Public Transportation While in Japan

Hello,

I'm planning a family trip to visit Japan around June/July of 2019 and we're planning to explore Japan
on our own. Places we'd like to visit are Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and possibly Hiroshima. We plan to be there for around 8-10 days. I understand Japan has an excellent public transit system and I personally want to experience the bullet (Shinkansen) train when travelling between cities. My questions are:

Q1 - I understand Japan has different (or many) rail lines. What's the most effective and economic way
of travelling between cities I listed above? What do you think we should get? Buy weekly train passes?
Are these rides unlimited?

Q2 - What about trains within the Tokyo areas? Can train passes be used inside Tokyo and as well as say going from Tokyo to Kyoto and perhaps onto Hiroshima?

I appreciate if you can offer your experience when you visited Japan.

Sydney

Practically, the best way of getting between cities for long distance travel is by shinkansen. Look at the 7-day Japan Rail pass as it covers your travel from Hiroshima and back again with good savings. Within Tokyo, get a SUICA or PASMO card to use across the different companies.

Read here first: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e627.html

So with SUICA or PASMO, we can hop on any of the metro lines inside Tokyo? I was looking at the Tokyo Metro map after I posted this question. There are about 10-15 different lines operated by JR and some private companies inside Tokyo from what I understand. Just confirming if we purchase SUICA or PASMO, this will take care of train rides within Tokyo?

Thanks much

Yes, but a Suica/Pasmo is not a pass it's an IC card. You pay I believe 500 yen for the card and then just keep refilling it as you need to. A Suica/Pasmo can also be used for buses or private lines within Kyoto or Osaka if you don't get a 1 day Kyoto bus pass.

Personally, if you are able, it might make sense to fly into say KIX and out of Tokyo. (or vice versa) That way you don't have to spend time back tracking. because 8 days with 3 destinations if you are traveling with children (since you mentioned family trip) can be really hard.
June/July is Summer and the rainy season. It can rain a lot. It can also be quite hot. I've been going to Japan in June/July for the last 3 years and I plan to go back again for 2019. I don't mind the heat and rain but it is good to be prepared.

There are separate subway passes for say Tokyo but depending on your plans they may or may not be worthwhile. There are 1 day bus passes for Kyoto, but again it depends on your plans. I personally, try to avoid taking buses in Kyoto as much as possible because they are slow and crowded, but sometimes you just need to.

I hope this helps!

I just read over my response and want to make sure this is clear.

A Suica/Pasmo card can be used on Tokyo subways or JR lines or many of the private lines like Tobu and Odakyu. However, the 500 yen fee is the refundable fee for the card itself. You must put money onto the card anytime you want to use it. It's just a more convenient way to take public transit because for example, you don't need to look up how much it costs to take the subway from Higashi-Ikebukuro to Yurakuicho or Tokyo to Mitaka, you just tap your card on entering and tap your card on exiting and if you've put enough money on the card it subtracts it out. It doesn't save you any money.

It can be used outside Tokyo. I used mine to take the Keihan line from Kyoto to Osaka rather frequently one trip.

I hope this makes the cards clear.

Just a few minor clarifications, some of them nitpicky:

You must put money onto the card anytime you want to use it.

No, that wouldn't be very convenient. You generally add a lump sum (say a few thousand yen) on your IC card at the beginning, and gradually spend it down, and when it gets too low to get you where you're going you add another lump sum. You can add it before you get on a train, or before you exit the gates after a trip if your card runs out.

It doesn't save you any money.

It actually does save you a few yen compared to the cash fare when you take the bus.

JR lines or many of the private lines

In spite of its name, JR is a private line.


Back to the OP's questions, if you decide to skip Hiroshima, then you may find it more convenient to skip the JR Pass altogether and just pay cash/credit card for long-distance tickets, and use an IC card for shorter hauls, including Kyoto-Osaka. The number of Shinkansen trains that allow you to use the JR Pass is somewhat limited compared to the ones for non-JR-pass holders, so you may end up saving time. You'll also save the time it would take to apply for and pick up the JR Pass, and you don't have to hunt around for a manned gate (where you can show your pass) every time you ride the JR. The difference in price between JR Pass and individual tickets will be very small if you're just doing Tokyo-Osaka-Kyoto.

If you do decide to visit Hiroshima, flying one-way from Haneda to Hiroshima may be cheaper than taking the train, and it is somewhat faster, although maybe not as comfortable or convenient IMO.

Also as suggested above, flying in to Kansai and out of Tokyo (or vice versa) might also be more convenient, and possibly cheaper.

And yes, it will be very hot and humid, especially in July, so prepare accordingly.

