A post-pandemic surge in international travelers, coupled with weak exchange rates, could have not directly ended considered one of Japan’s most beloved travel deals: the Japan Rail Pass.
Prices for the JR Pass, because it’s known, increased roughly 65%-75%, in October 2023.
But there are still rail deals to be found — especially for those going beyond the standard hot spots of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.
The East Japan Railway Company, higher often known as JR East, announced a latest Kyun Pass in December.
It allows visitors to board trains to Aomori, Japan’s apple capital within the north; the ski slopes in Nagano within the northwest; and Matsumoto within the west, where considered one of Japan’s oldest castles still stands.
Named after the Japanese word for being overcome with emotion, the Kyun Pass is a one-day all-you-can-ride pass that covers in every single place where JR East operates, including Japan’s Kanto region — which incorporates Tokyo and Yokohama —and its Shinetsu region, which refers to Niigata and Nagano prefectures, two of the country’s hottest destinations for winter sports.
Kyun Passes go on sale on Jan. 14 to Feb. 29 at Eki-Net, JR East’s reservation website. Passes are valid from Feb. 14 to March 14. Nevertheless, there are two necessary caveats. The primary is that travelers must wait no less than two weeks to make use of the pass after purchasing it, and it might probably only be used on weekdays, including Feb. 23, the Emperor’s birthday and a public holiday.
There are, nonetheless, no limits as to what number of tickets travelers should buy, in accordance with the JR East’s website.
Kyun Pass prices
The associated fee for the one-day, all-you-can-ride Kyun Pass is a flat 10,000 yen ($70). Which means travelers exploring more of JR East’s territory will profit from the pass greater than those staying within the Tokyo metro area.
Here’s a comparison of roundtrip bullet train tickets, with and without the Kyun Pass.
What the Kyun Pass covers
The Japan Railways Group, or JR Group, is the most important operator of passenger rail service in Japan, operating the country’s bullet trains, or shinkansen, plus quite a few regional rail and native rail lines, and even some buses.
The corporate comprises six independent passenger railway firms that cover six regions: JR Central, JR East, JR Hokkaido, JR Kyushu, JR Shikoku and JR West.
JR East is the most important of the six firms. Its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Kyun Pass will permit travel on the next lines:
- All local and rapid JR East lines
- Tohoku shinkansen (which runs from Tokyo to Shin Aomori, in Aomori prefecture)
- Yamagata shinkansen (Tokyo to Shinjo, in Yamagata prefecture)
- Akita shinkansen (Tokyo to Akita, in Akita prefecture)
- Joetsu shinkansen (Tokyo to Niigata, in Niigata prefecture)
- Hokuriku shinkansen (only the section from Tokyo to Itoigawa, in Niigata prefecture)
- JR BRT (bus rapid transit) to and from Kesennuma
Moreover, the Kyun Pass might be used on five non-JR operated lines:
- Aoimori Railway (from Shin-Aomori to Metoki, in Aomori prefecture)
- Iwate Ginga Railway (from Morioka in Iwate prefecture to Metoki in Aomori prefecture)
- Sanriku Railway (from Sakari to Kuji, in Iwate prefecture)
- Hokuetsu Kyuko Line (from Mukaimachi to Naoetsu, in Niigata prefecture)
- Echigo Tokimeki Railway (from Arai to Naoetsu, in Niigata prefecture)
Kyun Passes allow buyers to order seats on two train rides. Some bullet trains and non-local lines require a seat reservation, while others highly recommend it. Train reservations might be made at JR East’s Eki-Net website, at a train station ticket machine or at a ticket office.
Bullet trains and lots of limited express trains, called tokkyu, have two forms of seating: atypical class, and the more spacious green class. The Kyun Pass only offers atypical seating, but users will pay to upgrade to green class.
As an added bonus, the Kyun Pass might be used for same-day discounts at Recent Days convenience stores, an indicator of many JR rail stations, plus select rental automobile agencies and restaurants.
