Japan - Japan Rail Pass and the Shinkansen

I want to spend 4-5 nights in Tokyo (which will include daytrips to Nikko and Hakone), and then get on the Shinkansen all the way to Fukuoka, via Osaka and Hiroshima.

So I plan to spend 2 nights in Osaka and 2 nights in Hiroshima, with maybe jusy 1 night in Fukuoka before flying from there to Seoul or Hong Kong.

The price of a 14 day Japan Rail Pass costs me £500, yet I would only be using it for my Shinkansen trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka, which would actually only take 4-5 days, which means I could buy the 7 Day pass for effectively half the price?

If I made my exchange order for the Rail Pass whilst in Tokyo (having already been in Tokyo for 4 nights at that point) then it would save me a lot of money. Or would I have to get the Rail Pass as soon as I enter Japan, regardless of when I started using the trains?

Maybe one way tickets on Shinkansen between Tokyo-Osaka, Osaka-Hiroshima, and Hiroshima-Fukuoka would amount to less than the price of a 14 day Rail Pass anyway?

I'd get confirmation from at least one other person before going with this, but:

Yes, you should be able to just get the 7-day rail pass. There are a number of different places you can get exchange the order (one of which is the airport, but not the only one). If you get the 7-day pass in Tokyo 4 days after arriving, you should be fine.

You can exchange the voucher for any start date. You have to be very clear with the agent. In the past we have arrived, stayed the first night at the airport and got the pass exchanged the first day but to start the next day.

The cost difference between the 7 day and 14 day is not just doubling. The 7 day is more expensive than 50%.
http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html. Will give the costs in yen.

I suspect the extra cost would more than meet the costs of a day trip to Nikki and Hakone and transfer to Tokyo in addition to trips around Tokyo.

You can check the prices on either of the two timetable sights, I tend to use Hyperdia
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/
You can put in trips you must take tabulate costs and compare buying 7 day and 14 day pass.

And you can exchange at a lot of places ie major rail stations in Tokyo

You can do this in Tokyo Station. I did this once as I wanted to be able to use the rail pass for the NEX train to NRT on the last day of its validity.

I do this all the time. The Rail Pass is of little use in and around Tokyo so don't activate it for those days. You can specify the dates for your Pass when you activate, even if it is for future dates. I'd recommend just exchanging your voucher immediately upon arrival at NRT as they are accustomed to dealing with tourists and speak excellent English. Just specify your dates for the LAST 7 days of your stay. If you know what trains you want for your trips west, you can even make seat reservations in advance at the same time. If not, just stop by any of the larger stations while you are in Tokyo and make reservations then.

Looking at your itinerary, it seems you are only using the shinkansen for 5 days. If you activate the Pass for the last 7 days of your stay, you could also use it to cover the round trip to Nikko or someplace else during your last couple of days in Tokyo. That is part of the "art" of using the Japan Rail Pass, getting the most use - and value - out of the 7 day validity.

You can specify the dates for your Pass when you activate, even if it is for future dates. I'd recommend just exchanging your voucher immediately upon arrival at NRT as they are accustomed to dealing with tourists and speak excellent English. Just specify your dates for the LAST 7 days of your stay.

What he said.

Here's the list of all the places you can trade the exchange order for the actual pass:

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en009.html

As noted, you can specify a later start date when you exchange, and also make seat reservations for trains during that validity period.

Unless I've missed it, I haven't seen much discussion in this forum regarding the JR Central Flex-Rail ticket.

Unlike the JR Rail Pass, this Flex-Rail ticket (http://english.jr-central.co.jp/shinkansen/tour/package_02.html) appears to be valid on Nozomi trains. It appears to be limited to overseas visitors to Japan, like the JR Rail Pass. I haven't tried to book one, but it seems like you make the reservation online (http://www.japanican.com/tours/tourdetail.aspx?tc=GMT01TYOOVJOPENTK&kw=openticket) through japanican.com and print out a voucher that you redeem and convert to tickets after arrival in Japan. It's considered an open-ticket, to be redeemed within six months of booking the Flex-Rail ticket, with a permitted stay in Kyoto of up to seven days, no minimum. The website cautions that it can take up to 30 minutes to process the redemption at the JR Ticket Office.

The most basic JR Flex-Rail ticket is Tokyo-Kyoto for 21,000 yen roundtrip, with non-reserved seating. This compares to 12,710 one-way for Nozomi or Hikari/Kodama non-reserved. So that's a savings of a little over 4,000 yen per round-trip ticket, or about $50.

I can't find an option for Green Car seating.

The Flex-Rail ticket also includes some local transportation in Kyoto, though I'm not sure how much of that I'd be likely to use for a quick sightseeing visit. To the extent that would be used, the Flex-Rail ticket represents additional value.

Does anyone have experience using the JR Flex-Rail ticket?

Are there any glitches I need to be aware of?

Can anyone confirm that this ticket is valid on the Nozomi? I would like to take the Nozomi for the slightly higher-speed, somewhat newer trainsets, fewer stops, shorter overall journey time, and greater frequencies than Hikari/Kodama.

