball - have to start from scratch and look at cars and internal flights !

          • Chillman123 on 15/04/2023 - 11:38
            +1

            @grrrrr: We wanted to go to places that are not so easy to get to on the Shinkansen like the west cost of Japan or up the mountains like the Kiso Vally during the snow season.

            On this last trip we flew into Osaka picked up the car from the airport and spend 6 days driving to the west cost of Japan like Tottori then across to Nagoya then up through the Kiso Vally and handing the car back to a city location in Tokyo. We then flew from Tokyo to Sapporo ($100) and picked up another car in Sapporo for 5 days, Sapporo to Tokyo ($100) and then Tokyo to Osaka ($70).

            We like a good road trip so 4+ hours driving was ok to us and we experienced more like the small road side ramen and charged pork rice bowl that you don't get on a speeding train.

            If you only plan to visit the major cities centres like Tokyo Osaka Hiroshima Nagoya ect then catch the train.
            We got the best value driving this time as while we could have travelled to all these locations by train it was a much better experience for us to drive and was cheaper overall.

            Even if you don't want to do all that grab a car for a day and do a a day trip from say Tokyo to Mt fuji or the mountain town's in the Gunma region. Don't like that restaurant or want to go to a look out where no public transport exists you have your own car you can set your own schedule.

            • grrrrr on 16/04/2023 - 08:28

              @Chillman123: So if I hired a car in Kyoto and did day trips eg to Nara and Himeji, would I be parking in multi storey car parks everywhere, or would there be street parking in the ‘smaller’ places like Nara and Himeji ?

              • TanedaR on 16/04/2023 - 14:25

                @grrrrr: No it won't be multi-levels but you should expect high parking cost + not much parking near popular tourist spots.

                Alternatively, you may try to look for shopping malls nearby to get free parking, those are multi levels.

        • TanedaR on 15/04/2023 - 14:34
          +3

          I just came back in March after 3 weeks in Japan and found that Google map has improved a lot when compared with pre COVID.

          In fact, it's even better and more accurate than in car navi. (I do read and speak Japanese well).

          • Car navi's estimate arrival time is never accurate.
          • Car navi's real time traffic conditions is less accurate, google map gives me the best and fastest route.
          • Car navi's map isn't as updated as google map, rental car companies usually update the software yearly only.
          • Car navi's GPS position is less accurate, especially when the car is under a bridge, inside a tunnel or in heavy rain.
          • Privacy is my concern so I always delete my car Navi history at the end of rental, this may be complicated for some.

          But there is one thing car navi is better: it gives you a more accurate estimation of tollway cost.

          Pre COVID I relied on car Navi more, this time I used both Google map and car Navi at the same time and found the above outcome.

          May I recommend everyone to get a mobile holder and a 12V USB charger from DAISO in Japan, they are only 100jpy and brings you a lot more convenience.

  • Pcoder on 15/04/2023 - 15:42
    +2

    Hopefully some of the more regional prefectures complain as they will probably be one of the biggest loser from this.

    Yes, costs increase, but I could see better solutions, like maybe like reservations required for Sanyo and Tokaido Shinkansen and possibly unreserved for off peak only. With the price increases, i'd think when I travel again, I'd probably just do individual tickets, maybe a regional pass (as long as they don't increase by more than 20%) plus other methods like flights.

    I think JR needs to look at off peak tickets, even for their general population.

    Edit: I could also see this be part of push from the JR Group to settle some grievances with various with some of the prefectures as I can think of two Shinkansen projects that are basically in limbo due to disputes with local prefectures and there are probably many other disputes.

    This wouldn't be a cost issue as JR recently changed the pass to a ticket you can use at gates, so i'd imagine this would have save them a bundle.

    • MTWallet on 15/04/2023 - 19:32

      Like making it only unreserved seating. Or paying extra for large luggage.

      • Clear on 16/04/2023 - 08:54

        At least now those with large luggage have to reserve a seat or else get a 1000 yen fine.

  • GS9891 on 20/04/2023 - 21:11

    It's a bit more expensive yes, but if you move around at a decent pace it's still incredibly good value. I usually get a 21 day pass once a year and use it from Hokkaido to Kyushu most years, hopping between locations every 1 - 2 days, and even at 100,000 yen it's still great value for 3 weeks of riding the Shinkansen, Limited Express trains, and abusing the Sunrise Seto/Izumo as a free hotel on wheels. Even the 7 day pass will work out at a profit if you move fast enough (though regional passes may make more sense for most travelers doing 1-week basic routes now).

    It's actually quite a clever move when you think about it. Most of your first-time tourists doing the golden route will now just buy a standard round-trip ticket between Tokyo <-> Kansai (and maybe Hiroshima), which will be about the same cost as the current 7-day pass anyway. As such they probably won't see a huge loss of revenue from those tourists wishing to do that route and just ride the Shinkansen a couple of times, and the tourists get a bit more flexibility also not being bound to the pass. And those who do buy the pass will now be encouraged to go deeper into the inaka, hopefully spreading the tourism yen love.

  • McBargain on 24/04/2023 - 10:05

    I'm confused, the JRrail website said "Advanced order for the Japan Rail Pass can be placed starting 6 months before your planned travel date on JRPass.com. Orders with a lead time longer than 3 months, will be dispatched about 60 days before your selected day of travel. This is because the Exchange Order has to be activated within 90 days after issue". Doesn't this mean we can purchase and lock in the price up to 6 months before departure date? So if I'm travelling in February/March next year, I can buy the rail pass at the end of September to lock in the current low price?

    • viper2440880 on 22/05/2023 - 15:24
      +1

      Have you found out more about this? We are going to be in Japan in mid to late January, and was thinking about this as well.

      • McBargain on 03/06/2023 - 12:41

        Couldn’t find any definite answer at this stage. Hopefully JRRAIL will give more information in the next few months.

        • MurahMeriahOy on 25/07/2023 - 08:42

          Anyone found anything? Im in the same boat, going there late January.
          Cheers

  • dmpow3 on 30/07/2023 - 16:37

    Found this on a JR Rail Pass distributor site too:

    "Can I buy the Japan Rail Pass more than 3 months before my departure?

    Yes, travelers who wish to purchase their Japan Rail Passes more than 3 months before their intended departure date are free to do so. However, because the validity period of the JR Pass is 3 consecutive months we will pause the delivery and issue of your Exchange Order until a month before your trip."

    They then give an example:

    "EXAMPLE:
    If you make your order in February but do not plan to arrive in Japan until July 10, the issue and delivery of the order will be put on hold until the June 10 (one month before the trip)"

    Source: https://www.jrailpass.com/delivery

    So theoretically I could buy a pass pre-October at the cheaper price, and have the exchange Order delivered a month before I go next April?

    • bargainman1 on 27/09/2023 - 23:32

      Did you purchase in advance ?

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