Japan reopens to hoards of tourists then casually drops a hugely important press release that will change travel in Japan as we know it 😅
I’m honestly shocked by this announcement!! I think everyone could understand a price adjustment, but one to this degree (nearly 80% in some cases…) is just WILD 😭 Really most advice surrounding the JR Pass that exists online right now will be invalid as of October if they go through with this change (they definitely will increase the price, but it is possible they will slightly lower it…we will see)
What do you think of this news? Does it affect your travel plans? Let me know down below in the comments!!
And remember! Don’t stress about this if you are planning a trip between now and September 2023, the changes will only occur from sometime in October!
—–
🚃 TRAVEL JAPAN WITH JR PASS (affiliate link so buy through here to support me 🥰)
NATIONWIDE PASS (prices unchanged before October 2023): https://click.jrpass.com/SH6k
REGIONAL PASSES: https://click.jrpass.com/SH6l
—–
🌸 follow me on social media 🌸
twitter: @allisonintokyo
personal instagram: @allisintokyo
study instagram: @allistudy
⭐️ Support me on Ko-fi! ⭐️
https://ko-fi.com/allisonintokyo
🗼 new upload every week 🗼
🔰 timestamps 🔰
0:00-3:42 what the press release says
3:43-8:50 my thoughts on WHY they did this and predictions
8:51-11:16 price analysis on the new pricing
11:17-14:58 alternatives and my recommendations
❤️ music ❤️
🎈Song : Daystar – Smile /
https://youtu.be/ih1yep4F8DE
🎈Song : Daystar – Daisy Fleabane / https://youtu.be/YFMhXdWpMBM
HUGE JAPAN JR PASS TRAIN CHANGES ANNOUNCED!! 😱 | New Prices + Itinerary Analysis 🚃
22 Comments
I've always been jealous of tourists using the JR Pass but I'm still a bit angry and shocked over the MASSIVE MARGINS they're increasing the price by 😭 But it's such a big change I wanted to get a video out as soon as I could!
What do you guys think about this? 😬
Based on my last few trips to Japan, I’d still come out ahead with the new prices. Last trip to Japan we did Tokyo to Kagoshima and back (side trips) plus a day trip to Nikko – two week pass. We are often on the first Shinkansen in the morning ready to eat our breakfast and often arrive in a new town/city before things are opening up so it certainly doesn’t feel like we are spending our holiday on the train as we have full days exploring before retiring to a hostel usually in the evening.
Holiday before that we used the pass x3 the cost of it so again I’m guessing it would still work out for us. We have also utilised highway buses and regional passes on other holidays when it suits our itinerary. Again as early birds, first bus leaving in the morning suits us. Looking out the window at the landscape isn’t wasted time anyway. Wasted time is those who sleep in until lunch or longer…
First time I think I’ve been disappointed in a video.
The maths is really off so perhaps thinking before posting would have been better.
John from Only in Japan has provided some really good information around all this emerging information.
People need to simply plan their holiday and perhaps you don’t need a pass. Being on several Japan travel groups I for one would love to see the end of the question ‘Do I need a JR pass if I’m staying in Tokyo?’ But honestly I think people will keep asking because less and less do people think things through.
This will change my future plans for sure. I didnt mind riding trains for long periods of time since in Canada long road trips in a cramped car is very common. So on a relaxing train thats so easy to get on and off of it was totally worth it. But if these prices stick we'll likely do a lot more flying to the more distant locations then try using regional passes if possible.
I’ve booked our trip including JR Passes through an agent so she will order the passes now eventhough our trip isn’t until November.
Question is are the normal single tickets fair going up aswell ?
From my understanding this is only for "JR Rail Pass" which allows you to go almost anywhere in Japan. Generally, I personally only used it just once. I do not want to spend more time traveling from one region to another region since it is not very efficient and I want to maximize my time in japan vising as many places I could in a certain region….. My trip to Japan usually focus on specific region (i.e. Kyushu, Kansai and etc) and the price of these regional passes are not changed so it does not really have any impact on me and many others whom I know and travel to Japan often since they also don't use the JR ALL Pass too.
In fact, I believe they increase the price to discourage people to buy the rail pass to travel across region (popular ones are definitely Kansai and Kanto) and stay in one region as much as possible.
the route trip from Tokyo / takayama/osaka how much is the total fare via bullets train ?
I think you're spot on regarding Kyoto getting more crowded. And another side effect, more travellers who would have gotten the Green pass will now opt for the normal pass to save $, hence fewer people in the Green class and the normal carriage getting super crowded which competes with local passengers as well. What's more, would the luggage space in normal carriage be enough for so many tourists with luggage? 🙂 I'll be impacted by the price hike for my Japan trip in March next year. Crap. Instead of taking the shinkansen to Hakodate, I'll take a flight and save me the pain of hours of train ride.
At this point i would rather buy flight ticket 😂 luckily i travel in mid may and have bought about 300dollar in SGD price for 7days
Dammit! I’ll be in Osaka October 25 for 6 days then planned to take a one way bullet train to Tokyo for another 6 days then flight back home…. This change gonna killing me 🤦🏻♂️
Hi Allison! Definitely not worth it anymore and now messed all my plans for November.
I'm going directly to Osaka and from there all way south, travelling "all" Kyushu and back to Osaka. No Tokyo, no Kyoto… so why JR, why? 😞
That's Japan off the list then! What an arsehole move to increase it so much!
We are going to Japan 7. October.. lovely
Loved the video! Thank you 🙏🏼
I’m going next month for two weeks going from Tokyo -> Osaka -> Kyoto -> Nagoya -> back to Tokyo. I calculated the train cost using the Japan travel app and even with the price of the JR pass now it wouldn’t save me money getting the 7 or 14 day JR pass.
I always fly back from my last stop on the trip instead of returning to the city I flew in. That way even the old pass never worked out for me. Now it's completely dead
Wow, I just bought the JR price for the old price for summer😅before the increase.
It wouldn't influence my plans, but it's a huge jump.
Hi, can i check can we buy the single trip ticket on the spot of the station from nagoya to kanazawa for The Limited Express Shirasagi train?
Really great point on this probably affecting the tourism for other areas of Japan as well as bringing pressure off the tourism in Kyoto when the pass was a bit cheaper but now I can see it as I planned alot of my future trip based on the pass now I will still by the pass cus I want to see the other areas. But for most it would totally change up a plan from multiple city's and prefectures. To now only being two Tokyo and Kyoto or Osaka
COuld you buy like 3 7 day regional passes ? say like our group only really wants to go between nagano and toyko area over the space of 3 weeks
Honestly, the Japanese hate foreigners. They don’t want tourist in their country. I hear this from my Japanese friends all the time…
You nailed it imo. Only in Japan had a video and imo completely missed the mark.
As you said the "old" JR pass would ENCOURAGE people to visit areas outside of Tokyo and Kyoto especially if they have time. This new pricing will imo have the exact effect you stated. MORE tourism in Kyoto and possibly Tokyo.
My family and I will be visiting Japan in May for the first time after a cancelled trip last year due to snails pace opening from COVID.
With the "old" pass we will do Tokyo, with a day trip to Nikko, Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima with a night on Miyajima. With the new pricing? NO WAY we do that. I'm not sure if we don't just cut some time of the trip and do as you stated 7 days in Tokyo and Kyoto instead of the 14 we are doing.
That's less money Japan.
And to those that say it was underpriced before……..Yeah. That's the point. You make it a no brainier value wise to encourage people to visit and visit more areas and spend MONEY.