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I've been told by a colleague that you can only buy a Japanese Rail Pass outside of the coutry as a tourist. Is this accurate, or is it possible to purchase say, a 2-3 week one in Tokyo?

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  • Downvoter care to comment?
    – Mark Mayo
    Apr 27, 2014 at 12:53
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    I didn't downvote but this is pretty much the first thing you read the first time you look for information about the jrp.
    – Geeo
    Apr 27, 2014 at 13:50
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    It might be the first thing you read, but the fourth or fifth thing you read might offer some trick for getting around the official policy. And that is why one might post this question on Travel SE.
    – user8803
    Jun 25, 2014 at 11:48

4 Answers 4

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Your colleague is correct. According to the official Website:

A JAPAN RAIL PASS cannot be purchased inside Japan. You must purchase an Exchange Order from an authorized sales office or agent before you come to Japan.

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    This answer was correct at the time it was posted, however JR are now changing their policy. From 1 April 2017, you will be able to buy the Rail Pass inside Japan from a limited number of stations (which include the major airport and city centre stations). You still MUST be non-Japanese and visiting under the "temporary visitor" category. See japanrailpass.net/file/eligibility_en.pdf for the official announcement (PDF link).
    – Neil Bartlett
    Dec 28, 2016 at 9:18
  • Correct link: www.japanrailpass.net/file/trial_basis_en.pdf
    – Neil Bartlett
    Dec 28, 2016 at 9:24
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You need two things to get a JR pass: the Exchange Order, only available outside Japan, and a passport with a Tourist visa in it. Anyone can buy the Exchange Order - the actual pass is produced when you are in Japan. One train pass per passport.

You need to take at least 3 long-haul Shinkansen trips per week for the pass to pay for itself. While you can use it on JR routes in any city those trips are typically under $2 to start with. You can't use it on non-JR lines.

You need to choose the duration of the pass before you buy it, but you can choose any start date you want. Write it clearly on a note and hand it to the counter staff with the note on top, or they will process it starting today before you have finished saying Hello.

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  • Not sure how you're defining "long-haul" there, but the rule of thumb is that a 7-day JR Pass pays for itself if you travel Narita-Tokyo-Kyoto and back, and becomes well worth it if you venture beyond Osaka.
    – lambshaanxy
    Apr 27, 2014 at 22:30
  • Inter-city, but not just the next stop. 7-day JR pass is 29,110, Tokyo-Kyoto/Osaka is 14,600. One more inter-city trip and you're ahead (not just break-even)
    – Paul
    Apr 28, 2014 at 5:00
  • The key part there is "and back": Tokyo-Osaka return is 29,200. Add in two N'EX at 3,000 yen each to get to Narita and back, and the JR pass is a winner.
    – lambshaanxy
    Apr 28, 2014 at 5:06
  • and you can use the pass on the yamanote and chuo line, pretty useful inside tokyo.
    – Geeo
    Apr 28, 2014 at 11:50
  • Not as much as you'd think. While the Yamanote does go many places, you still need the subway lines. Asakusa, Odaiba etc. And certainly not worth getting a JR pass just for in-city travel.
    – Paul
    Apr 28, 2014 at 14:59
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It is important to know however that you have to have a tourist visa or come from one of the countries and regions for visa exceptions: http://www.mofa.go.jp/j_info/visit/visa/short/novisa.html. It's almost 70 countries now, including USA, Australia and most European ones, so by presenting one of these passports you should have no problem.

For the rest of the countries, Japanese Immigration Laws have a strict policy, which regards the Temporary Visitor visa as the only valid one to receive and use the Japan Rail Pass. Be aware as there are other types of visas, allowing for a short-term entry but are not eligible for the Pass. There is more about eligibility here.

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    Instead of just linking, please quote or summarise the relevant sections about eligibility. If the link changes or expires (or is even temporarily down) we lose the useful information :( For more information on answering, please see the help center.
    – Mark Mayo
    Jun 28, 2016 at 8:56
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It depends what exactly you mean by "outside of Japan". The intent of the policy is that you should buy it in your home country before leaving for Japan, but the policy was put in place before the advent of this wonderful (?) thing called the Internet.

So in effect the policy is that you must buy the exchange order from a seller which is based in a country other than Japan. However, many sellers now operate online: you order the exchange order from their website, and they ship it to you through the mail. And there is nothing stopping them from shipping it to an address in Japan, which most if not all of them do, so it is possible to purchase a JR Pass exchange order while being physically in Japan. (Of course, you must allow a couple days for shipping.)

From 8 March, 2017 through 31 March, 2018, the Japan Rail Pass will be sold at several locations in Japan, including Narita, Haneda, and Kansai airports, albeit at a somewhat inflated price (e.g., 33,000 yen for a 7-day ordinary pass versus 29,110 normally).

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  • Is the "trial basis" you mention the press release about selling it in 2016? If such, it was not limited to the airports but some major Train Stations as well.
    – The Wandering Coder
    Jun 29, 2016 at 2:03
  • @TheWanderingCoder Right, the details are not very important right now since there was no further announcement about this (for all we know, the project may very well be dropped). I have never seen an actual press release about this, by the way, only newspaper articles.
    – fkraiem
    Jun 29, 2016 at 2:24
  • I had assumed that newspapers were given a release from JR (not sure which one it would have been - East maybe?) I have managed to find 3 separate newspapers in Japanese and one in English that seem to state that JR will start selling it in Japan in 2016 but none of them seem to have any reference to and official release either.
    – The Wandering Coder
    Jun 29, 2016 at 4:11
  • @TheWanderingCoder Yes they were probably told this by JR in one way or another, but all we know for sure if that there are (or at least were) plans to start selling it at some unspecified locations sometime in 2016. I am actually quite puzzled that JR decided to tell the press but not publish an actual press release themselves, that makes it sound as if they didn't want to commit themselves too much.
    – fkraiem
    Jun 29, 2016 at 4:31
  • It also seemed to only appear in small border columns in all the results I found. Maybe it was briefly announced at a shareholders meeting or some kind of interview to do with the Olympics (That was the main reason they wanted to pursue selling them here after all)
    – The Wandering Coder
    Jun 29, 2016 at 6:50

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