JR Green pass for Kyushu?

Hello everyone,

I've been to a great deal of Japan over the past decade and have booked tickets to Fukuoka to spend some more time in Kyushu for almost 2 weeks later this year.

Every time I've been before, excepting a Tokyo-only stay, I've paid for the green car, and have been happy with the cost.

I know that there are Kyushu-only rail passes but they only seem to be available for a week at most. So I'll probably still go for the full JR pass.

My question then is, are there any services outside the Fukuoka-Kagoshima Shinkansen that have a green car? Or if not, as I might only travel on it one-way, could I pay for an upgrade?

You can learn more about the configurations of JR Kyushu trains here:
https://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/train/index.html

Most of them do not have a green car.

Offhand, the idea of buying a 2-week nationwide JR pass for use mainly on Kyushu seems highly questionable to me. It is hard to get value out of the 2-week nationwide pass even on Honshu, with most itineraries. Isn�ft it cheaper to get two 1-week Kyushu passes? Or possibly a lot cheaper to buy a strategic combination of shorter passes and single tickets?

You cannot upgrade to a green seat on the shinkansen just by paying the green car supplement. For some reason, you have to pay the limited express charge, too. Only the basic seat fee is covered by the pass.

Not many green car options. I would bother.

Most Kyushu trains offer more space the Honshu based trains.

Meant wouldn't bother.

Just wanted to belatedly thank everyone for their very helpful info.

If I stay in Kyushu, I agree that a couple of Kyushu standard passes is the best option.

The only problem is that I was told by the airline today that the main return leg has been moved earlier, so my connecting flight form FUK to HND arrives too late. The only real options were to accept a connection in Europe or ditch the connecting portion. Flight prices seem pretty extreme at the moment, as after hours of searching, the economy ticket I bought was almost exactly the same price as the business round-trip to Tokyo and Seoul I did in 2019. As the HND - LHR trip is the one part on ANA premium economy, I chose to keep it.

So, I now need to find my own way back to Tokyo from Kyushu, in which case if I don't take a flight, the Green Car JR pass for 14 days IMO is the best option.

I was also looking at Matsue and Tottori, so maybe reducing my time on Kyushu would be reasonable and taking a few days going north instead.

Any ideas welcome, and if you think that I should start another thread instead, please accept my apologies and I'll do that.

You don't have to apologize, but the title of this thread might not generate responses from people who have suggestions about western Honshu, or other ideas about what you can do with your 14-day green pass. As far as I understand it, there aren't many route options in western Honshu where you can use a green pass. Since there aren't many green cars in Kyushu, the total train hours you get out of the extra price for a green pass will work out to be fairly expensive.

I always buy a green pass these days, but I also always get huge value out of it. If I had an itinerary like yours is turning out to be, after leaving Kyushu I would either add places on Honshu that would let me use a green pass to better advantage, or I would just get a regular JR pass.

That said, there is a LEx between Okayama and Matsue that has a green car, and plenty to do around there for a few days. If you haven't been to Adachi Museum, look into it. (It is one of my favorite places in Japan, but not to everyone's liking. A lot of people seem to be put out because the management there doesn't allow the spectacular gardens to be sullied by the presence of tourists.) I have been all the way to Hagi and loved it, along with the scenery along the way. (But not from the window of a green car.) Tottori didn't do much for me, but people do seem to go there.

I like to stay in Okayama myself, and take longish day trips using LEx trains or the shinkansen. If you enjoy train riding, you can get value out of a green pass real fast that way, in a sense recovering from the lack of "green" options on Kyushu. You can get to Okayama from Hakata pretty fast, and from Okayama to Tokyo really isn't all that far, or you could split it up and stay someplace in between. The Granvia in Okayama is a decent hotel that is very conveniently located, and they have pretty good rates lately. Nice vibe to that city and station area, in my personal opinion.

You said you've been to quite a few places, so I don't know where all you've been, but another route might be the "Hokuriku Arch" from Kyoto to Kanazawa and then to Tokyo via Nagano on the Hokuriku shinkansen. Heck, I've done that route half a dozen times, give or take, and I'd do it again any day. (I'm one of those people who finds places I like and then takes pleasure in revisiting them, rather than constantly trying to find new places.) You can definitely get good use out of a green pass there.