Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Japan Rail Pass

From the little bit of research that I have done so far, getting a Japan Rail Pass (official site/Wikipedia) should be very high on my priority list before going to Japan.

For ¥45,100 ($592), I can ride participating Japanese railways as much as I like for fourteen days. Considering that I plan to jump all over the country, and that my only means of getting about will be trains and my two feet, this could well be a good deal.

However, I have not yet planned my itinerary, and am not absolutely sure yet that it will save me money. For now, to be safe, I will assume that I am going to buy a rail pass, and save accordingly. But, once all is planned, I will check the prices of each ride individually, and count up the cost of simply paying in cash in comparison with the rail pass.

This isn't something that can really be decided at the last moment, though. Once I am on Japanese soil, the option of obtaining a pass will be gone — they can only be purchased by gaijin (foreigners) like myself, and only outside of Japan.


At any rate, if you are planning a trip to Japan, be sure not to overlook the rail pass!

Image retrieved from Wikipedia.

4 comments:

  1. I like the Travel Fund you've added! lol

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  2. Haha, thanks. I don't have any way to physically partition that money from the rest of my savings without opening a new account, so I thought it would be good to keep track of it here.

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