Japan Railway pass 14 days

Eligibility for use

The JAPAN RAIL PASS is a special fare ticket that is available only to travelers visiting Japan from foreign countries for sightseeing. To be eligible to purchase a JAPAN RAIL PASS, you must meet one of the following two conditions. Even if you have purchased a PASS online or have an Exchange Order, if you do not meet the qualifications for using the JAPAN RAIL PASS, you will be unable to pick it up or exchange it. Please confirm the usage qualifications thoroughly prior to purchasing a PASS or Exchange Order. Also, if you do not meet the usage qualifications due to factors such as insufficient documentation (including due to insufficient or incorrect instructions from the travel agency where you purchased your Exchange Order) and you are unable to receive a PASS, the JR Group takes no responsibility for any transportation expenses incurred during your stay in Japan as a result. Please confirm that you have all of the required confirmation documents prior to leaving your country.

★ You are a foreign tourist visiting Japan from abroad for sight-seeing, under the entry status of "temporary visitor".

＃ Temporary Visitor entry status, according to Japanese Immigration Law, allows a stay in Japan of 15 days or 90 days for sight-seeing, etc. If you apply for a "stay for sight-seeing" when you enter Japan, entry personnel will stamp your passport as "Temporary Visitor," as shown below.

＃ In order to receive or use JAPAN RAIL PASS, your passport must bear this stamp or sticker.

＃ When you use an automated gate at the airport, no stamp/sticker will be stamped or put on your passport. Therefore, you need to either use a manned automated gate or ask a clerk to apply a stamp/sticker in your passport. However, a customer who has a "registered user card" under the Trusted Traveler Program will be required to show the card to confirm the "Temporary Visitor" status.

＃ Even if you visit Japan with an Exchange Order to exchange for a JAPAN RAIL PASS or purchased a JAPAN RAIL PASS online, the exchange or receipt cannot be processed unless you have a “Temporary Visitor” visa; if you enter Japan under any other official status, such as “Trainee”, “Entertainer”, or “Reentry Permit”, you cannot exchange the Exchange Order or pick up the JAPAN RAIL PASS. Please note that according to strict interpretation of the Japanese Immigration Law, “Temporary Visitor” status differs from other types short term stays.

★ Japanese people living abroad who meet the following conditions. Please see following link for more information >> Conditions

★ Customers who do not meet either of the conditions above will not be able to purchase an Exchange Order or exchange one for a PASS. In addition, if the documentation customers prepare does not meet the conditions for eligibility, they will not be allowed to purchase an Exchange Order or exchange it for a PASS.

＃ Please confirm that the issued date for both your “Overseas Residential Registration” and your “Certificate of Overseas Residence” is prior to the purchase date of your Exchange Order (and within the last 6 months). (The “Overseas Residential Registration” and “Certificate of Overseas Residence” you presented at the time you purchased your Exchange Order must also be presented when exchanged it for a PASS.)

＃ ＜For individuals who possess passports issued by both Japan and another country＞ In accordance with the Japanese Immigration Law, please present your Japanese passport to immigration when entering the country. In this case, your Japanese passport and “documentation verifying your stay in another country for 10 or more consecutive years, such as a certificate issued by a government office overseas” will be required.

＃ As a general rule, Exchange Orders cannot be purchased and JAPAN RAIL PASSES cannot be exchanged for young children who have spent less than 10 years living in another country. (There are some exceptions. Please confirm the details above.)

Cancellation & Amendment

★ In the case of change or cancellation of a reserved seat, please perform the cancellation procedures for the reserved-seat ticket before the departure time of the train you booked.

★ If you use a non-reserved seat, or if you travel in an ordinary car using a Green Car pass, no refund will be paid for the fare or other charges.

★ The PASS cannot be exchanged for other types of passes or tickets, nor can the periods of use of the issued PASS be changed.

★ Please note that the PASS cannot be reissued in the event that it is lost or stolen.

