The national Japan Rail Pass covers the whole country and costs JPY 50,000 for seven days. Each of Japan’s six JR companies also sells cheaper passes for its own region, usually the better buy for a trip within one part of the country. Three changed around 1 October 2026, and some resellers have not caught up.
Prices are adult prices in yen, read on 1 October 2026 from each JR company’s own pages and notices. Children aged 6 to 11 pay half.
What changed this year
- The Kansai Area Pass has ended. JR West: “Sales ended as of September 30, 2026.” A pass already bought is honoured: “Passes purchased by September 30, 2026 will remain valid throughout the specified validity period.” The closest replacement is the Kansai Mini Pass, JPY 3,000 for 3 days on JR rapid and local trains around Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Nara. It does not include the airport express: “A separate Limited Express ticket is requied for the Kansai-Airport Express “HARUKA” and other Limited Express trains.” (The typo is JR West’s.)
- JR East now sells one regional pass instead of two. The Tohoku and the Nagano and Niigata versions of the JR EAST PASS stopped selling on 13 March 2026. A single JR EAST PASS covering all JR East lines replaced them, at JPY 35,000 for 5 days or JPY 50,000 for 10. The JR TOKYO Wide Pass went up from JPY 15,000 to 16,000.
- The ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass changed on 1 October 2026. The 4-day and 5-day passes are gone. The 3-day pass fell from JPY 12,500 to 12,000 and the 7-day from 20,500 to 20,000. The Shodoshima ferry and bus are no longer included for passes issued from that date. Iyotetsu, which runs Matsuyama’s trams, left the pass in March 2026.
- JR West’s prices carry an old date. Its pass pages still say “Displayed information (including prices) is current as of August 1, 2024”, though several prices on them have since changed. Check the price on the day you buy.
The main JR regional passes, priced
| Pass | Days | Adult price | Temporary Visitor status needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| JR EAST PASS | 5 / 10 | 35,000 / 50,000 | No |
| JR TOKYO Wide Pass | 3 | 16,000 | No |
| Kansai Mini Pass | 3 | 3,000 | Yes |
| Kansai WIDE Area Pass | 5 | 12,000 | Yes |
| Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass | 5 | 17,000 | Yes |
| Sanyo-San’in Area Pass | 7 | 23,000 | Yes |
| Kansai-Hokuriku Area Pass | 7 | 19,000 | Yes |
| Hokuriku Area Pass | 4 | 7,000 | Yes |
| Hokuriku Arch Pass | 7 | 35,000 | Yes |
| Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass | 5 | 19,800 | Yes |
| Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto Area Tourist Pass | 5 | 24,500 | Yes |
| Ise-Kumano-Wakayama Area Tourist Pass | 5 | 16,500 | Yes |
| Hokkaido Rail Pass, bought before you arrive | 5 / 7 / 10 | 22,000 / 28,000 / 37,000 | No |
| All Kyushu Area Pass | 3 / 5 / 7 | 22,000 / 24,000 / 26,000 | Yes |
| Northern Kyushu Area Pass | 3 / 5 | 15,000 / 17,000 | Yes |
| Southern Kyushu Area Pass | 3 | 12,000 | Yes |
| ALL SHIKOKU Rail Pass | 3 / 7 | 12,000 / 20,000 | Yes |
All are for consecutive days. Not in the table: the JR West Kansai-San’in, Tottori-Matsue, Hiroshima-Yamaguchi and Okayama-Hiroshima-Yamaguchi Area Passes and the JR-WEST All Area Pass, and JR Hokkaido’s shorter passes around Sapporo. The Alpine-Takayama-Matsumoto pass is seasonal: “Usage Period：from April 15th, 2026 to November 10th, 2026”.
What each one covers, and what it leaves out
JR East. The JR EAST PASS covers every JR East line, including the Tohoku, Joetsu, Yamagata and Akita Shinkansen and JR East’s half of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, plus the Tokyo Monorail and Tobu’s through trains to Nikko. It leaves out the line most visitors ride first: “The JR EAST PASS cannot be used for the Tokaido Shinkansen.” The JR TOKYO Wide Pass has the same gap: “You cannot use the JR TOKYO Wide Pass to travel on the Tokaido Shinkansen.” Several Tohoku trains are reserved-only: “All seats on the Hayabusa, Komachi, Hayate, Tsubasa, Nikko, Kinugawa and SPACIA Kinugawa are reserved seats.”
JR West. Each pass covers reserved seats on a set stretch of Shinkansen plus the limited expresses in its area. The Kansai WIDE, Kansai-Hiroshima, Kansai-Hokuriku and Hokuriku Arch passes all list HARUKA. The Hokuriku Area Pass is non-reserved seats only.
- Kansai WIDE: the Sanyo Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Okayama, the KUROSHIO to Wakayama, and the trains to Kinosaki and Tottori.
- Kansai-Hiroshima: the Sanyo Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima, and the JR ferry to Miyajima.
- Sanyo-San’in: the Sanyo Shinkansen all the way from Shin-Osaka to Hakata.
- Kansai-Hokuriku: the Sanyo Shinkansen to Okayama, the Thunderbird from Osaka, and the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tsuruga to Joetsu-Myoko, which takes in Kanazawa and Toyama.
- Hokuriku Arch: the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tsuruga all the way to Tokyo, and the Thunderbird. It links Osaka and Tokyo the long way round.
Book your seats: “When using reserved seating, make sure to reserve seats in advance before boarding.”