In spite of its name, JR is a private line.

Well if we wanna clarify a few things and get nitpicky. What the asker of the question said is correct. The reason why many railways that aren't JR companies get referred to as private railways goes back to before JR was privatized and was JNR, Japan National Railways. Any railway company that wasn't part of the JNR was a private railway. The terminology has just stuck to this day.

Sorry, not meant to be a history lesson or derail (no pun intented) the line of questioning.

Just a very note to say thank you to everyone who have repsonded. Your feedbacks are very helpful!

I've read all the replies and will need to read them again.

I will probably will be posting a few more questions after I digest this info and research it more.

I was looking at the Tokyo Metro map after I posted this question. There are about 10-15 different lines operated by JR and some private companies inside Tokyo from what I understand

Don't look at railway maps, they make it look much more complicated than it really is. Just figure out the closest station to where you want to go, and plug it into a route search service such as Hyperdia. Yes, you can use you Suica or Pasmo for all your urban travel.

After reading your suggestions again, I think we'd most likely end up doing as far as transportation is purchase "Suica/Pasmo" since it sounds like we can use them when travelling inside Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka by trains. Will this be for ANY train line in these cities or will there be exceptions? As for getting there Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Osaka, may be we'll just purchase (as someone suggested) the tickets for Shinkansen on the day we go. I think we'll skip the flying for these inner flights. May be too much hassles (checking in, waiting at airport and etc). Well may be it's entirely a different experience in Japan. But, in the US, too much time is wasted due to security reasons.

As for Hiroshima, may be purchase tickets for "Nozomi / Mizuho" line (80 mins). Looked up on the web. Pricing goes from 97,000 to 14,000 yen. Does not sound that bad. I want to go there for historical reasons and I think it's pretty. Oh, what are the differences between Suica and Pasmo? Are there advantages with one over the other?

In my previous reply when I mentioned about buying tickets to Hiroshima. I was referring to from Osaka.

One other question, any "must have" android apps I need to install to assist for train travel planning?

If your eligible for a jr pass that will be best. But saying that depending g where your landing on arrival it might be cheapest purchasing at stations.

I landed in Tokyo, collected my jr pass and went straight to Hiroshima. Then just head to Osaka and finally returning to Tokyo. I got my.monies worth as most cities allow jr pass for local trains as well.

For Tokyo your limited on certain lines where you can use the jr pass.

Have a great vacation.

Hi Sydney,

When people like me are talking about flying into one airport and out another, I mean depending on where you are from in the USA there are direct flights to more than one airport in Japan. We don't have as large a selection as some locations but if you are coming from CA or planning to change for a flight to Japan in CA there are more options than just flying direct from the USA to Tokyo. It's called an open jaw ticket. Last trip, I flew NYC to Tokyo and then Tokyo to LAX (with a connection to Vegas) because I was folding in another trip within the US. If you can make an open jaw ticket work (Your location in the USA to Tokyo and then Osaka back to your location or vice versa) it can help a lot since 8 days is really not all that much and that is assuming 2 of those 8 days don't involve travel to the USA.

If you are 100% definitely doing a trip to Hiroshima, you might be well served by buying a rail pass if all your travel is within 7 days. (Tokyo to Kyoto, Kyoto to Hiroshima, Hiroshima to Kyoto, Hiroshima back to Tokyo. If you are flying back to the US I would strongly recommend NOT doing Hiroshima to Tokyo the day you leave since 5-6 hours on a train before a long flight sounds like torture.) I don't honestly know why you would spend one of your limited days changing hotels between Kyoto and Osaka since you are going to waste quite a bit of time with that. I could see doing it if you were flying from KIX, but otherwise it seems odd. If you get up early enough there are direct Hikaris from Kyoto to Hiroshima.

Planes in Japan are less of a pain than flights in the USA, at least based on my experience in '09. Technically, you could do: Tokyo 4 nights then fly to Hiroshima 2 nights then 4 nights in Kyoto and then 1 night in Tokyo before you leave or you could get a 1 week pass and still do a similar itinerary like that. It's a long trip between Tokyo and Hiroshima but you have very few days if you're really looking at 8 full days since the first day in Tokyo you will arrive late and probably won't get much done and the last day you are leaving.

As far as I know, Suica/Pasmo/Icoca is good on all local train or subway lines in Tokyo.

Hi rkold,

Thank you for the great suggestions & tips.

We'll definitely look into the "open jaw ticket" you mentioned. We didn't think of this and might very well worth looking into. Yes, you're definitely right about possibly not going to Hiroshima if we're planning for only 8 days. As someone suggested earlier, 2 days is already for traveling. Visiting 4 major cities is really difficult and not having enough time to really enjoy the trip and a good feeling in the end. But we could easily extend beyond 8 days with 12 at most. So we'll see what works out best.