For the shinkansen rides I've taken in the past, I've only done reserved seating. What's the non-reserved situation like? Does JR oversell trains, so that you could actually wind up standing for some or all of the ride, like on Amtrak (horrorshow)?

For the shinkansen rides I've taken in the past, I've only done reserved seating. What's the non-reserved situation like? Does JR oversell trains, so that you could actually wind up standing for some or all of the ride, like on Amtrak (horrorshow)?

Non-reserved seating is just that--first-come first-served. Durig peak holiday periods the non-reserved cars can be standing room only.

Non-reserved seating is just that--first-come first-served. Durig peak holiday periods the non-reserved cars can be standing room only.
Of course, even during peak periods, some people manage to snag seats in unreserved cars. They are the ones who go to the station that the train starts from and queue up well in advance. That's possible from Tokyo and Osaka stations. Not from Shinagawa or Kyoto.

I can't get the link on the JR-central page to work, but this link works for me:

http://www.japanican.com/tours/tourdetail.aspx?destcd=18&deptcd=TYO&tc=GMT01TYOOVJOPENTK&searchfrom=mm%2fdd%2fyyyy&searchto=mm%2fdd%2fyyyy

This looks like a great find, I think the discount is better than you can get at a coupon shop and you may well be able to use credit cards too.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I will especially take a look at the Central-Flex ticket, seems to be good value if I could use Nozomi.

But there is a different class of express shinkansen beyond Osaka, isn't there? It's part of the next Shinkansen line, and isn't called a Nozomi. Wonder of that central-flex ticket is valid on that too.

Does Hiroshima have an airport? I have decided to scrub out Fukuoka from my plans, and spend slightly longer in Hiroshima instead, so I can visit Miyajima. From Hiroshima it looks as though none of the budget Japan airlines serve that city, which makes me wonder about does it have an airport even? :D

Maybe doubling back on myself to Osaka on the shinkansen will be the best bet, and then leave the country from KIX.

Tokyo Skytree, Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace, Shibuya Crossing, Asakusa temples, Ginza, and a daytrip to Mt Fuji/Hakone, will be my itiniery when in Tokyo.

In Osaka, I mainly want to visit the aquarium and Universal Studios - just a stopover before Hiroshima really, where I will be taking in the Peace Park, A-Bomb dome, Hiroshima Castle, and one of the famous gardens there (forget the name now :o).

Non-reserved seating is just that--first-come first-served. Durig peak holiday periods the non-reserved cars can be standing room only.

I've seen holiday Shinkansen "standing room only" to be in in the sense of Tokyo subway at rush hour crowded.

... ut there is a different class of express shinkansen beyond Osaka, isn't there? It's part of the next Shinkansen line, and isn't called a Nozomi. Wonder of that central-flex ticket is valid on that too.

Does Hiroshima have an airport? ...
The Nozomi goes all the way down to Hakata (Fukuoka). The other high-speed train that is unavailable to JR Pass holders is the new, limited stop train from Shin-Osaka all the way down to Kagoshima, called Mizuho.

Yes, Hiroshima has an international airport - HIJ.

The Nozomi goes all the way down to Hakata (Fukuoka). The other high-speed train that is unavailable to JR Pass holders is the new, limited stop train from Shin-Osaka all the way down to Kagoshima, called Mizuho.

Yes, Hiroshima has an international airport - HIJ.

But that part of the line isn't run by JR Central so this particular JR Central discount won't work past shin-0saka.

If you look at the e-reservation page, it looks to me like they list two fares, the higher for Nozomi and a slightly lower one for Hikari/Kodama. The fare quoted in this thread is for Nozomi in that case. But I am just guessing!

Also, unlike regular shinkansen tickets, with this discount ticket, I'm guessing you will have to pay your fare from the greater Tokyo region to Tokyo or Shinagawa stations, although that is usually not very expensive.

Thanks for everyone's comments so far.

What do you all think about the prospects for non-reserved seating on Nozomis between Tokyo and Kyoto in the mid-morning and early evening of the Friday and Saturday of American Thanksgiving weekend, around Nov. 23-24 this year? I assume it's not, by coincidence, also a holiday in Japan. So how crowded should I expect trains to be on a Friday and Saturday around that time of year?

I don't like to waste 8000 yen. But the train ride is as much a part of the journey as the destination, so I might just suck it up and pay for reserved seats.

I couldn't find the Green Car surcharge on JR Central's webpage. What is the one-way per ticket Green Car charge? Since we're just day-tripping (no luggage or parcels), it's probably not worth it. But want to think about it and make a fully informed choice.

So how crowded should I expect trains to be on a Friday and Saturday around that time of year?
Probably fine. I'd risk it.
It sounds like you're pretty flexible on time, so for Tokyo to Kyoto, I would show up at Tokyo station (not Shinagawa) and check out the length of the line for unreserved seats on the next Nozomi to leave. If it seems very long, go to the platform for a later departure. The trains are so frequent, it's not a big deal.
For the train from Kyoto back to Tokyo, I would try to snag pole position in the line for an unreserved car. I might prefer to line up for a train that started from Fukuoka rather than one that started from Osaka. I figure that it's more likely that people will be getting off at Kyoto.