★ A refund is only available before the starting date of periods of use, in principle. For a refund, if there are any issued reserved-seat tickets, it is necessary to cancel all the issued reserved-seat tickets.

A) If the PASS is purchased on the JRPR you have not been issued the PASS, a refund is available on the JRPR. Refunds are available until 11:30 p.m. (Japan time) on the day preceding the starting date of periods of use of the PASS. If you already received the PASS, you can apply for a refund at the ticket offices where the PASS is distributed. In either case, a handling fee of 560 yen will be charged per PASS.

B) If you purchased an Exchange Order in a country other than Japan, a refund for the exchanged PASS is available at the domestic exchange offices. A 15% handling fee of the sales price will be charged per PASS. If you want to get a refund for the Exchange Order itself, apply for it at the sales office from which you purchased the Exchange Order. For the handling fee, please confirm with the sale office.

C) If you purchased the PASS at a domestic sales office, a refund is available at the domestic sales offices. Please be aware that if you have purchased the PASS with a credit card, a refund is available only at the sales office of the travel agency from which you purchased it. A 15% handling fee of the sales price will be charged per PASS.

★ Once you start using the PASS, the periods of use cannot be extended, nor will any refund be issued, even if trains and other qualifying transportation services are suspended or delayed for any reason, including natural disasters. Moreover, the JR Group will not bear additional costs due to changes in your route, such as alternative transportation costs or accommodation charges.

Other Terms & Conditions

★ The JAPAN RAIL PASS (hereinafter referred to the “PASS”) is only valid for the person who meets the usage qualifications such as being a foreign national visiting Japan with the entry status of a Temporary Visitor.

★ At the time of the purchase and exchange order of the PASS, your passport information will be registered to the PASS. The PASS is only valid for the person whose passport information is registered (hereinafter referred to as the “User”) and may not be reassigned to another person. In order to be issued the PASS, the User needs to exchange for it at the ticket office.

★ A PASS with overlapping periods of use regardless of the type of PASS cannot be purchased or exchanged with the same passport information.

★ When using your Pass, you can either pass through the automatic ticket gate or present it to an attendant at a manned ticket gate. At the manned ticket gate, the attendant will apply a stamp to your Pass. When passing through the manned ticket gate, always present your Pass to the attendant so that the period of validity is clearly visible.

★ While using the PASS, you must always carry your passport and be prepared to present it to a station attendant or a car conductor when requested.

★ The PASS is valid on all Japan Railways (JR) Group Shinkansen “bullet trains” (except for the “NOZOMI” and “MIZUHO” trains), limited express trains, express trains, and local trains (Green Car passes are valid for Green Car travel) in addition to the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit system). The Pass is also valid for travel on the JR WEST Miyajima Ferry between Miyajima and Miyajimaguchi, buses operated by JR Hokkaido Bus, JR Tohoku Bus, JR Bus Kanto, JR Tokai Bus, West Japan JR Bus, Chugoku JR Bus, JR Shikoku Bus, JR Kyushu Bus, and the Tokyo Monorail. However, please note that the PASS is not valid for travel on JR Group buses that travel on express bus routes and some local bus routes.

# The PASS is not valid for travel on the “NOZOMI” and “MIZUHO” Shinkansen trains (including non-reserved seats on both). In order to board these trains, you must pay for the basic fare and the limited express charge.

# The routes covered by the PASS are subject to change.

# When using the PASS to travel on JR Trains that extend through lines operated by companies other than JR Railways, JR West Miyajima Ferry, JR Bus (excluding some routes such as express bus routes), and the Tokyo Monorail, you must pay a separate fare and other charges of the distance traveled on such sections. However, no separate fare or charges are required when you just pass through the following sections without a stopover.

A) The Aoimori Railway between Hachinohe and Aomori, Aomori and Noheji, or Hachinohe and Noheji (Valid only for use on ordinary trains).

B) The IR Ishikawa Railway between Kanazawa and Tsubata (Excluding travel on trains other than JR lines extending beyond that section).

