How to Buy and Use Japan Rail Pass

How to Buy Japan Rail Pass

 Step 1: Choose a suitable pass based on your travel itinerary in Japan. We AgateTravel offers booking service for Japan Rail Pass applicable countrywide and various regional passes.

 Step 2: Place an order with us online and submit the payment.

 Step 3: We will email you the Exchange Order.

Who can Buy Japan Rail Pass

1.    Oversea tourists travel to Japan with passport stamped with “Temporary Visitor”.
2.    Japanese citizens with overseas residency. Both the Japanese passport and written proof issued by the embassy or consulate in the country they lived are required. The written proof should proved that they have lived in the country overseas legally for 10 consecutive years at least.

When to Buy Japan Rail Pass

We have no limitation on pre-sale time. However, the Exchange Order must be changed to an actual JR Pass within 3 months from the issuing date. So please tell us your travel date and we will issue the Exchange Order accordingly.

How to Use Japan Rail Pass

1.    Change your Exchange Order into a Japan Rail Pass in Japan

Upon arrival in Japan, you need to go to Japan Rail Pass exchange offices which can be found in most Japanese airports or train stations to exchange your voucher into an actual Japan Rail Pass. You will be asked to fill in an application form and show your passport with a “Temporary Visitor” stamp.

The pass can’t be used until it is activated. After you get your pass, you will be asked to offer a date when you want to start to use the pass. Your pass will be activated when the date is stamped on your pass. Then you can start your travel by train in Japan.

Self-service Reservation on a Ticket Machine

If you plan to get the pass just before taking the train, leave enough time to do the exchange, especially when you visit Japan in peak season.

You will fail to get the actual JR pass in any of the following cases:

I. The Exchange Order is issued more than 3 months ago.

II. Absence of your original passport; a photocopy of your passport is not applicable.

III. Absence of “Temporary Visitor” stamp on your passport.

IV. The name on your claimed pass is different from the one on your passport.

2.    Reserve a Seat

You can directly show your pass to get a non-reserved seat in a JR train without the need to reserve a seat. But if you want to have a reserved seat, you need to make a reservation in one of those designated Travel Service Centers or a “Midori-no-madoguchi”, namely the green ticket office at JR station. You can have your reserved-seat ticket after you show your pass to the staff at the Midori-no-madoguchi. It is free most of the time. However, an additional fee needs to be paid for reserving seats in some trains like “Nozomi” and “Mizuho” or in a higher class cabin.

Self-service ticket vending machines are also availiable at JR stations. The machines labeled with reserved seats, having a QR code reader to scan your JR Rail Pass, provide service in multiple languages. Thus, you can switch the language, scan the QR code of your Rail Pass, and follow the prompts to reserve a seat.

See Japan Train Seat Classes

3.    Take the Train

Passengers holding a Rail Pass cannot enter the platform via the automatic channel. There is always a manual channel beside; hand your pass to the staff there and then he/she will let you in.