It is the easiest to travel with trains and subway throughout Japan. You only have to be careful that not all the tracks belong to the same company (Hello Osaka!) - so you have to buy different tickets on some tracks. But for example in the very center of Tokyo there is only Japan Railway. Tickets can be bought in ticket machines before entering the metro/platform in Tokyo (only with cash). Some bigger stations have sales window, where you can pay with your credit card. JR offers several types of multi-day passes for tourists, so it's good to calculate if you should buy this JR pass and usually it's worth it because trasnportation in Tokyo (and generally throughout Japan) is quite expensive. In addition, some of these passes can also be used on the Shinkansen train, so you can go outside of Tokyo faster. You can find the Tokyo train map with basic information here.
There is a big map with all the train and subway stations near ticket machines. Your current station is marked on this map and other stations have written how much yen you have to pay yen to get there. Unfortunately, the names are only in Japanese, but you can get a map with English names at the information office. If you don't know how much to pay, just ask people around: "How much to 'stop name'?" It was often faster than finding the name in my English map and then in the Japanese. When entering and exiting, you always put the tickets in a turnstile. If you haven't paid enough, the turnstile won't let you go out and you have to pay the rest of the money - often there is information office near turnstiles where they'll give you an advice.
In general, tickets are valid for one day and there is no limitation on the time you spend in the train. They're valid from your entry to your exit. So theoretically you can ride between your start and finish station all day, but you'll appreciate it only if you get lost/intercept a train/station etc. Or you can sleep on the Yamanote Line Circuit, as some Japanese who are doing this (by mistake, I guess?) on their way back from work.
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/ - an official site for ordering your JR pass. WARNING - JR passes are availible only outside of Japan. They are designed only for tourists, so you must order them before leaving to Japan.
For searching the train schedules in Japan there are lots of apps. We liked and found really useful Japan Travel –Route, Map, JR.
And finally, the story of how Áňa lost her JR pass when she was in Japan last time.
When I went from Kyoto to Nara with my sister Maky, I lost my JR pass (which was more expenssive than my plane ticket to Japan, by the way) somewhere in the train. I realized it when I left the train in Nana, so I quickly returned to the platform and the train was fortunately still standing there. For about five minutes I tried to find my passport when suddenly the door closed, despite my desperate thumping into the door opening button. Some older Japanese men asked me what's going on, so I told him the whole story and we tried to find the damn pass together. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. At the next stop, I got out and I waited for the next train to Nara.
There is a big map with all the train and subway stations near ticket machines. Your current station is marked on this map and other stations have written how much yen you have to pay yen to get there. Unfortunately, the names are only in Japanese, but you can get a map with English names at the information office. If you don't know how much to pay, just ask people around: "How much to 'stop name'?" It was often faster than finding the name in my English map and then in the Japanese. When entering and exiting, you always put the tickets in a turnstile. If you haven't paid enough, the turnstile won't let you go out and you have to pay the rest of the money - often there is information office near turnstiles where they'll give you an advice.
In general, tickets are valid for one day and there is no limitation on the time you spend in the train. They're valid from your entry to your exit. So theoretically you can ride between your start and finish station all day, but you'll appreciate it only if you get lost/intercept a train/station etc. Or you can sleep on the Yamanote Line Circuit, as some Japanese who are doing this (by mistake, I guess?) on their way back from work.
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/ - an official site for ordering your JR pass. WARNING - JR passes are availible only outside of Japan. They are designed only for tourists, so you must order them before leaving to Japan.
For searching the train schedules in Japan there are lots of apps. We liked and found really useful Japan Travel –Route, Map, JR.
And finally, the story of how Áňa lost her JR pass when she was in Japan last time.
When I went from Kyoto to Nara with my sister Maky, I lost my JR pass (which was more expenssive than my plane ticket to Japan, by the way) somewhere in the train. I realized it when I left the train in Nana, so I quickly returned to the platform and the train was fortunately still standing there. For about five minutes I tried to find my passport when suddenly the door closed, despite my desperate thumping into the door opening button. Some older Japanese men asked me what's going on, so I told him the whole story and we tried to find the damn pass together. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. At the next stop, I got out and I waited for the next train to Nara.
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| Station in Kizu, where I got out. |
In Nara, we threw all our stuff out from our backpacks with Maky, but we didn't find it. I went with a hard heart to the control window knowing that from now on I have to pay for all the trains. Then some lady appeared and she said: "Your JR pass is at the station Tamamizu." We went there immediately and there some old conductor gave me my pass with an envelope on a string: "Do you know how much is this? Just put this around your neck, so you won't lose it ever again!"
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| Happy reunion in Tamamizu. |
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