C) The Ainokaze Toyama Railway between Toyama and Takaoka (Valid only for use on ordinary trains, excluding travel on trains other than JR lines extending beyond that section). You must purchase a Liner ticket in addition to the PASS to use the “Ainokaze Liner.”

★ The PASS itself does not guarantee you a seat. If you want to use a reserved seat, be sure to book a reserved seat (no additional payment needed). You can obtain a reserved-seat ticket at a reserved-seat ticket machine, at any JR station ticket office (Midori-no-madoguchi), or at any Travel Service Center, etc. before boarding. In addition, if you purchased the PASS on the “JAPAN RAIL PASS Reservation” (hereinafter referred to as “JRPR”), you can also book a reserved seat on the JRPR. Please note, you can use a non-reserved seat with the PASS, however, some trains do not have non-reserved seats. Also, if you wish to travel in a private compartment on a Shinkansen or a limited express train, you will be required to pay the limited express charge for the private compartment, as well as the Green Car charge if the private compartment is a Green Car accommodation. If you wish to travel in a sleeping car, a DX Green Car, Premium Green Car, or Gran Class Car, you will be required to pay the sleeping car charge, the Green Car charge applicable to a DX Green Car, the Premium Green Car charge, or the Gran Class Car charge, as well as the limited or regular express service charge. If you ride in a Green Car using an ordinary car pass, you will be required to pay the Green Car charge, as well as the limited or regular express service charge (No extra charge applies when using a Green Car pass). You must also pay an extra charge in advance to travel on a local train requiring a numbered ticket or a liner ticket. The PASS does not allow you to change to a reserved seat or sleeping car after boarding.

★ When issuing a reserved-seat ticket and booking a reserved seat on the JRPR, a reserved-seat ticket may not be newly issued when falling under any of the following conditions.

A) The reserved -seat ticket you are booking is on the same day and has overlapping departure and arrival times with a reserved-seat ticket that has been issued previously.

B) On the JRPR or at a reserved-seat ticket machine, the reserved -seat ticket you are booking is on the same day and has the same departure and arrival stations with a reserved-seat ticket that has been booked previously.

C) On the JRPR or at a reserved-seat ticket machine at a JR station, if reserved-seat tickets for more than 110 trains have already been issued on the PASS.

D) You may not book reserved seats even if they are open in situations such as when the number of seats is limited according to trains or section.

★ Please be aware that reservation numbers are printed on the PASS and the reserved-seat tickets. Each User must use the reserved-seat tickets with the same reservation number as his/her PASS.

★ The PASS can be used only within its periods of use.

★ If the ordinary PASS fails to be issued in the event of system failures, etc., the PASS limiting a part of functions (for example, the reserved-seat ticket machines or automatic ticket gates are not available) may be issued. However, a refund is not available for this reason.

★ In addition to the terms and conditions set forth above, when using the PASS, you must obey the JR Group’s regulations, terms and conditions, and the laws of Japan.

★ Violation of the terms and conditions above or the JR Group’s regulations of use of the PASS may result in the invalidation and confiscation of the PASS, as well as assessment of a penalty amounting to twice the basic fares and charges for all transportation services for which the PASS was used..

★ The official terms and conditions of the PASS are written in Japanese, and the text of the Japanese version will be given priority of interpretation in the event of questions regarding transportation conditions that may arise regarding conditions written in other languages. (*The details shown above are current as of June 2020, which may be subject to change.)

The purchase exchange rate may differ from the exchange rate when you actually visit Japan. The local currency price, applicable exchange rate, and issue date for an Exchange Order are specified on the Exchange Order itself. Use of the Rail Pass/Exchange Vouchers is subject to Japan Railways Passenger Transportation Regulations and Japanese law. Please check with Calgary Tours consultant or refer to Japan Railways Group for detailed/updated terms & conditions. All information is subject to change at the discretion of the supplier. Please click here to visit the Japan Railways Group website for more information.