JR Central’s tourist passes mix JR with buses and private railways. The Takayama-Hokuriku pass gives reserved seats “free of charge up to 6 times”, and its buses to Shirakawa-go need a booking on most routes. It does not cover the Tokaido Shinkansen between Kyoto and Shin-Osaka.
JR Hokkaido. The Hokkaido Rail Pass covers every JR Hokkaido line except the Hokkaido Shinkansen. It costs JPY 1,000 more at a station in Hokkaido than bought in advance. The limited expresses have no unreserved seats: “All seats are reserved on all JR Hokkaido’s limited express trains.”
JR Kyushu. The passes include the Kyushu Shinkansen’s Mizuho and Sakura and the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen’s Kamome, but not the hop out of Kyushu: “The pass cannot be used for the Sanyo Shinkansen (between Hakata and Kokura).” The table prices are for counters and agencies abroad. JR Kyushu adds: “There are different prices available in the JR KYUSHU RAIL PASS Online Booking.” Its April 2025 price notice, still linked from that site, puts each pass JPY 1,000 lower online: 21,000 rather than 22,000 for 3 days of All Kyushu.
JR Shikoku. Non-reserved seats only, on JR Shikoku and four partner railways. It is not valid on the Sunrise Seto sleeper or on any bus.
Who can buy which
This split matters most to people living in Asia on a foreign passport.
JR East and JR Hokkaido ask only for a non-Japanese passport. JR East lists conditions and then says “The following passes do not have this requirement”, naming the JR EAST PASS and the JR TOKYO Wide Pass among them. JR Hokkaido: “All non-Japanese passport holders can use the rail passes.” A foreign resident of Japan can buy these.
All the others want Temporary Visitor status. JR West: “A rail pass user must be entering in Japan as a “短期滞在(Temporary Visitor) ”.” JR Kyushu, JR Shikoku and JR Central’s tourist passes have the same rule. As with the national pass, the automated arrival gates do not stamp your passport, so ask at a staffed desk if you plan to buy one of these.
When a regional pass pays
A regional pass pays when you ride its long line more than once, or add the airport train and side trips. For a single there-and-back, a discounted visitor ticket or ordinary tickets cost less.
Osaka to Hiroshima and back. Two Hikari tickets between Shin-Osaka and Hiroshima cost about JPY 20,840, against JPY 17,000 for the 5-day Kansai-Hiroshima pass. JR West also sells visitors a discounted one-way ticket, JPY 7,900 from Osaka to Hiroshima, which makes the return JPY 15,800. For a plain return, the discounted tickets win. The pass starts to pay once you add the HARUKA from Kansai Airport, the Miyajima ferry and a day trip elsewhere in Kansai inside the same five days. For that trip, KKday sells the same 5-day pass at JR West’s JPY 17,000, so the seller choice comes down to refunds. KKday labels the voucher “Free cancellation”, and once you have exchanged it, its page sends you to the green counter at the station to “pay a handling fee (10% of the purchase price)”, the same 10% JR charges.
Kyoto to Kanazawa and back. A one-way ticket is JPY 7,720 on JR West’s regular fare tables, Thunderbird to Tsuruga and Shinkansen on, so JPY 15,440 return. The visitor one-way ticket is JPY 6,500, or JPY 13,000 return. The 7-day Kansai-Hokuriku pass is JPY 19,000. It pays when the trip also takes in Toyama, a ride out to Okayama or Himeji, or HARUKA at both ends.
Tokyo to Sendai and Aomori. JR East’s own example on its pass page: “The total fare for an adult riding the Narita Express (Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station to Tōkyō Station) and the Tōhoku Shinkansen (Tōkyō Station to Sendai Station + Sendai Station to Shin-Aomori Station) with ordinary car reserved seats is ¥52,000.” It does not say whether that is one way or a round trip. Either way, the 5-day pass at JPY 35,000 costs JPY 17,000 less than JR East’s figure.
Buying, and getting money back
Where.
- JR East: the JR EAST PASS costs the same online, at stations in Japan or from travel agencies abroad.
- JR West: online through its own reservation site and through agencies abroad, and “Passes can be purchased from a travel agency in Japan”. The Kansai Mini Pass page lists only an exchange order bought from a travel agency outside Japan. JR West’s list of overseas dealers names KKday in Taiwan and Hong Kong. On 1 October KKday sold the Kansai Mini Pass at the JR price of JPY 3,000, as a WEST QR e-ticket you scan at the gate from your phone, with no exchange at a counter.
- Hokuriku Arch Pass: “The Hokuriku Arch Pass cannot be purchased in Japan.”
- Shikoku: also sold as a QR ticket through Klook and, from 1 October 2026, Trip.com, which you scan straight at the gates.
Refunds. The usual charge is 10%. JR East: “A handling fee of 10% of the purchase price (JPY) is subtracted from the refund.” A JR EAST PASS bought online can be cancelled with no fee until 11.50pm Japan time the day before it starts. JR Shikoku refunds “only for unused passes”, and only until the day before the first day.
Resellers. On 1 October, resellers we checked still listed the Kansai Area Pass, KKday among them from JPY 2,700, after JR West had stopped selling it. Check JR West’s page if a site offers you one.
Comparing with the national pass
A regional pass rarely helps if your route includes Tokyo to Kyoto or Osaka, because none covers that stretch of the Tokaido Shinkansen. The national JR Pass break-even sums price the common routes on single tickets. Before you land, settle what Visit Japan Web asks for, the arrival form most of these trips start with.
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KKday, one of JR West's listed overseas dealers, at JR's own prices (affiliate link)