<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by stimpy:
Actually you can buy a pass in Japan, but you need a temporary visitor stamp in your passport. Plus it's much cheaper than buying individual tickets in Japan.
Here is where I've always gone for info...
http://www.jreast.co.jp/eastpass/top.htm</font>
I see where the confusion comes in.
You CAN buy a JR EAST Pass inside Japan. That fact is revealed on the JR East website cited by
stimpy.
But the JR East Pass is only good in the eastern part of Japan. The "all-Japan" pass is called the Japan Rail Pass. You CANNOT buy a Japan Rail Pass inside Japan. (The link that
stimpy posts contains a link to the Japan Rail Pass website I posted and quoted above!)
For most of us foreign visitors, especially first-time ones, the Japan Rail Pass is MUCH more useful. Tokyo is in the east, but Kyoto is in the west. To use a pass to travel between them, you need the Japan Rail Pass, NOT the JR East pass. (There are also other regional Japan passes, I believe.)
Hope this clears things up.
Kathy