I asked the question about any "must have" android apps that I could install on my phone to assist travel plans, trains, maps and etc. Anyone has any suggestion? I did install one app - JNTO.

I have a Google Translate app that I use, and I've downloaded the JR East app so that I can get the free collectible pins. I also use Line which is a chat app many of my friends in Japan use. Other than that I don't use a lot of specific apps for Japan. I've used Happycow for places that take people with dietary restrictions but I can just as easily search the web. The same is true for Hyperdia or Google Maps. I admit, I mostly use my cell phone to chat with people and take pictures.

Unless you are getting the pins, the JR East app is not particularly good. I find it clunky and not that well designed. I use Line all the time when not in Japan to stay in contact with friends in Japan.

My phone works mostly well in Japan once I turn on roaming so I don't rent a sim card. (Texts home always work, but occasionally texts within Japan to Japanese #s get dropped which is why I now use Line.) I'm on Project Fi and quite honestly even using data for Google Maps while in Japan and calling home, my bill is still lower than what I would pay to rent pocket WiFi for my whole trip.

Right now a lot of hotels also offer Pocket WiFi as an amenity. I think nearly all the places I stayed last trip offered it with the exception of the hotel in Osaka for USJ and possibly the hotel in Kanazawa. Just be careful not to lose the free WiFi or your room keycard. Japanese hotels charge exorbitant fees for replacement for keycards.

If you have 12 days including arrival and departure days that really changes things dramatically. Unless you are planning to go to the Fish Market or Tokyo Disney, I would probably as soon as possible head West. I find going to Japan the first week I suffer terrible jetlag and I am awake by 6-7 am. (Partially because my child really doesn't adjust well.) I find most things I want to do in Tokyo tend to open later, while there are more places in Kyoto which open super early. But I don't know how you react to time changes. I am not affected by them in the Continental USA, but Hawaii and Japan I've really felt. (Hawaii I adjusted to faster than Japan.) We're probably going to head to Kyoto on our first full day in Japan and I am hoping we can actually catch the 7:33 am train because I know by 19:33 my child will be out for the count.

One idea would be:
Arrive day 1 night Tokyo
Day 2 Hiroshima (night Hiroshima)
Day 3 Hiroshima (night Hiroshima)
Day 4 Kyoto (night Kyoto)
Day 5 Kyoto (night Kyoto
Day 6 Kyoto (night Kyoto
Day 7 Kyoto (night Kyoto)
Day 8 get back to Tokyo (night Tokyo)
Day 9 Tokyo (night Tokyo)
Day 10 Tokyo (night Tokyo)
Day 11 Tokyo (night Tokyo)
Day 12 Depart for home

What time you leave on Day 8 would vary depending on what you wanted to do in Kansai vs. Kanto. Depending on your interests there are some great stop-offs between Hiroshima and Kyoto if you want like Himeji and Okayama. If there is less you want to do in Toyko, instead of going directly back there, you could go to Hakone or Kamakura since both of them have relatively affordable and frequent travel to Tokyo you don't need a JR pass for. (For Hakone you can use the Odakyu vs. the shinkansen.)

If you want help reading Japanese menus, Sushi Dictionary (for Android) covers sushi menus in the free version and a lot more Japanese cuisine in the paid version:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jingumae.sushidictio...

Thanks for all of your inputs. I think we've a pretty good idea now as far as transportation.

How about international SIM cars for androids phones? I've looked around on the Internet and there's quite a few on the market. Do they actually work? Anyone purchased these before and can offer some recommendations? I primarily need data when I get off the plane in Japan. I already have VoIP service for talk. I prefer to get something what will work in the areas outside of Japan. For example, we might stop over in HK or SGD. Not sure yet.

As I said before, I use Project Fi for my internet service in the US and own my unlocked Android phone which I bought directly from Google (Pixel XL.) As soon as I turn on roaming, it works as is in Japan and I've traveled decently extensively in Japan with it. My MiL had no problem using Project Fi and her Google phone (Moto) in the UK. I would not be surprised if my phone works as is elsewhere in Asia. The Fi network agreements are pretty extensive.

I think what a particular phone needs to work in Japan will depend on the brand and your particular phone plan. You can read on this website a bit about using phones overseas:
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/smartphones-for-travel/

The article is not completely accurate. I have used my phone with roaming in Japan and my bill is only about ~$10-$15 higher than what it would be in the USA. I do use a lot more data in Japan than I use in the USA so it's not strictly speaking the travel so much as more useage.