To JR or not to JR?! That is the question…Historically the JR pass has been the absolute ‘go to’ for people planning exploritative travel around Japan. Being offered in 1, 2 and 3-week increments they are pretty comprehensive and all of the information about them will tell you that you can pay off the cost of the pass in as little as two train journeys. While this can certainly be the case, it is not quite as clear-cut as that, as JR train travel is absolutely not your only option to get around Japan. The JR pass is definitely a worthwhile consideration if you plan on moving regularly around the country over a set amount of time. In addition, it makes things a lot easier with much less planning and preparation needed on the ground to get around. It is also almost unquestionably the most efficient way to navigate around. If ease and efficiency are your primary focus when visiting Japan then there is little argument I can make against acquiring a JR pass. Having said that, if you’re willing to put in the effort both in terms of planning and executing journeys you can travel around the country a lot cheaper using buses and alternative train routes/companies. In many ways the countrywide JR passes are great, but the do limit you exclusively to JR trains ONLY and there are a huge range of other train, bus and boat options available. Furthermore, in places like Osaka and Kyoto they are completely useless in terms of local transport. A lot of people travel to Japan and buy a JR pass believing this is all they will need to pay for all transport for the whole time they are in the country and 99% of the time this is just not the case. We carefully considered and eventually vetoed the JR Pass for our recent 6-week trip to Japan, which turned out to be a very wise choice! These are the three most effective methods we used to ‘beat’ it!
Overall, a combination of these methods proved to be massively effective for us. To put this potential saving into real perspective for you, here’s a little glimpse at some final facts. We were in Japan for 6 weeks (41 days) in total and we went all the way from Tokyo down to Okinawa Island in that time. Our TOTAL travel costs for entire time in Japan including local and intercity buses/trains/trams etc and a flight from Fukuoka to Okinawa: ¥50,992pp ($619.25AUD/$465.10USD) vs 3 week JR rail pass ONLY: ¥70,000pp ($849AUD/$639.89USD) I’m not gonna lie and say it was easy to achieve that, but it is possible. We didn’t hitchhike anywhere, we didn’t steal a car and we didn’t hide out in train toilets to avoid paying. We did plan meticulously and we did walk...a lot...but the numbers speak for themselves. It was worth it! Other money saving tips…
By using all of these hints, tricks and methods combined we managed to do absolutely everything we wanted to do in Japan, visit everywhere we wanted to go and see everything we wanted to see. We went in with what we believed to be a bit of an optimistic budget of $130AUD (¥10,650/$100USD) per day for two people. At the end of the trip we came in at $121.36AUD (¥9,943/$91.15USD). Japan on a budget DOES exist! What it actually cost: $4,368.85 AUD for 36 days (We spent 5 days at Disney which was a separate budget). Transport: $1238.51 Accommodation: $1226.76 Entertainment: $557.37 Drinks: $155.68 Souvenirs: $82.47 Miscellaneous: $79.38 This works out at $60.67 AUD ($45.70 USD) per person per day, which is well under the $100 USD that the lonely planet recommends.
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