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Wondering what is the cheapest option to travel along my route. Seeing this question, it might be cheaper to buy a single ticket rather than multiple tickets (Tokyo -> Kyoto via Nagano and Kanazawa as stopovers on single JR ticket - is it possible?)

Starting from Tokyo 1st of May morning, spend 2 nights in Nagano and Matsumoto and then on the 3rd evening arrive in Kyoto, stay 3 nights there and on the 6th evening take the train to Hiroshima.

I understand that I should buy a base ticket with these stations. How can I write them in Japanese to give it to the teller? The JR Railpass seems to be more expensive than individual tickets given the recent price increase.

The return will be from Hiroshima to Tokyo, with a 3 days stop in Hakone (or one of the stations near Hakone where it makes sense to stop).

Does this make sense? Is it doable with JR rules?

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    I'll let an expert answer, but the hassle will be considerable and the savings a couple of hundred yen at best. If you're trying to save money, highway buses or even hitchhiking will be your best bet.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Dec 22, 2023 at 19:18
  • The Seishun 18 Ticket would also be an interesting option for this, but unfortunately your travel time in May is outside the three allowed windows.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Dec 22, 2023 at 20:53
  • 1
    @lambshaanxy Plugging this into jrpass.com/farecalculator, it seems like the saving will be more substantial than a few hundred yen. Just the one way to Hiroshima would save ¥16k. If the return to Tokyo was within a 7 day pass limit, you'd come out ahead with the pass; but sounds like OP needs at least a 14 day pass, and that'll be more expensive.
    – deceze
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 2:25
  • 1
    @deceze OP was asking about buying one-way ticket with stopovers, not a JR Pass.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 3:51

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Your itinerary looks something like this:

  • 東京 Tōkyō
    • 北陸新幹線 Hokuriku Shinkansen
  • 長野 Nagano
    • しなの特急 Shinano Limited Express
  • 松本 Matsumoto
    • しなの特急 Shinano Limited Express
    • 名古屋 Nagoya
    • 東海道新幹線 Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • 京都 Kyōto
    • 東海道新幹線 Tōkaidō Shinkansen
  • 広島 Hiroshima

Your return is a bit more vague, but might look something like:

  • 広島 Hiroshima
    • 東海道新幹線のぞみ Tōkaidō Shinkansen Nozomi *
    • 名古屋 Nagoya *
    • 東海道新幹線ひかり Tōkaidō Shinkansen Hikari
  • 小田原 Odawara
    • 箱根登山電車 Hakone Tōzan Railway (not JR!)
  • 箱根湯本 Hakone Yumoto
    • 小田急ロマンスカー Odakyu Romancecar (not JR!)
  • 大手町 Ōtemachi (Tōkyō)

* The Hikari Shinkansen is the slower train with more stops. It does run between Hiroshima and Odawara, but I'm not sure if it runs all the way, or you may need to change in Osaka anyway. If so, you may also take the faster Nozomi to Nagoya and change there. And the Hikari is generally cheaper, so you can consider which you prefer.

Plugging all this into the JR Fare Calculator, if you did it all within 7 days, you'd be ahead with the JR Pass. But since it sounds like you'll take longer than that, the 14 day pass will already be more expensive by quite a substantial amount. So yes, looks like it's worth buying individual tickets.

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    I think you've misunderstood OP's question: they were asking about buying a single ticket with stopovers, vs separate tickets for each segment. See travel.stackexchange.com/questions/66616/…
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 3:53
  • I was mostly answering the "How can I write them in Japanese to give it to the teller?" part. With this list, they can hopefully work it out at the ticket counter. — True, maybe I did put too much focus on the JR Pass comparison though.
    – deceze
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 3:58
  • Thank you, this helps me communicate to the teller the stations
    – Travel guy
    Commented Dec 23, 2023 at 13:25

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